The Birmingham age-herald., 1922-06-05

The department acted after
 Mir. Bakhmeteff himself. taking
 notice of Senate criticism of his
 continued presence here, had of-
 fered to retire should tke Wash
 ington government desire 1t. The
 work of liquidatinS property
 claims growing out of the war.
 the ambassador said, had been
 his chief function in recent
 months and now was nbout com-
 pleted.
 Embassy Funds Mfsusea At the same time department of- ficials made public an exchange or letters between Secretary Hughes and Secretary Mellon of the treas ury department. in which cognizancs is taken of the charges of misuse Of Russian embassy funds. produced in tho Senate several weeks ago " Senator Borah. republican. Idaho A detailed statement of the embassys expenditures Is given by Mir. Mellon. whose letter declared that the s1s7.- GOO, 900 advanced by the United States was used solely for tho purchase of obligations of the Russian gov- ernment In accordance with the Lih- erty loan acts"
 Of the s1s7. .ooo.o .ooo total, the treas- uf9 bttEGLbIy 6dlQt tlEOsUuUtuuV Wd8 transferred by the ambassador to the account of the Russian finance min istry, leaving s62.o60.0o0 flor expen- allure in this country"
 At the time of the fall of tho Kerenslky government in November, i917," the letter added, the em- bassy had s56.o0o.oo0 deposited In this country. of which $10,oo0,000 was said to be "the balance remain Ing from this governments loans to Russia" the remainder representing moneys derived from British and other sources.
 Tho $5s.ooo.ooo. Mir. Mellon added. together with other sums added through liquidation proceedings. all was spent under the supervision or state and treasury officials. The amount of lianldntion effected was given at approximately slo2,ooo.ooD. negotiations reEardins which were said to have been virtually compiet- ed Upon MT. Bakmetffs retirement these negotiations are to be carried forward by Secretary Ughet. finan- cial attache of tho embassy, who Is to continue to enjoy . diplomatic status.
 The correspondence between Mfr. Bakhmetff and Secretary Hughes. as made public tonight, was late in April, after Senator Borah had challenged the ambassadors status, and had made an unsuccessful attempt to haiA him before a Senate committee. It was not until early in May. how- ever. that Senate discussion of tho subject had reached its climax In a list of interrogatories propounded by MT. Borah on the Senate floor. but never officially taken noto of by either the state department or the embassy.
 MT. Bakhmeteffs letter to secre- tary Hughes. under date of April 2S, 1922, was as follows:
 My Dear Mir. Secretary:
 "In view of recent events I think IL advisable to bring forward once more the subject of my position as the representative of Russia in the United States.
 Received at Washington in July, 1917, as ambassador of the first dem- ocratic government of Russia, I have remained at my post up to the ores- ent time in order to serve and pro- tect Russian national interests and to facilitate in cooperation with the treasury and state departments the liquidation and final settlement of large volume of commercial bus mess for which the government Of Russia stood obligated, partly through my agency. to American business concerns. I am happy to believe that as we'll as Russian, inter. ests have been served thereby.
 "The work of liquidation has now been brought to a practical close. At the same time my status as ambas- sador has been made the subject of re- newed discussion. I am led to question whether my continuance as ambassa-
 (Continued on page two)