Evening star., 1922-10-03
i. s. AGENTS FREE
IN LIQUOR THEFTS
Justice Department Plans No
Prosecution, According
to Burns.
GUILTY MEN OFF FORCE
Private Detective Said to Have In
vestigated Case When Officials
Ignored Charges.
GUILTY MEN OFF FORCE

No action by the Department OF
Justice will be taken result OIL
the special grand jury report yester-
day charging agents OF the depar~'
ment with illegal removal OF iauor
from the Union Station and ware
houses here for their own use
William j. Burns, director OF ths
! hureau of Investigation. said today
the matter had taken place long oe-
fore this administration came IN. 'ne
agents in question, not named. were
no longer in the employ OF the de-
partment and so far as officlai action
in the matter was concerned. the al
fair was dead
The matter was entirely unknown
TO the office. Mr. Burns said. until one
day a certain Frank Bunch came 10
ask for return of liquor. Whtch ii'
claimed. had been confiscated by req
eral agents Mr.. Burns reported, ne
said, that the government hao ~
such stocks of liquor on hand. but
would investigate. An investigator
was conducted with the result Una
Director Burns impression was touhu
to be correct. There was no liquor
stored in warehouses here I" the
credit of the federal agents
No omciai Report.
The reports to the grand jury probably
were made by MIR. Bunch. II was be-
lieved in certain quarters today. pirec-
tor Burns said no report was made by
the Department of Justice OF the sltua-
ton.
Estimates were made by department
officials that several hundred cases OF
from the departments evidence-cacne.
The value was placed near 100000 by
D. T. Wright, counsel for Bunch. Wrisht
recently filed suit against Frank burke.
former chief of the bureau OF lnvestlsa-
tion; P. j. Ahern and Henry +. Alden,
employees Of the department. charging
that they had unlawfullv removed liquor
from custody and converted it to their
own use.
A record of the Withdrawals showing
the alleged signature Of the Department
of Justice official. who vouched for the
removal in each case. was obtained by
a private detective. according to Mr..
Wright as was also a detailed report
on the places and persons to whom de
livery was made after the liquor was
taken from the local warehouse. He Ge-
clared these reports were available for
presentation to the grand jury. but was
unable to say whether they had been
presented
OflciaIs Aid Detective.
According to Mr.. Wright. the private
detective was placed on the case when
repeated efforts to obtain return of
seized liquor in certain closed cases
were unsuccessful The activity of
this operative soon became known
TO high officials of the department, he
said. and these lent their active CO.
operation.
The liquor stocks covered in the
grand jury report were those taken
during the operation Of the Reed
bone-dry amendment which prohibit
ed sale of alcoholic beverages within
the District during the early months
of the war and during the period
when purchases in adjacent territory
were still permissible. The Depart
ment of Justice was made the en-
forcing agency and. while individuals
were permitted to bring reasonable
quantities into the District for their
own use. agents of the department
exercised supervision over the stream
which Immediately began to flow
through the local railroad station and
along each of the roads entering
Washington
1t is a matter Of record. according
to attorneys who were interested in
the legal phases of the situation. that
few convictions resulted from the
seizures of incoming stocks. In many
to apply for return of their property
after a case was settled, and the
stocks in storage grew to proportions
which, at present-day prices, would
have represented a large fortune.