The Cordova daily times., 1923-01-01
High-Ups Charged
 l1 Suits COUeri11g
 Billions Of Dollars

WASHINGTON, Jan. l-BenedlCt Crowell, Assistant Secretary of War under the Wilson administration, and six "dollar-a-year' men were yester- day indicted by the special Grand Jury Investigating alleged war frauds, on charges of conspiracy to defraud the Government through the construction of wartime army camps and canton Elents. Among the six indicted with Crowell are William A. Starrett, Claire Foster, John H. McGibbons, and James A. Mears. The men are charged with having maladministered the existing laws and regulations controlling the giving of contracts to friends, associates and clients, under the Cost-plus system which, it is charged resulted in losses to the Government amounting to mil lions and to the reducing of the morale of labor.
 The indictments are the first big salvo in Attorney General Daugher- tvs promised attack upon wartime contractors to collect amounts al legged to have been fraudulently Ob tained from the Government. Others are expected to follow, the amounts involved running into the hundred millions of dollars. They charge forty seven overt acts in violation of Sec tion 37 of the Penal Code, which pro- vides for the imposition of a fine of fifteen thousand dollars or two years Imprisonment or both in case of con- viction.
 The indictments are based on mem oranda presented from the various units of the war transaction section of the Department of Justice indicat- ing that preliminary investigations into 425 wartime contracts had dis closed evidence upon which the Gov ernment must take action. In every one of these 425 cases, it is declared, either civil or criminal suits must be brought by the Government, and in many cases both will be necessary if the Government is to recover even a part of fabulous or improperly exe- cuted contracts.
 The majority of them, approximate ly 25O cases, are said to have origin ated in the War department while the Navy department transmitted to the Department of Justice nearly 70 cases, the Shipping Board 50, and something like 30 cases came from miscellaneous Federal agencies and bureaus which functioned during the war.
 Attorney General Daugherty, who, with members of the Advisory Coun- cil of the war transaction section, Judge Charles Kerr, Judge T. M. Big ger and former Senator Thomas, ana the six assistant attorney generals, has examined and re-examined the evidence thus far accumulated by or fjcials who have spent months investl- gating the various cases, says:
 Legal civil action will be taken in every case in which it has been dis covered that fraud, collision or dis honesty was practiced While great numbers of cases indicate cn their face the worst kind of fraud and thevery the Government cannot, of course, go into court until it has es- tablished absolutely on the face of the records in it's possession that it's case will stand the acid test. The Government must be fair to itself, and fair even to those whom it would brand as crooks and profiteers, yet every single individual, firm or cor poration involved in the cases now in the possession of the department must satisfy the Governments claims to tho 1ast nnnny"