Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1918-11-01
.SEESL||'TLEST|NG
NHUGHES' REPORT
Full Reading Shows There
Were No Great Mistakes,
Says Mr.. Lawrence.
BY DAVID LAWRENCE.
Cspyright. 1913, by the New York
Evening Post. Incl

BY DAVID LAWRENCE.
CopyFfghfs 1913, by the New York
Evening Post. Incl
Ono hundred and eighty-two pages
Of fine print being the record Of a
most searching investigation by Judge
Charles E. Hughes Of certain phases
of Americas aircraft program, is too
| much to put on the telegraph wires
and only excerpts have been given
to the American people.
No one can form q just impression
either OF the fairness Of Mr. Hughes
report or the exact weight of his
censure of public officials by reading
the fragmentary summaries which
space and wire conditions make neces-
sary.
Nor does any one get any per-
spective Of the whole aircraft situa-
ton who has not studied it per-
! sonally If he accepts the phases which
! Mr.. Hughes investigation dealt with
| particularly and does not take into
| consideration either the time that
| has elapsed or the matters of mill
| cation was compelled unavoidably to
omit.
Senate Committee Report.
Several things are clear-the Sem
| ate subcommittee report has not
been borne out by Mr.. Hughes, nor
| have the charges of personal profit
which were made against Col Deeds,
| the storm center Of the controversy,
! been found justified. Nor has there
been such waste as the early reports
| charged.
For instead Of the $40, O00, 900, which
had been declared largely wasted, MI.
Hughes finds that only. $134, 044, 1896
had been actually spent up to June
\ 80 of this year, and approximately
| $139, more until September 80
last. Later figures than. that were
day of this week, when the statement
was made, based upon official records
| up to the middle of the present month,
| that only $456, 100000 had been spent
| $640, 000,0 and only $20,000.000 out of
another appropriation, and to show
for this expenditure the American
| people have a liberty motor that is
the sensational success Of the western
front. About l., 900 of them have been
built and about 10000 motors of other
| types and more than 1900 airplanes,
of which several thousand are battle
planes.
| Judge Hughes praises the liberty
motor. In fact, his findings relate
or planes or the military side Of the
! question. but to the methods of doing
business. the Irregularities in giving
| contracts and alleged waste.
| 1t should be noted that Judge
| Hughes and Attorney General Greg
DRY differ as to the extent of Col.
Deeds wrongdoing. Both concur that
the colonel reaped no personal pront
and violated no criminal statute, but
martial. because Col. Deeds gave out
some misleading statements to the
press. Attorney General Gregory SIM
ply leaves it to the determination OF
the Secretary Of War a whe5her the Oh
IL In any event, Col Deeds himself
i having asked for a military investiga.
i ton of his conduct, the Secretary OF
War will not have to pass upon thu
merit of the charges until after thu
military tribunal has investigated. Col
Deeds is accused. moreover, of dis
cussing confidential matters with his
former business associates who hac
contracts with the government. The
| friends of Col. Deeds maintain tina
this. as well as the misleading state
ments to the press which he himsel
i thought at the time were true, wer'
due to an exuberance Of feeling abou
the SUCCESS OI luc pTOSIdh WuiCh IN
had mapped out.
Some day. after the election Of mex
Tuesday, after the ban on military in
formation has been lifted. after thu
lcommander-in-chief of our expedition
AIRY forces has written his report o.
what the Liberty motor and thu
iDeHaviland battleplane did on the
western front, after the records arc
thrown open and the part that Col
Deeds performed in shaping the whole
program is revealed, then the public
can weigh judicially whether his in.
discretions were trivial compared tc
the achievement in aircraft which he
! SO largely developed.
Statement by Ryan.
| It is only fair that, as the frag-
| tary press reports have gone out to
! the country repeating the censure
| which the Hughes report admins
| the positive side of Col. Deeds work.
| 1t was an appreciation of this phase
of the controversy that undoubtedly
| led John D. Ryan, the present director
o. aircraft. whose reorganization
Hughes, to make the following state
| ment:
az am gratified. of course, to know
that the investigation made by Judge
Hughes has resulted in finding that
no such condition of affairs existed
last spring in the work of aircraft
production, as was indicated by the
charges at the time. have long been
satisfied that the men who preceded
me in the direction of aircraft produc-
tion did a very great patriotic serv-
ice and did not use their positions OF
connection with the government to
make any personal profit. The fact
that planes and engines are now in
more satisfactory production is due
very largely to the earnest, intelli-
gent and patriotic efforts of my
predecessors, and that the foundations
they left and upon which we were
able to build were substantial"
The above statement by Mr.. Ryan
renreSenta the INDIGNANT of a mar