Imperial Valley press., 1918-11-01
HUGHES FINDS No
CRAFT IN AERIAL
DEPT ACTIVITY

Chica@o, Nov. 1.-The United
States district attorneys office said
thai an indie lmen would probably be
returned in connection with the air
craft scandal.
1t is underst tood that the Depart
menl of Justice aircraft 2'port con-
tains essentially the same findings as
those of the Hughes report.
ii is probable thai the Department
of Justice will start Immediately the
prosecution of Inc hree army Off
GERS as recommended in he Hughes
report.
/ Washington, Nov. 1.-The long
awaited report on he aircraft inVes-
legation, conducted during The last
five months by Charles &. Hughes
and Attorney General Gregory, was
placed before President Wilson today
and made public.
Delays and wastes of the produc-
ton program. The report declares.
were due chiefly 10 "defeci.ve organ
.ization of the work of aircraft pro-
duction ard the serious lack of com
petent direction of that work by The
responsible officers of he Signal
Corps"
No fault is found with the man.
agemen of aircraft affairs since the
reorganization of last May, which
placed John d. Ryan in charge. The
civilian personnel on he Aircraft
Production Board is exonerated of
wrongdoing.
Attorney General Gregory, in a let
Ter transmitting the report 10 Presi-
dent Wilson, says he is in "substan-
tial accord" with the findings by Mr.
Hughes.
The report finds no graft" in 'he
generally accepted sense, but makes
for proceedings
against army officers held guilty Of
dealing with corporations in which
they were Interested.
The chief waste from he original
of $69,S51 ,8G6, the re
port says, was in the abandonment of
Two types of airplanes-on of which
was the Bristol-and failure 10 sal
wage, aceregaing about $24 100000.
Fiugres show that last May S134 ,000,-
600 of thai great appropriation had
been disbursed, and up 70 October ]
the expenditure had reached about
S14O,00O00O for all aviation pur-
poses. This did not include expendi-
lures of The sales department, which
buys material and resells il 10 manu-
facturers, and for advances for
building plants.
Contracts let, however, committed
about $470,OOO,OO0 of the fund. The
figures are given in answer 10 The
general charge that the sum had all
been expended with practically no
results. ~.
The attorney general concludes in
his letter of iransmittal hat "no such
profits have been allowed as to JUS
tify a charge of bad faith"
Colonel Z. A. Deeds, about whom
ragged most of he charges which
brought on The investigation, the re
port alleges, had been brought before
q courlmarial for sending confiden-
iial War Department. information on
The aircraft situation 10 former bus
'~~~- associates in Dayton, O., mad
for being sponsor last February for
a grossly misleading statement 10 he
effect that The "first American built
battleplanes are today en- route 10 the
front in France"
Criminal prosecutions of three ar
my officers are recommended on the
ground thai they transacted business
with corporations in which they were
financially interested. These officers
are: Lieutenant Colonel :. V. Vim
cent, former wee president of The
Packard Molor Car Company, now in
charge Of The airplane engineering di-
vision of the Aircraft Production Bu-
reau; Lieutenant Colonel George W..
Mixter, a siockholder in The Curtiss
Airplane and Motor Corporation, pro-
ducion manager of the Aircraft Bu-
reau, and Second Lieutenant Samuel
B. Vrooman, Jr., inspector of propel-
Ter lumber and stockholder of The S.
b. Vrooman Company of Philadel-
phia, which sold mahogany TO the
government for airplanes.