Arizona republican., 1918-11-01

effect that the first American built l battle planes are today en route to the | front in France"
 Urges Vincents' Prosecution Criminal prosecutions of three army officers are recommended on the ground they transacted business with corporations in which they were finan- cially interested. These officers are: Lieutenant Colonel J. G. Vincent, for mer vice president of the Packard Mo- tor Car company now in charge of the airplane engineering division of the aircraft production bureau; Lieutenant | of propeller lumber and stockholder CT in the Curtiss Airplane and Motor corporation. production manager of the aircraft bureau; and Second Lieuten- ant Samuel E. Nrooman, Jr, inspector l in the $. B. Vrooman Company of Phil adelphia, which sold mahogany to the government for airplanes.
 | Mir. Hughes concluded his report with the statement that Tt is not with | in the province of this report to make | recommendations with respect to ad- ministrative policy, but it should be said that. under the direction of Mir. 1 Ryan and MT Potter, there has been | Improvement in organization and pro- gress has been made in gratifying measures"
 William c. Potter, to whom MT
 Hughes referred. is assistant director i of aircraft production.
 The general conclusion and recom- mendations by Mr. Hughes follow:
 Would Court Martial Deeds.
 "The evidence discloses conduct,
 which although of q reprehensible ! character, cannot be regarded as af- | forJinor erffipiauf ho gi for cIor-eraS
 under existing statutes, but there are
 certain acts shown, not only highly i'm
 proper in themselves, but of special l significance, which should lead to dis | ciplinary measures. The evidence with
 respect to Colonel Edward A. Deeds
 should be presented to the secretary of
 war to the end that Colonel Deeds may
 be tried by court martial, under arti-
 cles % and 96 of the articles of war,
 for his conduct CD in acting as con
 fidential adviser of his former business
 associate, H. l.. Talbott of the Dayton
 Wright Airplane company, and in con-
 veying information to MT Talbott in
 an improper manner. with respect to
 the transaction of business between
 that company and the division of the
 signal corps, of which Colonel Deeds
 was the head, and @ in giving to the
 representatives of the committee on
 public information a false and mis-
 leading statement with regard to the
 progress of aircraft production, for the
 purpose of publication with the au-
 thority of the secretary of war.
 Officers Should Be Punished.
 "The absence of proper appreciation
 of the obvious impropriety of trans actions by government officers and
 agents, with firms or corporations in which they are interested, compels the " conclusion that public policy demands that the statutory provisions bearing
 upon this conduct should be strictly
 enforced. It is, therefore, recommend ed that the officers found to have had
 transactions on behalf of the govern
 ment with corporations in the pecuni-
 ary profits of which they had an in . terest, should be prosecuted under sec
 tion Al of the criminal code.
 "The federal trade commission should be requested to report on the . proper cost of mahogany for airplane propellers, to the end that upon the coming in of it's report, the question of the propriety of further action, with
 respect to the transactions of the ma hogany manufacturers and importers ? association, may be determined
 Recommends Close Scrutiny. l Tt is recommended that the repre- $ sentatives of the department of justice : should keep in touch with the progress . of the reaudit of accounts so that it T may be advised of the complete en- I forcement of the rights of the govern 8 ment in final settlement of accounts, 8 and that the government has been fully ! protected against unnecessary loss,
 through waste and the absence of suit
 able factory supervision.
 t Permit me also to suggest that a t special division, or subdivision of the r present bureau of investigation in the . department of justice, should be as- d signed to the consideration of suggest e ed delinquencies in connection with . aircraft production, so that the work = already done may be appropriately fol- | lowed up. In particular it is recon - mended that the activities in relation . to spruce production, which being '. largely centered on the Pacific coast f it was impracticable to embrace in the
 present inquiry, should be carefully | scrutinized'
 e Gregory Agrees With Hughes. - An exhaustive examination" says n Attorney General Gregory's letter ol n transmittal, into the entire conduct O of aircraft matters fails to show that n any member of either board has any
 desire to retard or delay production Q or has done anything to accomplish , that result, or has Intentionally caused f the waste of funds, or been actuated by n a disloyal motive, or been guilty of dis.
 honesty or malaversation, unless there
 be truth in the specific charges whicl a will now be referred to. (The charge. n against Colonel Deeds and the officers , charged with dealing with concerns il o which they were interested)
 r T agree with the conclusion reached l, by Judge Hughes that there is no evi- ', dence upon which it fairly can b, A charged that any member of the air. n craft boards, including Mir HowarC if Coffin, General Squier, Colonel E. A '' Deeds. Colonel R. L. Montgomery, Col
 onel s. D. Waldron, MT. Richard F
 Howe, MT. Harry B. Thayer Admira
 Taylor and other naval officers, ha,
 been unlawfully interested in any con tract or transaction, relating to air
 craft production. Indeed, as to thi
 charge, there has, at no time, beer
 ground for a question involving an'
 of these gentlemen, except Colone
 Deeds''
 Show Shipments Delivered.
 The report showed that up to las
 June 30, more than a year after tn
 nation entered the war. CHI finishe, airplanes had been actually delivere, "S ii''ii"A'tNl lul SlS, InCluulnS 4,5lZ ele mentary training planes, 1,046 ad vanced training planes and 553 com bat and bombing planes Of the fight ing machines, 52g were De Haviland and 2f were of the abandoned Bristo design.
 Airpane engines delivered up to tha tune amounted to 12.633. of which 2.39 were Liberty motors for combat an, bombing planes. 1862 were for eletnen tary training machines and 2.57s fo advanced training planes. The .orisina