Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1919-12-13
SUPREME COURT
ORDERS PROBE
OF BANDIT CASE
Governor McKeIvie is Still
Away and Lieutenant Gov.
ernor Says His "Hands
Are Tied"

| Are leo. "
Continued From Page OneJ
general, be and are hereby directed
to thorough investigation of the
matters involved in said communica-
tion and report their findings and
recommendations without further
delay"
Members of the state bar COM
mission are Walter L. Anderson OF
Lincoln, secretary; A. B. McCand-
less of Wymore; Bernard McNeny
of Red Cloud; John Ledwith of Lin
coin and Joseph B. Fradenberg of
Omaha.
II am new member of the COM
mission, have attended but one
meeting, and have no idea as to how
it proceeds in such a case" said
Mr.. Fradenberg.
McKelvie in East.
Under normal conditions, the
commission conducts a private in
vestigation of matters so referred
to it and recommends action by the
supreme court, if it deems that
proper.
The supreme courts action is the
first step taken by any state au-
thority to investigate the Kirk fur
Tough" and punish those guilty of
irregularity, if such exists.
What effect this order will! have
on the investigation, which officials
expected Governor McKelvie would
order on his return to Lincoln, can
not be ascertained until his arrival.
A special dispatch to The Bee
from Washington last night, states
that Governor McKelvie and R. w.
DeVoe, republican state chairman,
and the man to whom the bandit
is supposed to have been FUR
Laughed" left for New York yes
terday afternoon, the governor elat-
ed with the success of the repub-
lican conclave in Washington just
adjourned.
Holds Up Probe.
In a statement from Lieutenant
Governor Barrows in which he ex-
plains why he has not acted as act
ing governor in the Kirk matter, it
is revealed that Governor McKelvie
asked that the release of thu bandit
be allowed to stand until his return.
Mr.. DeVoe, with whom the gov
ernor is travelling to New York, is
the law partner of Senator Petrus
Peterson, who had Senator Bushee
sign the "scrap of paper" order for
the release of Kirk.
Lieutenant Governor Barrows, in
public statement, tells what he
would do, if his hands were not tied
by the governor.
Statement by Barrows.
Lieutenant Governor Barrows'
statement follows:
"If Governor McKelvie, just prior
to his leaving for Washington for
the republican conclave, had not
requested me to let the Kirk mat
ter stand until his return I would
have declared the bandit fugitive
from justice at once and ordered
his return to the penitentiary," de-
clared Lieutenant Governor Bar
rows, answering statements in news
papers that public sentiment de-
nounced lack of action in the matter.
II would have ordered these men
who say they know where Kirk is
to bring him back to the prison, and
if they refused to make public his
hiding place / would have found
some means of making them do SO.
when the governor went away
the first of the week he asked that
the Kirk matter be left alone until
his return, when he said he would
institute thorough investigation to
get at the bottom of the case"
State circles are still stirred over
the "furlough" of this notorious
criminal, and are now expressing
fear that unless some action is taken
at once, it will soon be too late to
act, as it is practically admitted by
Kinks former associates that he has
fed this section of the country.
Peterson Remains Silent.
, Senator Petrus Peterson, legal
partner of R. w. DeVoe, to whom
it is claimed that Kirk was fur
Laughed" has apparently decided to
remain silent on the affair, refusing
to discuss the matter these days.
Sen. B. X. Bushee, acting gov
ernor September 8, on whose order
the Omaha bandit was released from
the penitentiary three months later,
has retired to his home in Kimball
after issuing a public statement last
Sunday to the effect that he consid-
cred his skirts clear of any wrong
doing.
The report on Kinks record made
by E. M. Johnson while secretary of
the state pardon board, which was
reported missing from the gov
ernor's files last Tuesday one week
following the release of the bandit,