Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1921-02-10

sentence Of five years imposed on the
Stacker.
Gibboncy. Mr.. McAvoy testified, was
given n Sl2,OOO fcc TO represent Bcrg-
doll nt the court martial. Tie said Tor
mcr Judge John W. WcscOtt was given
12lO of that amount for an opinion on
certain court martial proceedings Inc
law firm Of Anscll & Bailey also was
retained.
After n rcvi2w o3sf all the circum-
stances lcading to the escape, Mr.. Nc.
Avoy stated cmnhaticnlly that York and
O'ITarC. the army guards, were not IN {,
toxicatcd when the Stacker slipped
away.
Tho witness added Judge" Janc3
T.. Romig, confidential man for the
Pergdol! family. sworc hc never received
amy bride for aiding tho draft dodgers
Scofrcd al the Law
Mr.. MrAvoy said he suggested thh'
Agent !. j. O'Gonnor. of the fpart q
mcnt. bo sent to Ebcrbach, Germany
in an effort 10 get BCrgdOll into occu
ricd territory. O'ConnOr worked toi
months on the IIcrgdoll case after the
Stacked had fed from the draft.
"Groycr Borgdoll is not the ordin
arv millionaire draft cvadcr, hc IS in
different cntcgory." Mr.. McAvoy tcs-
tilted. "hocause this fellow through
communications with newspapers be -
lifted the government when tho couh q
try was at war aud ra sing an army ,
"It was not n matter Of physical
cowardicc with Bcrgdoll. 1t was a
matter of bclittlinG the government. re
did it. from the beginning 0f the war
and he has done it up to the present
time.
"Thc evil Of Rom'g is that he was a
magistrate Of tho city Of PhiladelT4lia'
member Of tho state LCgis stature: tle,
knew the law. He deliberately violated
it and encouraged its violation,
At the conclusion Of McAvoy's long
summary uf the case. which occupied
almost an hour. Chairman Kahn asKcu
him whether he had uncovered any cvl =
donrc Of corruption in connection Wiz;
Bcrgd"ll 8 escape. lie promptly declared
| hc had not.
81 am convinced that not n single
person connected with the War dc D.,
| partmcnt vas corruptcd,' McAvoy said
emphatirully. The guards were not
| Major Hunt was not. General llarrls'
| Of course. was not. General March was
not. Tho whole trouble. in my mind
! is that General Ansell, General ltarrls
and Gibboucy, If YOU will. and the
guards had no conception Of the kind
of a fellow they had in charge, They
regarded him as an ordinary millionaire
draft Stacker. He was more thal
that
Bottle OF Gin in Doubt
Chairman Kahn, aftcr Mri McAvoy
direct testimony, spoke OF his reading
Of tho documents in the Bergdoll case
lie mentioned II "mysteriOus bottle o
giu. ." sct out in the BcrgdOll home Whol
the guards had Grover in custody there
McAvoy replied Romig would not al
init setting ont the liquor.
Mr.. Kahn asked if any one would tax
RcrCdoll for moron, or person OF sub
normal intelligence. Mr.. McAvoy r."
piled tho Stacker was "a fellow Of ycr'
much more than average ability.
Congressman Mckenzie. Republican
m. asked Mr.. McAvoy what h
though, of Bcrgdoll's release to loo
for n pot of gold" The witness dip
lomatically avoided giving his opinion.
Congressman CragO wapted to kno'
what influence led n teller at tho Unite
States Treasury to exchange notes fo
gold for Bcrsdoll when an, embargo YEA
ON gold. Mr. McAvoy said the cmbarg
had been lifted.
Congressman kcrns sought to dcvclo
that the army authorities gave Bergdo