The Washington times., 1916-08-23

the receiver may only read IT. but that
Il belongs to me. is refinement too
delicate FOR me to distinguish" he said.
Then the speaker turned to the only
analogous to this one. One invofvee
the letters of George Washington -
his secretary. which came into litlka.
tion after the secretary's death. The
wife Of Robert Breckinridge. Of Ken.
lucky. had transferred to a. friend. and
which her husband claimed. after her
death. In the threefold capacity OF
executor; writer Of some OF them. ana
Senator Bailey pointed out both OF
these cases were OF great historic In.
terest. because the first concerned
.ns ne Of second ssS of ss s sstSr
preme Court OF the United States.
the United States Senate, and Breck-
enridge himself vas the only ny d G,Hfsy
ations of political convention.
Breckenridge was chairman OF the
cow ntion that nominated Lincoln
for a second term.
Regarded a. Property.
In these cases. Mr.. Bailey asserted.
letters were regarded as property.
but as property only to be turned
over to the executor for delivery 70
the next OF kin, and that they could
their recipient or holders were not
privileged to free use OF their con-
tents. --.
T.nt for the lack 's Of IN ise
papers in this case that anyone would
be subject to shame or humiiiatlon
at>there had been no threat TO pup
lish the letters. and that none OF the
a
sible publication.
Mr.. Hogan said the papers had been
taken from Mr.. McLean's safe by an
officer of the trust company. In COM
read from a portion OF the. Will OF the
late Mr.. Mclean to show the capacity
Of Mr. Homer as adviser to the execu-
tor. Under this will. Mr.. Hogan assert
ed, Mr.; Homer was 49, adviser ynsn;o Gounc'''or
After the. letterD and been examined
by trust company official the advice
OF Mr.. Homer was sought about the
disposal of them. Mr.: Homer had 70
leave for New York. Mr.. Hogan said.
and asked to take them along to ex-
Mr.. Homer. Mir. Hogan said, was in
structed to destroy only such OF tne
Of John r. Mclean. Then the restrain
ing order came. Mr.. Hogan said. lie
pointed out that in Mr.. Homer's reply.
Mr.. Homer said he had not nad n
chance to read more than hait OF tne
letters. hence had not yet oestrCyeo
any Of them.
Actions at Variance.
I'm one court we find the attorneys
for Edward b. Mclean questioning the
validity OF the late Mr.. McIean's writ
ten will vet they cling to his verbal
instructions to destroy the letters now
L.
MIR. Hogan read letter from AZ
torneys Bailey and Lambert TO Mr..
Homer asking that the letters be turn
ed over to Edward b: Mclean, ne
made no mention of the destruction or
the letters.
The attorney then read a statement
attributed to Edward b. Mclean, stat
publication of the letters even to win
his law suit. He charged that this
indicated that the letters might con-
tain matters bearing on the will suit.
Mr.. Hogan cited numerous cases.
including the famous suit in 1912, in
Massachusetts,. involving letters of
the late Mrs Mary @. Baker Eddy. He
also pointed to a decision concerning
a letter from George Washington to
the mayor Of New York. which later
fell into private hands. 1t was de-
cided that New YORK city was the
owner OF the letter.
Mr.. Hogan commended that the deci-
sions in the Eyre VS.. Higbee case. In
New York. concerning George WASH
ington's letters to his secretary. and
the Grigsby VS.. Breckenridge case
bore out thu validity of the THEORY
Of dual own1rship OF letters. attacked
by Mr.. BaifN.
Attorney logan contended that II the
letters are property. they are personal
property. and II personal property. then
under the Federal laws of the land
they must go to the executor.
Senator Bailey disputed the theory
that private letters constituted personal
property and characterized them as a
peculiar and metaphysical kind OF
property.
He asserted that both Mr.. Homer and
Edward B. Mclean had sworn that they
had received Instructions from the late
John r. Mclean before the iatter's
death to destroy all of his letters that
did not have a bearing upon his estate.
His instructions. Senator Bailey mp,n-
tanned. clearly demonstrated that Mr..