The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1917-01-06
Connects Secretary Iumulty
With Leak" Report. and
Gets Immediate Denial
F. H. BOILING ALSO
PROMPT TO DENY
Sensation-Monger Seems to
Have Nothing But Discredit-
ed Hearsay On Which to
Base His Attacks

nection with the alleged leak from
Official Washington to Wall Street.
= which -pfeeipita;ed the near panic
over President Wilson's peace move,
was blazoned on the records of the
House Rules Committee today. Rep
resentative VIII r. Wood, of Iowa.
author of the demand for leak" an =
vestiFation. gave the committee the
names OF those high in official life"
and related to those high in ofiicia.
life" who, he said. had been mention
ed to him as involved in the alleged
leak They were:
Joseph Patrick Tumulty. secretary
to the President; F. II. Boiling, broth
er OF President Wilson's wife; Der
nard NJ Baruch, of New York; Otto
II. Kahn. of the firm OF Kuhn, Loci
& Company. New York; +. A. Con-
nelly & Company. Washington hrok-
ers: Thompson & McKinnon. and
iamson a. Company. Chicago brokers.
Before naming the leak list. Rep
resentatiye Wood sought to induce the
Rules Committee TO allow him to sub
nit his statement in a secret session.
The committee declined. however. and
the list went into the record with
full publicity. Representative Wood
was careful to tell the committee that
his leak suspicious were based. not
upon specific charges. but upon re-
ports and rumors conveyed TO him.
He likewise said that he was willing
to divulge the names required, only
because he believed an investigation
should be ordered AT all costs,
Many Summoned To Appeal.
After hearing Representative Wood.
the committee decided to get down 10
real investigating at once. and a food
h sr-Fz q
the result Secretary Lansing and
Secretary Tumulty will he invited Ia
appear and House sergeants-a arms
scurrief TO New York and Chicago to-
night with subpoenas for stock brokers
and fnanciers.
The Announcement az the list of
persons alleged To have participated
In the peace raid OF December u was
followed almost Immediately by Il
fiood Of denials directed To Chairman
Henry. OF the Rules Committee. Sec
rotary Tumulty. whom Wood mention
I'D as having breakfastcd with Baruch
at the Fillmore Hotel. New York. only
a aay or so before the raid was highly
Indignant at the mention of his name
In connection with that of the broker,
He made brief hut pertinent denial
privately and then gave ont the fol-
owing public statement,
Mr.. Tumulty's Denial.
Il am very glad to say publicly that
| did not know of the existence OF the
Presidents note on peace until the
newspaper were informed Very fire.
auently the President, who knows that
| am bombarded by newspaper men
and atheEs for information saves me
embarrassment by keeping matters
absolutely secret. In fact. have often
x..fe hat I.a
not been at the Biltmore in year
never talked about peace with Mr.
Baruch before or after the peace note
was sent. never lunched with him IN
my life have met him as | have a
great many good friends from time to
time in hotels. at the theater and else
where. A Presidents secretary meets
a great many people every day and II
Is very easy for some one to circulate
rumors based as Mr.. Wood says solely
upon hearsay. ! think Mr. Wood owes
me public apology for entonina
my name at all merely on hearsay and
rumors."
Records Demanded.
In q preliminary executive session
of the Rules Committee the first
action taken was the adoption OF a
resolution calling on the New York
Stock Exchange and several broker
age and banking houses for their
records OF all stock transactions from
December 10 to %. Then the commit
tee voted to subpoena as witnesses
Bernard NJ. Baruch and A. Curtis
Curtis was the author of n letter re-
ceived by Representative Wood in
which details of the alleged meetings
of Baruch and Secretary Tumulty
were set forth,
The committee decided, much
against the will of Representative
Wood and some of it's members that
the testimony Of Wood should be
made in public. Wood told the com
mittee. that he was possessed of nc
facts which would constitute evi.
dence in a court of law. He then gave
a summary of the reports he had re-
ceived.
Says Kahn Knew.
He said that Otto H. Kahn OF
Kuhn. Loeb & Company, had received
advance information regarding the
coming of the Presidents note. and
advised his friends to go short OF the
market. One of the friends thus ad-
vised, Wood says. was railway presi-
lent. lie asserted that a Conffdeuttal
telegram was sent on Wednesday, De-
cember 90. to a broker in Oshkosh,
Wis, stating that a message was GO
ing to be sent bearing upon the Euro
pean war. This message. he said, was
sent by r. w. McKinnon, OF the firm
OF Thompson & McKinnon,. Chicago,
and was addressed to Ralph r. Hart
ley. Of Oshkosh. 1t advised short sell
ing. Representative Wood said he had
been, advised by William H.. Robert
son. of Lafayette. Indiana, that
.LAmson e. Company had received In
Continued on Third PaCe.l