The Washington times., 1917-02-28

purposes, either on. December 20 or
prior thereto"
Wood Charges Partly Proven.
The committee devotes much of its
report to a discussion of testimony
relating to Hutton & Co., which re-
ceived not only the peace note fore
cast over the Connolly wires, but also
relayed message from Finley, Bar
rel & Co., of Chicago, who had been
advised by Price. The committee says
''the evidence left 1t uncertain
whether the firm of Hutton & Co. had
profited as a result OF their advance
information by selling Short al
though the senior partner, Mr.. Hut
ton, admitted that as a result Of the
break he had made a personal profit
Of some $4,000 or $4,000"
Reciting the facts concerning the
introduction of the original resoiu-
tion of inquiry, sponsored by Con-
gressman William r. Wood OF In
diana, the committee finds that in
formation furnished by Mr.. Wood
(whose information was second hand)
was not borne out by the testimony,
so far as the prominent persons men,
toned were concerned. but there was
evidence to support the charge that
advance information regarding the
peace note was in Chicago, Lafayette.
Ind, and Oshkosh. Wis, about noon
on December 20. To this extent, the
report says, were the Wood charges
substantiated, but in no other.
Taking up the so-called Wood
charges, the committee finds that no
evidence was obtained to support the
claim that Otto H. Kahn Of New
York, profited by '1eak."
Profit Question Left Open.
Nor was it shown, the committee
finds, that Bernard NJ Baruch had
prior information regarding the peace
note; nor did it develop that Mr.. Bar
uch conferred, as anonymously charg-
ed, with Secretary Tumulty at the
Hotel Biltmore, New York. R. VIII
mer Boiling, brother-in-law of the
President, is likewise exonerated OF
responsibility for the leak" or fore
knowledge of the peace note.
The report goes down the list of
public officials and financiers whose
names were brought into the leak"
investigation during the extended and
momentarily sensational hearings.
One by one a clean bill of exoneration
Is given Secretary McAdoo, Secretary
Tumulty, "a United States Senator"
Archibald s. White, Pliny Fisk, Stuart
Gibboney, Malcolm McAdoo, r. w.
Boiling, and others.
No person in the executive or the
legislative branch Of the Government
is found to have benefited by the al
legged leak" or to have participated
in the improper dissemination of ad-
vance information regarding the
peace note. While the committee says
that speculation and "short selling"
were noticeably active about this
period, the committee does not direct
ly eonnect such operations with a
leak" 1t leaves open the question
of to what extent, II any, the tele-
grams sent by the two newspaper
men to brokerage connections affect |
ed the market on that day.
Correspondents Kept Faith.
at does not appear in the evil |
dence," says the report, "that any |
of the correspondents present at this |
interview with the Secretary of State |
gave this information (the announce
ment that an important statement
might be expected later in the day) to
any one except their editors and to |
other correspondents not present, but |
who appeared entitled to the informa-
tion for their own papers and who re-
ceived 1t in the same confidence i'm
posed by the Secretary Of State.
''The fact is established, however,
that two correspondents who were |
not present at the interview, but
learned something of 1t from some |
of those who were present, imme-
diately gave out information as here
matter recited to firms of stock brok-
ers to whom they had been in the
habit of communicating Washington
matters likely to affect the stock
market"