The daily Gate City and constitution-Democrat. (Keokuk, Iowa) 1916-1922, 1917-10-05
EXPLORE MIND
OF LAFOLLETV,
Senate to Investigate G. So
Against Him Of Ma IS
Treasonable r + :
marks.
REPORT IN DECEMBER
Senator Stone Asks That He Be Ex-
amined Also to See
Just How He
Stands.
REPORT IN DECEMBER

|
WASHINGTON, Oct. 5-Charges
of seditious utterances lodged against
Senator LaFollette are to be invesu-
! gated by the senate. A sub-commit-
tee of FIVE will be named by Senator
Pomerene, Ohio, chairman Of the
elections committee to first invest1-
gate the correctness of reports OF
LaFollette's speech Of September 70
at st. Paul, Mimi, and second, to
inquire into the correctness OF his
statements. 1t will then report to
the full committee the first day OF
the December session. Senator Pom
creme will head the subcommittee.
| Despite a request by Senator Stone
for an inquiry into his record. the
committee will not comply, 1t was
announced.
The senate will be asked to pass
q resolution comforting general
authority on a subcommittee to In
| vestigate LaFollette's utterances. The
resolution is to be presented today
by Senator Pomerene. with request
for immediate action.
/, The subcommittee probably will
hold hearings, either calling wit
nesses to Washington. or going to
st. Paul and other Minnesota cities,
as well as to Wisconsin, to take tes-
timony.
The committee received a letter
from Senator Stone, who also was
named in several of the hundreds of
petitions presented to it. After con-
sidering this letter, the committee
issued the following statement:
Action having been requested by
Senator Stone on certain communica-
tions In which he was assailed, 1t
being charged therein that he had
obstructed the enactment of meas
ures for the prosecution of the war.
the committee finds that the charges
make mention Of no facts warrant
ing action by it. The record dis
closes that though Senator Stone
opposed the declaration of war. he
has since 1t was adopted voted for
all such measures considered by the
senate on which record vote was
taken"
In his letter to the committee,
Stone said:
ut appears that one Of the papers
submitted to your committee by the
vice president was letter addressed
to him by w. e. D. Stokes, New
York, who accused me with others Of
being guilty Of disloya1 acts.
"This communication is vicious and
incendiary in the highest degree and
I cannot refrain from expressing my
surprise that the vice president would
submit such a paper to the senate
for publication IN the record and for
the consideration of standing COM
mittee.
"I feel that have right to in
sist, as I do insist, that matter
which thus wantonly assaults my In
tegrity and my loyalty should not be
laid aside or even postponed for a
day by the committee whose duty It
is to consider and dispose of the !
matter.
"The author of the calumnies may |
speak ignorantly or maliciously-as |
to their motives I do not know. nor |
do care-but when they are form |
ally laid before the senate in the |
way these were, no matter whether
the source of origin is irresponsible |
or otherwise and without regard to !
the knowledge or motive Of the men |
who prefer the charges. I insist that |
a senator who knows that he Is un-
Justly accused has right to have
the committee examine into the facts
at once and report their finding to
the senate"
Preliminary inquiry began today by
a special house committee into the
charges by Representative Heflin,
Alabama, that thirteen or fourteen
peace at-any-price members of con-
gress" had acted suspiciously in con-
nection with the $4,000 Won Bern
storff fund, ito influence congress"
Representative Barnhardt, Indiana.
chairman of the committee, said to-
days hearing was merely prelimi-
nary. SO a report could be made to !
the house on what basis theer is for
continuing.
LaFollette has said that his speech
was "garbled" as 1t appears in the
The committee will ask
La Toilette whether he stated in his
speech that the sinking of the Lusit-
ania and other acts committed by Ger