Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1922-02-28
SONS0F CIV. MORSE
OUT ON $4,000 BAIL
Five Others Also Give Bail.
Accusations Against
Daugherty Denied.

Three sons of Charles w. Morse,
New York shipbuilder, and five of
the other persons indicted yesterday
afternoon with Morse for alleged con-
spiracy to defraud the United States
and the Fleet Corporation. govern
ment agency. appeared today before
the clerk of Criminal Division l of
the District Supreme Court and gave
bail of $4,000 each for appearance
when called for arraignmen-. Morse
gave a bond of $4,000 IN his re-
turn from France last December.
Besides the Morse boys. those CIV
ing bond today were George NJ.
Burditt, Nehemiah H. Campbell. W.
w. Scott, Leonard d. Christie and r..
H. Livingstone. Rupert NJ. Much ard
Phillip Reinhardt would arrange bail
later in the day.
United States Attorney Gordon will
ask an early date 70" the arraien-
ment in court of the twelve accused.
dictments and lengthy legal battle
is looked for. Attorneys Wilton J.
Lambert and r. FL. Ieatman repre-
sented the men giving bail.
THE indictment. which is terribly
unjust. as will be proven later,
sonal feeling against me on the part of
Attorney General Harry NJ. Daugheyty
and certain present officials OF the
United States Shipping Board, Mr.
The Attorney General. have
heard. brought every effort to bear Z"
secure the Indictment because OF a
disagreement over me ltr 'a''.
him when he acted as one of my at
torneys in obtaining myHelease Lr. an
place l was released in dying cOndl-
zion.
although his fee was eventually
paid in full, he must have borne ami
mus toward me, and has taken this
way and method of getting even. due
to his position as Attorney General of
the United States at this time.
Denies worthless Check.
One Of the charges in the indict-
ment was that March 5. 1920, l pre-
sented a worthless check for $4,000
to the United States Shipping Board.
To prove the falsity of this charge.
!, have in my possess' canrs
check for SIS. 900 dated Malc CHI 5, 1920.
which shows that the Shipping Board
received this money and that this
charge was absolutely false.
Il want to say in conclusion that I
do not believe the grand jury would
have returned an indictment had l
or my sons or my attorneys been al
lowed to appear before them and
testify
Gordon scouts Accusation.
Mai. Gordon denied the statement
General. The prosecutor said:
That statement is absolutely false.
Neither the Attorney General nor
any one connected with the Depart
ment of Justice used any effort.
directly or indirectly. to bring about
~ rv1t nty IN IrfIr
presentation of the facts upon which
it was founded.
"The Attorney General not only
took no part whatever in the return
of this Indictment, but he uniformly
and consistently stated on the two
several interviews which I had with
him concerning the matter, that he
left it entirely. to my office. and that
he did not desire the presentation of
the matter. affecting Mr.. Morse, to
4 fair and impartial consideration of
the facts made a prima facie case of
guilt.
Mr.. Morse was not ordered back
from France by the Attorney Cen
eral. Mr.. Daugherty. The Department
from the Department of Justice, re-
Quested the French authorities not to
permit Mr.. Morse to land at Havre.
Then it was that Mr.. Morse, of his
own volition, appealed to the At
torney General to permit him to
remain and return at his convenience.
1t was not the function of the De-
partment OF Justice to either inter-
cede or interfere with the position
which the Department of State had
taken in this matter
Concerning the refusal to permit
Morse to go before the grand jury
Maj. Gordon said:
Mr.. Morse says that the grand jury
would not have returned this indict-
ment if he, his sons. and his attorneys
had been allowed to appear before
the grand jury and testify. 1t is
common knowledge that the grand
jury is not the trial jury. and it Is
all-suffcient to say that it Is not the
practice in this jurisdiction to per-
init those accused of a crime to ap-
pear before an accusing body and
convert it into a trial jury.
Mr.. Morse's insinuation that the
witnesses who testified before the
grand jury lied is as unwarranted as
it is unfortunate