Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1921-01-27

! NphNiAVi thdl BGu 70 MS account III
the office of the Bethlehem Ship
building corporation had been al
| located to expense of construction
of government ships.
Mr., Schwab had been recalled to
give testimony regarding ship con-
/ struction matters while he was di-
| rector general of the Emergency
| Fleet corporation. After this tes-
/ timony his attention was called by
| Representative F. NJ. Foster to tes-
/ timony that since making his de-
NAL last Friday of the charges, he
had conferred with Perley Morse,
Of Perley Morse & Co, auditors,
who found the alleged vouchers.
! Mr.. Schwab admitted he had
talked with Mr.. Morse, stating that
a Mr., Wildman, whom he had
| known several years, came to him
with the statement that Mr.. Morse
was man of the highest repute.
Received No Money.
81 listened" Mr.. SQhwab added,
land aid that if what you say is
true. and what I assure you l can
prove is true, that I received none
of this money should not Mr..
| Morse be willing to make a state
ment thathe has made a mistake
Mr.. Wildman said he thought he
would do So
As a result of this conference, a
meeting between Mr.. Schwab and
Mr.. Morse was arranged later, but
the witness said if he repeated to
Morse what he had said to Wild
man--"That the facts l related
were true and that I was now at
the end of q forty years business
career, and that 1t was a matter
so indescribably deep in my heart
to be charged with something of
that kind that l hoped he would
correct it.
HE would not do it," Mr..
Schwab continued. "He said there
were explanations and reasons"
Emotion Overcomcs Him.
Here the steel mans voice be-
came husky and his frame shook
with suppressed sobs.
II hope you will excuse me, Mr.,
Chairman and gentlemen of the
committee" he started to contin-
| ued---'but'. and here his voice
broke again.
For a moment he endeavored to
control himself. He gave up the
attempt and from his eyes great
tears rolled, which he wiped away.
The committee room was filled
and it was evident that he had
the sympathy Of all by the silence
"a silence broken by Representa-
tive Foster, who said:
Foster Pays Tribute.
81 cannot help making this re-
| Election. / want to express on the
| record my appreciation of the
manner, Mr.. Schwab, in which you
have introduced evidence concern
membership on this committee, l
want to express my appreciation as
an American citizen for the serv-
ices you have rendered our coun-
try.
There is no jury to be affected,
or court to be influenced, but l say
that out of an appreciation of the
situation, l feel l am compelled to
give expression to it,"
This statement was greeted by
| applause.
II thank you very much" Mr..
Schwab replied. THAT was the
substance of my conversations with
| Mr.. Morse" .."
He soon regained control of him
| self and in answer to the chair
| mans question said he had never
| instituted any steps to have any
| audit stopped. He said such mat
| ters were never brought to his at
tention. .-.. ....-.. .........
He again thanked the commit
| tee and asked them to excuse him
| for his display of emotion and
arising, walked from the room,
passing close to where Mr.. Morse
sat.
Previously, Mr.. Schwab took up
/ Incidentally that he devoted much
time to visiting shipyards to inspire
| the men to greater efforts.
Was Emergency Program.
He asserted that the shipbuild-
! ing program was an emergency
one, that General Pershing was
urging more ships and that moth
| ing was allowed to stand in the
way of construction. He declared
at least two billion Of the three bill
lion dollar cost ought to be
charged off as war cost.
The ships should be realized
on" he added, "at any price with
in reason to private operators"
Wooden ships, he said. should be
scrapped,
Wallace Downey, head of the
Downey Shipbuilding corporation,
! whose name was mentioned by
Tucker X. Sands in connection with
the alleged $4,000 payment for a
ship contract. denied all such al
legations. He said he had paid
Sands $4,000 in the form of four
notes as a fee to his bank to un-
derwrite a credit for a subsidiary
organization, the Providence En-
gineering corporation. The credit
was arranged to the satisfaction Of
the shipping board, and Mr.. Down.
ey paid two of the notes when they
came due, then discovered that the
bank had no knowledge of the
transaction. He secured from
Sands the return of one note and
$4,000 payment on the third.
He said the shipping board owed
his company approximately $5,000,-
900. His last contracted ship was
completed thirteen months ago
as the result of a failure to get
settlement with the shipping board,
his corporation had gone into a re-
ownership.
The walsh committee adjourned
to meet again in Washington at the
call of the chairman. The commit