Evening star., 1923-11-16


| to inquire into the early life record
| of Forbes, but Chairman Reed re-
| iterated the decision of the commit
, tee not to go into that matter and
Organ announced hat his cross-eN-
animation was finished.
Chairman Reed took up the ques-
tioning.
do you know why Charles +.
Cramer former general counsel of
! the bureau) committed suicide?" he
asked.
! I've asked a great many people"
Forbes replied. "Ive heard domestic
difficulties. financial difficulties and
trouble with oil lands"
Did you make any investigation OF
mo,
Did you see the letters he left?''
mo, 1 did not see them"
Asked whether he suspected that
| Cramer had taken graft" the wit
ness replied:
"The man is dead, senator"
Il know it, responded the chair
man. but there are a great many
service men who are still living who
| ministration in the bureau. and l
don't believe we should omit the name
! even of the dead to get at the facts"
Forbes Leaves Stand.
| Forbes then said he appointed
| Cramer soon after he came into office.
He had known him only slightly in
| California before his appointment
Without going into the question
| further, Forbes was excused, and
\ James a. Mcfarland, national COM
| mander of the Disabled American
| diately attacked the manner in which
| evidence in the investigation had
J been presented.
| II must tell you" he said, that
! the disabled men are astounded at
| the misinformation and disappointed
| at the lack of constructive proposals
! for improving the condition of the
| disabled veterans.
They, of course, do not know what
! has been done in the closed sessions
= of the committee, and we hope that
much has been done, but they want
| to know what is being done for them
! and l believe they are entitled to
know that the work of the commit
| tee is not being confined to efforts to
! show up waste and graft in the ad-
ministration of the bureau.
| Despite the time. money and work
! that has gone into the preparation of
i
| tive nature has come out in the pup.
! lie hearings and we have heard OF
| nothing but waste, fraud. graft ana
! scandal. The men want TO know
what is hoped to be gathered from
all these charges, denialS and counter
| charges. which. at best, read IKE
newspaper account of dog hght'
so far as we can see there mas
nothing whatsoever been developed
4 at this hearing that would justify a
! conviction. Even should the govern
| ment attempt to prosecute any one
! charged with plundering they Wouid
have to work under the handicap or
| having shown their hand at the
! preliminary hearing.
| Wants Action on Needs.
II will tell the committee that the
| disappointment of the diSa bled men
| has reached the stage of bitterness.
! and with little more than two weeks
Remaining to complete testimony and
| prepare a report, if Congress is to
| get the results at it's opening, we
| respectfully urge that the committee
| turn over forthwith to the Depart
| ment of Justice all information in
| dicating graft or fraud, and proceed
with the relief of those vitality con-
cerned in this whole matter--disab bled
| men.
! while we know that the commit
! tee intends later to take up con-
structive ideas, we declare that build
.
| worse than useless, because we are
prepared today to prove the mislead-
| ing nature of much of the testimony
which has been given"
] Senator Walsh, democrat, MaSsa-
chusetts, read to Mcfarland the resolu-
tions authorizing the inquiry and then
reviewed just what the committee has
done.
Its a little disheartening." he said,
ITO have a leader of a veterans or
nr,i1
work we have done and say that we
have not been discharging our duties
properly"
Organ also remarked that he re-
garded McFarland's criticism as un-
timely, as obviously he did not know
the constructive work the committe ee
has done and is doing. Mcfarland
replied that he had beer told of it,
but that the country did not know,
and he wanted the country to know.
CarOusing Is Charged
Additional charges of carousing by
| the former Veterans Bureau director,
! which he denied, we've presented late
yesterday by Organ in the form of
an affidavit by Frank X. Chambers,
| jr., of San Diego, Calf, who formerly
lived in Washington. Chambers said
| Forbes. the late Charles F. Cramer.
general counsel for the. bureau, and
other bureau officials visited his farm
| in the summer of 1921 and after much
! drinking, went bathing. The party
returned to the house in scanty at
| tire, it was alleged. and Cramer was
/ without any clothing.
!. Forbes said there was some drink
| ing, but denied that there was any
! drunkenness.
! Chambers related that Forbes and
| Cramer visited the farm again on a
duck shooting trip at a time when
| Chambers was trying to lease the
| farm to the Veterans, Bureau. He
| said too much whisky and too much
| pork chops" made Forbes i'll and that
I there was little duck shooting the
next day, the party returning to the
house. Forbes went to sleep, accord
| ing to the story, but "a hot stove and
| whisky loosened Cramer's tongue
and the former. general counsel
! 'backed in a corner and said this is
lease of the farm) for all of US to
get in on"
| Denies Graft Charge.
1 The affidavit said that when Cham
| bers suggested to Forbes some time
| later that If there was to be a COM
| mission paid in connection with the
| lease. of the farm he would have
to add that to the rental. the
colonel fiared up and said, Z will
stand for no graft g"
| In explaining that the farm had
not been leased because the rehabiii-
tation division did not regard it as
necessary Forbes said he never knew
| of any attempts at corruption in COM
| nection with the negotiations.
L AS to the duck shooting trip, the
| former director said he was taken
\ iii as a result of eating pork chops,
but asserted whisky was not a con-
! tributing cause.
/ Chambers affidavit was to the ef-
lfect that Cramer and Forbes led him
l IN in connection with the negotia :
| tions,. drinking with him, some times
of his anartnent and sometimes ~