Norwich bulletin., 1918-05-07


 and mismanagement in the national airplane construction program. heard for months in senate debate and capi- tol lobby gossip, eliminated today in presidential order for an investiga tfon by the department of justice. Ali most simultaneously it became known that Major General Squier, chief sig nal officer and until recently in direct charge of army aviation, had demand ed a military court of inquiryT The White House in announcing President Wilson's action made public l a telegram received Saturday from I Howard Coffin, former chairman of the | aircraft board, urging an official in- l quiry, that regulations of innocent l men may not be ruined,' and a series | of letters and telegrams exchanged be- 1 tween the president and Gutson Borg lum. the sculptor, to whom is attribut- ed responsibility for statements that corruption in the expenditure of funds and proGermar intrigue have hindered airplane production. There also was a l letter written by the president today to Senator Thomas of Colorado, a member of the senate military com mittee. assuring him that every instru- mentality of the department of justice 1 will be used to pursue charges of dis honesty or malversation of any kind if ] Mir. Borglums allegations are found worthy of serious consideration. Sena- tor Thomas laid before the president last week assertions made to members of the committee by the sculptor.
 Status of Mir. Burgum.
 The exact status of NIT. Borglum as an investigator, which until now has been more or less of a mystery to the public, is cleared up by the correspoh- dence. It developed that after the sculptor had written to Secretary Humility last November in regard to alleged defects in the aviation organ ization and the desirability of having Ecertain, experts called in, the presi- dent asked him to present his ideas later On Jan. the president wrote a, letter to Mir. Borglum asking him to
 come to Washington and las- the mat
 ter before the secretary of war and 7 with the aid of member of the sec ] retary's personal staff, discover the l facts by personal investigation. Borg
 lu1n did this, and on Feb. the presi-
 dent sent a preliminary report from f him to Secretary Baker with thi: : note:
 g Here is Mir. Borglum's report. I;
 there not someone entirely disconnect-
 ed from aeronautics and from those who are prominent in carrying out tht ! airplane program who you can ask tC l go over this thing with an unbiased
 mind and give us his naive impress
 sions of it? There may be something f worthy of our consideration and sug T Sestions worthy to be adopted On March 29, after an exchange O telegrams with Borglum, the presi
 dent wrote that he had placed the ma
 terial the latter had furnished at tn, e disposal of gentlemen to whom he hat S committed the task of making a sys = tematic inquiry into the whole avia 8 tion service. These gentlemen wer
 the special committee headed by H
 Snowden Marshall of New York, who's e preliminary report preceded the recen = reorganization of the army aviation t service and the appointment of Johl r D. Ryan as director general.
 Not an Official Investigator. e Apparently the sculptor resented no . being allowed to carry out the inquir q himself. In response to a complain s that he had not been supplied wit
 suitable expert assistance, the presi
 dent on April 15 informed him tha
 he feared he had been under a seriou ' misapprehension as to his status. z never at any time constituted you a = official investigator" wrote the presi
 dent. T merely gave you the right t
 look into the matter of your own mo .s tion, and I am sure the letter w1lic if the secretary of war provided you wit
 he gave you with the same purpose an e idea
 The president closed by expressin
 the hope that Mir. Borglum would fet ia it his duty to turn over to the officia "a investigators any evidence in his pos session. It has been reported sine l. that the sculptor refused to deal wit
 the Marshall committee.
 MT Borglum had a conference toda IF with members of the senate militar ,e committee and gave them a list ( U, witnesses he desires summoned if tn .- committee reopens it's investigation a
 result of his disclosure He reiterat
 ed his assertions that criminal liabilit 7. could be established.
 e, Request for a Military Inquiry. d, General Squiers' request for a mil le tary inquiry, to clear up the matte
 so far as he and his subordinates al
 concerned, is before Secretary Bake Id and there has been no intimation o- what action the secretary will take. n MT. Baker is making a person; g. study of. the situation. Besides sue te statements as MT. Borglum has mad
 he has before him voluminous cab
 correspondence with European officia as well as American officers on tf m other side dealing with aircraft typt re and changes, the proceedings of u $. aircraft board as shown by its record " and all other data throwing light C
 any phase of the matter. He said tC
 day that he had not concluded h
 study or arrived at any determinat tic e as to whether there was ground show . for prosecution of an official
 so -