The sun., 1917-01-08

WASHINGTON. Jan. THE prelim-
mary Investigation of the leak" in con-
nection with the peace note which Is
being conducted by the Rules Commit
tee Of the House probably will reach its
climax at the hearing set for tomorrow
Democratic members Of the commit
tee are convinced that the testimony OF
the witnesses summoned to appear to-
morrow will determine whether there
was a mysterious leak" or whether the
recent stock market break which pre-
ceded the White House announcement
of the Presidents peace move was mere
ly due to press reports anticipating ON
cial announcement.
II the latter explanation appears to
cover the case it is probable that some
of the majority members OF the commit
tee will take the attitude that there has
been no mystery and that a further in
vestigation will not be necessary to
demonstrate that no blame attaches to
officials who knew or might have known
of the Presidents action before it was
made public.
Lawson Must Give PrOof.
Most II not all the members OF the
Rules Committee are convinced that no
leak" will be traced to the membership
of the House. Nevertheless Thomas w.
Lawson. who appears in the records as
the originator Of the charge that the
House was profiting by ''leaks'' graft
will be put through a cross fire of ques-
tioning. Through the cumbersome
Tna hnl nf ttnA t.,x, tn~nt tso,, III
BLUR is to be called or he must supply
something more tangible than rumors to
make good his charges.
The list of witnesses called includes
Thomas w. Lawson of Boston, Charles
II. Sabin, president of the Guaranty
Trust Company of New York William
Nj X. Olcott, counsel for Representative
Gardner who will submit a record of
stock fluctuations accompanied by press
or ticker representatives which might be
held accountable for them: Bernard
Baruch. Wall Street operator, and news
paper men representing THE New York
EVENING Sun, the Wall Street journal.
Financial America. the Central News
Association and the News Ticker Service.
Secretary Lansing and Joseph p. Tu-
multy. the secretary to the President
also will appear before the committee
voluntarily. Representative Henry, chair
man of the Rules Committee. received a
telegram sent from Boston and signed by
A. Curtis. saying that the latter would
be in Washington to appear before the
committee on Tuesday.
Believed 10 he Allen Curtis.
Mr.. Henry said there was nothing in
the message to indicate whether the
sender was Allen Curtis OF the Wall
Street firm OF Curtis & Sanger, or an
other Curtis suspected of being the au-
thor of the letter written to Representa-
tive Wood, in which the mention was
made of the name of Bernard Baruch
and others in connection with the alleged
leak. Allen Curtis has already issued a
denial that he was the author Of the let
ter placed In the record. 1t is regarded
as probable, however, that 1t was he who
notified the committee of his desire to
appear for the purpose OF making formal
denial under oath.
1t Is the purpose of the committee, ac-
cording to an announcement by Mr.
Henry, to give the entire day to the hear
ing and possibly to prolong the session
into the evening. 1t is doubtful whether
all OF the witnesses summoned and desir-
ing to appear will be heard. although the
committee will meet at 8 go O'Clock.
Report May BE DeIhyed.
Already the preliminary investigation
has taken on wider range than was
contemplated when the resolution calling
for general investigation was intro
duccd by Representative Wood. There
Is some doubt that the committee will
be prepared to make its report within
the ten days after the reference OF the
Wood resolution as directed by the House
unless to-morrows testimony should be
considered a satisfactory explanation of
the occurrence OF the leak through the
press reports. Several hours probably
will be devoted by the committee to the
examination Of Thomas w. Lawson.
Eight or ten newspaper writer's are to
be questioned concerning the reports
published in New York and distributed
by ticker service concerning the appear
ance OF the peace note. At the same
time the committee will scrutinize the
days news reports Of the financial pub
lications involved to determine whether
the stock market break occurred before
the publication OF the rumors or whether
It followed In the wake Of them. The