Evening capital and Maryland gazette. (Annapolis, Md.) 1910-1922, 1917-08-16
ATTACKS
navy LEAGUES HEADS
Calls SIanderous Their Report That
Labor Blocks Mare Island
Explosion Inquiry.
DEMANDS THAT THEY RESIGN
Letter To Thompson Follows Leagues
Statement That Fatal Explosion
Was Caused by Time Fuse.


Statement That Fatal Explosion
Was Caused by Time Fuse.
Aroused by what he declared 10 be
a false and slanderousr statement,
which the Navy League of the United
states issued here recently, asserting
that ii had been credibly informed
that the investigation of the recent
explosion at the Mare Island Navy
Yard had been blocked" Secretary
Daniels made public letter he sent
to Colonel Robert NJ Thompson urg-
ing that Colonel Thompson resign as
President of the Navy League.
THE chief service which you and
the other officials of the Navy League
can render TO the navy" said Secre-
tary Daniels in his letter to Colonel
Thompson, lis to resign at once and
permit the League To be directed by
those who in a crisis like the present
would not permit a statement to be
given out to the public which attempts
to discredit the entire Navy Depart
ment, and which will be read with
contempt and disgust by every hon
est citizen of America"
The statement which was thus pub
licly condemned by Secretary Daniels
asserted that the Navy League had re-
ceived a communication from an Of
fetal source" that a time fuse was
connected with the black powder
magazine at the Mare Island Navy
Yard, which exploded last month,
causing the deaths of five and injur-
ing thirty-one persons, and that the
resulting investigation had been
blocked. The statement in full fol-
lows:
The Navy League Statement.
1.-The Navy League has received a
communication from an official source
stating that a time fuse was connected
with the black powder magazine at
the Mare Island Navy Yard, which ex-
ploded on July 0 last, causing the
death of five persons and the injury of
thirty-one The discovery of this
fuse. contends the league informant,
proves conclusively that the explosion
was the result of a criminal con-
spiracy Fear is expressed that
vigorous investigation or the case has
been hampered or prevented because
of influence exerted by powerful la
Dor interests.
Although the name of the inform
ant is withheld, the Navy League
states that it is a person whose daily
work would place him in a position to
know the facts. The information was
transmitted to the Navy League as a
protest against official inaction in the
case and because of the apparently
sincere convection on the part of our
informant that a dangerous softness
is evident in the handling of labor
questions by the Navy Department.
when the I1are Island explosion
was first reported in the newspapers
of July 10, Secretary Daniels issued
brief statement outlining the extent of
the damage done, but giving no clue
to the cause of the explosion. He said
that he had ordered an immediate in
vestigation The Navy Department
has heard nothing of the matter since
then, it is said.
1.-The Navy League has no means of
conclusively determining the accuracy
of the statemnts made in this letter,
but it has given very careful consid-
Grafton TO the seriousness of the
charges it contains and would not
give currency to them if it did not
have confidence in the source of its
information, its general reliability,
and its position to learn the facts
stated
1T is clearly proper that investiga-
ton into such an occurrence as the
Mare Island explosion must and
should be made secretly, and the
League realizes that the mere circum-
stance that no statements have been
made to the pess regarding the pro-
gress of the investigation does not
warrant the assumption that no
proper investigation is being made.
"On the other hand, the fact must
be faced that a Government depart
iHSui SOuAu ClupAOy lnAo fSl VI pA
secrecy to hide the fact that the in
vestigation had been blocked. The
press and public would assume that
silence on the part of government au-
thorities about the matter was simply
due to the desire to press the investi-
cation more effectively without hind
rance from. premature publicity.
1T is. therefore, an extremely diff
cult matter to determine satisfactor-
lily, by the customary inquiries,
whether such an investigation is pro-
ceeding or has been blocked The
League is informed by man who is
in a position to know that in this in
stance the investigation has been
blocked 1t is urged. furthermore,
that publicity is the only measure that
can end this block and force action.
The League sincerely hopes that,
in giving publicity to this information,
it is serving the higher public inter-
est. which is it one and only purpose"
Secretary Daniels Letter.
In his letter to Mr. Thompson
Secretary Daniels said:
Some time ago you called at the
Navy Department and stated that you
wished the Navy League to be in thor
ough harmony with the Navy Depart
ment. and that if | thought that your