Paragould soliphone. (Paragould, Ark.) 1918-1950, 1922-12-15
DAUCHERTY'S
IMPEACHMENT
PROCEEDINGS
Hearings in Case of United
States Attorney General
Begin at Washington
elias h e S.

by Representative Keller, Republic
an of Minnesota, opened yesterday
before the House Judicial Committee
They were marked by frequent
clashes between members Of the COM
mittee and Jackson II. Ralston. at
torney for Mr.. Keller, first as to
the method of procedure and second
as to the. relevancy of testimony.
Representative Keller won the
first skirmish, the committee voting
i'm executive session, after an houl
and half of wrangling in the open
to hear first the evidence on three
of the IA specifications designated
by Mr.. Keller, instead of taking the
charges up in the numerical order
in which they were presented orig
inally.
Another decision was against the
summOning of Chief Justice Taft
whose presence had been requested
\ by Mr.. Ralston for the purpose of
onfiGming a letter which Mr.. Taft
wrote in 1912, while president. to
the then attorney general, Mr.. Wick
ersham, and which was read into the
record during the day. The COM
mittee neld that confirmation would
be unnecessary.
This letter and one written to Mr..
the principal evidence submitted yes
terday. Both dealt with a pardon
| for Willard N. Jones, convicted in
Oregon IN 1907. Of land frauds, and
liam j. Burns, appointed last year
by Mr. Daugherty as chief Of the
Bureau of Investigation of the De-
partment of Justice, in connection
4 the Jones case.
Evidence is Produced.
n The purpose of their introduction
|linto the record, Mr.. Ralston said
/ was to support the charge in the
l Impeachment specifications that Mr..
Daugherty had appointed TO positions
''of great Importance and large fl
nancial and moral responsibility, .
4 men who are enthusiastically, cor
\ runt and dangerous to the liberties
1 of the people of the United States. .
In the Wickersham report to the
president, it was set forth that Mr..
Burns, who then was employed by
the government under Francis j..
Heney as special prosecutor in the
4 land fraud cases, obtained in adj
vance list OF prospective petit
! trial before Judge Gilbert, and that
after 500 of the 1900 names had
been found satisfactory from his
/ standpoint, their names had been
allowed to remain in the jury box.
President TAFT, in replying to Mr..
Wickersham and approving a pardon
for Jones, declared the methods de-
scribed constituted ''the most bare
faced AMI unfair use of all the ma
chinery for drawing a jury" which
had been disclosed to him in all his
| long experience in the federal courts.
! He added that this condition gives
sufficient reason to justify par
don" for Jones, as well as Justify
L ing COLONIZATION of the methods of
sHeney and Burns
y 3spardon Case Involved.
Paul Rowland of Cleveland, o.,
who appeared as personal attorney
for Mr.. Daughcrty, developed from
James A. Finch. pardon attorney
for the Department OF Justice, who
prepared the report in the land
fraud case, that both Mr.. Burns
and Mr. Heney had denied the
lcharges with regard to the drawing
of the Jones jury.
After Mr.. Ralston had disclosed
that it was not his purpose to under
take to show that Mr.. Burns had
conducted since 1907 the alleged
practices referred to in the Wicker
sham case, several members of the
committee objected to the admission
of the letters on the ground that
they were irrelevant.
They were overruled by Chairman
Volsteal, however, and Mr.. Ralston
proceeded to offer testimony intend
ed to show that Mr.. Daugherty
knew Of the Wickersham report be-
for appointing Mr.. Burns.
Facts Were Known.
On this point Guy Fl. Oyster, con-
fidential secretary to Samuel Com
pers, had called the Wickersham
document to Mr.. Daugherty's atten-
ton last July before announcement
was made of Burns appointment.
This was at the attorney generals
office in his presence, he said, add
ing that Mr.. Daugherty had verified
the copy Mr.. Gompers had from
l"pamphlet" for which Mr.. Daugh-
erty had sent.
Before the committee adjourned
for the cay announcement was made
that two additional witnesses. Mr..
| Wickersham and Mr.. Gompers, will
4 be heard on the specification taken
Inn vasfarday Mr. RaI4tou ask cd