The Birmingham age-herald., 1922-04-29
DAUGHERTY NOW FACES SCANDAL
 IN DEPARTMENT
Charges of Dismissed Official May Be lnVeStigated-lr- reguIaritieS Said to Ex-
 iSt in Office
By HUGH ". ROBERTS Washington Bureau. The Herald.
 hO0 navidaOu HuildinK


 Washington. April 2s.-(Special)- Harry M, Daugherty. the highly in- telligent lawyer and shrewd poli- tician whom President Harding made Attorney General of the United States, is face to face with scandal of in- finite possibilities in his own de- pertinent.
 W. O. Watts, recently discharged as an assistant counsel of the depart ment of justice. because he furnished Representative Royal C. Johnson of South Dakota with certain informa ton bearing on alleged notorious war contracts, has publicly declared that a combination of government officials and other common crooks have been assaulting and raiding the public treasury on a scale so large as to be almost unbelievable,' and that "organized interests are footing the government"
 MT Watts has a champion in Con gress in the person of Representative Johnson. who has not hesitated to proceed against alleged conditions simply because the administration Is republican. The indications are that nothing save the ruthless power of an overwhelming majority of poli- ticians can prevent a congressional investigation of the department of justice.
 Starting the Row
 Some time ago, Representative Johnson heartlessly proceeded against the department of justice because of war contracts and disposition of war surpluses, and likewise against Sec retary Weeks of the war department Contemporaneous Representative Woodruff of Michigan, proceeded against the Attorney General because he had permitted Henry Ford to ac- quire the Lincoln Motor company for $s,o0o,0o0 before that company had discharged a $9.000.000 obligation to the government
 MT. Daugherty ascertained that NJ. Johnson, prior to his address, had held consultations with Mir Watts. He asked Watts the direct question If he had given Johnson any informa- ton. When Watts answered in the affirmative. he was dismissed on the alleged ground of 'disloyalty."
 It is a matter of common gossip in Washington that Daugherty did not charge his assistant with dis seminating false information. Dem ocrats, while enjoying the row in the republican family, point out that ordinary information ought not to be concealed by the department of jus tice if a member of Congress de- sires 1t.
 "Proof of Looting"
 After his dismissal. Watts ad dressed a letter to Daugherty in which with an intimation that the At torney General knew nothing with which his department was engaged, he declared that the records would show evidence of government footing by government officials and other ordinary crooks"
 Representative Johnson, taking the floor of the House in defense of Watts. repeated his former charge of Irregularities, and intimated that the department of justice had become so impotent that crooks were making 1t the laughing stock of the century. He declared that the country has been flooded with bogus government bonds amounting to millions or dollars"
 It is understood that the Attorney General has been advised to demand an investigation. It is understood that the republican majority of the House will not provide for an in- vestigation without the demand from DauRnGTIy. IL IS SdlQ ludl iNtpIt- sentative Johnson will formally re- quest the passage of resolution providing for an investigation. Dem- ocrats, of course, w.ll support it.
 Justice Now Busy
 While possibly without undue cause, the department of justice. since the speeches of Johnson and Woodruff and the scandal involving Watts, has displayed an unwonted activity.
 It is now actively engaged in pro ceeding against the Lincoln Motor company for the recovery of s9.- 000,000 said to be due the govern ment And it is actively inquiring into the charge filed by Represen- tative Tinkham of Massachusetts, that the Anti Saloon League of America has always ignored that law which requires political organizations to report to Congress the sources of it's contributions and the details of it's expenditures.