The Oskaloosa herald. (Oskaloosa, Mahaska County, Iowa) 1885-1919, 1917-02-01
VIM. ]. BURNS
FOUND GUILTY
SLEuTH SOUGHT LEAK IN ]. p.
MoRcAN's OFFICE.
PAYS FINE UNDER PROTEST
Trial of Sleuth Was Concluding Chap.
ter of Wire Tapping Scandal
That Stirred Up All Of
New York State.

New York, Jan. 27.-William j..
Burns, detective, was found guilty in
court of committing misdemeanor in
entering the law Offices OF Seymour &
Seymour ten months ago and having
copied letters which he turned over to
j. +. Morgan & Co. in the course of his
hunt for the now famous leak in the
, offices of the fiscal agents of the Brit
ish and French governments. A SEN
tence of fine of 500 or 30 days in
Jail was imposed.
Burns paid the fine under protest,
pending an appeal. Burns conviction
may result in his having to fight for
the retention of his license as u de-
! tectiye.
/ Martin Egan, publicity agent for J..
p. Morgan g. Co., who was accused
with Mr. Burns, was acquitted.
Scandal Stirred State.
The trial of Burns and Egan was
! the concluding chapter of wire-tap-
! ping scandal that stirred all New York
state, dragged in Mayor Mitchell and
Police Commissioner Woods, aroused
, a religious controversy between the
mayor and the Roman Catholic clergy
of New York and nearly involved the
federal government.
1 The trouble started over war mu-
nitions. Morgan & Co. was confronted
with leak of information-a leak
that the company felt gave manufac-
turers of war supplies advance infor-
nation on materials for which the
firm was about to enter the market.
| William J. Burns agency was en-
ployed to run down the leak. Burns
admitted that much. The New York
police officials admitted they coop
Grated with Burns because they had
overlapping squad constantly on the
job--a group of men who made bust
ness to listen in on conversations. 1t
was explained their purpose was to
keep track of gangsters and to prevent
other cooperation of criminals against
the peace of the city.
J Lawyers Press Charge.
Seymour s. Seymour, downtown
New York law firm with munitions
connections, was the plaintiff in the
case against Burns and Egan. They
accused the detective and the Morgan
employee of copying from Seymour
desk-in their locked OfticeS-papers
that were of value to them, and pub
fishing them in an effort to prove that
the leak from the Morgan firm went
through the Office of Seymour & Sey-
mOur, but not discriminating the firm
of Seymour & Seymour in any way.
, The firm was not satisfied with this
generation. Failing to get action in
municipal and then state investiga-
ton, they caused the arrest of Burns
and Egan.
/ Egan washed his hands of the whole
matter, He said he employed Burns
to act for the Morgan firm in hunt
Ing down the leak. That was all. The
jury took his word for it and found
him not guilty.
/ Burns denied taking the papers, but
admitted everything else.
Some of the charges Burns made rs
| n IGSull VI tllS NdNtHul'pphS ulAihNt-
ed nationwide attention. He charged
that an employee of the firm Of J. 7.
, Morgan kept certain Washington
lawyer posted on munition contracts
and shipments arranged by the Nor
gan firm; that this lawyer was close
personal friend of German Ambassa-
dor Won Bernstorff, and that munitions
1 explosions and trouble on munitions
ships followed closely on these leaks.
There was no evidence to back MP
these charges except Burns word and
| nothing was done about II.