The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-02-11
Doubt Expressed As To Whether Coolidge
 Will Accept It
SENATE WILL ASK
 HE BE DISMISSED
Daugherty May Not Get Out During Teapot Storm, But
 May Quit Afterwards
PRESIDENT BUILDING HIS
 z FENCES FOR CAMPAIGN
sy aAymoND CHAPTER

tcsSyisht isa4. Ter -Ths Ass- -Hsraid)
 WASHINGTON, Feb.& 1O.-Now comes new phase in the Teapot Dome scandal. President Coolidge, having di- rected his special counsel to the task of inyalidating the Sinclair and Doheny leases, has turned to the difficult work of rebuilding the political prestige of his administration.
 One of the first developments will be the resignation of Secretary of the Navy Denby, It will be rendered vol untarily under one ground Monday the desire of Denby to relieve the Pres ident of embarrassment.
 Coolidge will be placed in a peculiar position after the Senate adopts the Robinson resolution Monday requesting Denby's retirement. The President re- fuses to ask for <Denby's resignation, because he believes that would be an unfair act, casting suspicion upon his naval secretary in advance of full disclosure of the facts. But neverthe- less the President, as do most other re- publicans here, cannot help but regaAd Denby as a political liability, though he would be the last man to approach , Cabinet officer and demand his head in order to save himself.
 Leaders Want Denby's Head
 But some of the Presidents friends feel more strongly about the matter and desire Denby's resignation for the good of the party. Denby was reared in the naval tradition and does not quit with out fighting, as his repeated statements il the last few days plainly show. How ever. the question is now one which involves the fate of the party in the Approaching election, and Denby is will ling ato- surrender% his port lio. Eneh an act will make matters easier. He will do this, however, solely on the ground that it, is to relieve the Presi- dent of embarrassment, and not as an admission that he has acted wrongly, or with poor judgment, in the leasing of naval oil reserves.
 ADs DENBY TT shdlu
 But this is only one phase of the situation. The prestige of the adminis- tration is as of mass of wreckage strewn above the ground in the wake of the path taken by the Senate investi- gating committee piece by piece. It must be patched together again before the national campaign begins five months hence. Coolidge is the only man in the party who can take the pieces and rebuild the partys prestige so that it will bear some semblance to the solid structure that it was one month 4ago, when the administration was riding easily on the popularity of it's tax re- duction program.
 Daugherty May Also Resign
 There are many hints dropped that the President would be relieved to have the resignation of Attorney General Daugherty, but thsi officials departure from the cabinet is likely to be delayed until the present storm has subsided somewhat. He will be back in private life before the presidential campaign ends, in the opinion of most observers.
 Another development that is likely to come some time in the future, is the issuance of an executive order trans ferring Jurisdiction over naval oil re- serves hack to the Navy Department, where it rested before <Albert B. Fall induced President Harding to shift the control to the Interior department.
 But the hardest task of the Presi- dent is t0 restore the confidence of the country in the, present administration.
 Finds Few Above Suspicion
 It is apparent from the conversation one hears, even here in calloused Wash ington. that few are above suspicion now. Whenever senator is the least bit slow in voieing his indignation at the oil scandal, he becomes the subject of whispered rumors. Some of the best known women here-are victims of the whispered speculation. At the moment, there is tendency. here to supect every man until he is proven innocent. and the high percentage of accuracy which has marked the gunnery of Senator Walsh gives encouragement to this state of mind.
 Following is the full text of the resolution of Senator Robinson, Arkansas, minority leader, requesting the resignation of Secretary of the Navy Denby:
 Whereas, in view of the revelations and testimony developed in the Tea pot Dome investiga tion: Re it
 Resolved, that it is the sense of the. United States Senate that, the President of the United States i'm mediately request the resignation of Edwin Denby and all other officials and officers in the navy department whose connection with the leasing of the oil reserves of the government indi- cate misfeasance or malfeasance in of fice."
 Under an unanimous consent agree ment, a vote is to be taken at 5 D. m., Monday. Unofficial polls indicate the resolution will be adopted by a slight majority composed of a coalition of democrats and insurgent republicans. The resolution does not require action by the House or the Presidents sigma ture. It is purely an official expres- sion of sentiment in the Senate. As the text indicates, the resolution is in the form of request to the President and he is not obliged to take any official cognizance of it.