Evening star., 1924-01-28
OIL. PROSECUTIONS
COMPLEX PROBLEM
Lawyers Doubtful About Re-
suit of Action-Fraud
Proof Difficult.
BY DAVID LAWRENCE.

BY DAVID I.AWkENCE.
Criminal prosecutions are threat
ened in the Teapot Dome scandal, but
will they get anywhere? That's the
question the lawyers are doubtful
about, no matter how highly skilled
is the counsel employed 10y President
Coolidge TO try the cases.
An analysis of the record viii show
that the contradictory statements did
not constituts perjury. as some of the
important statements We're not sworn
to when made. Nor is it clear yet
that any charge OF bribery would
hold, for nothing has been brought
out TO show q connection between the
money that was passed and the sub
sequent making of contracts. ALI the
financial transactions will be de-
Tended on the ground that they were
loans" And. strictly speaking, a loan
is not bribe, for there is always the
promise 10 repay tine money.
Conspiracy onIy Basis.
What, then, will tne lawyers do?
The only basis for discussion is
whether or not there was a con-
government. Under the conspiracy
statutes two or more persons-not I
one-muSt be found to have engaged
in an effort to defraud the govern
meDt. But did the leases which were
made injure the government? The
senators who are ~ present h.l =
ranguinE on the subject insist that
the government came of worse in the
transaction, but when the case comes
before jury the prosecuting attor-
neyS will have to prove that the eff
fect-namely, the injury TO the gov
ernment-was a deliberate act on the
n he ~ NAL Dn .ii
people get together and secure their
lease so as to benefit themselves and
defraud the government
The oil men insist that when the
experts get down to brass tacks it
will be possible to prove that the
leases Were actually to the benefit of
the government. Ii that is 30 or if
intent TO defraud cannot "e proved.
the whole case will simmer down to
misuse of power or negligence on the
part of officials. Again ana again in
the war fraud cases unde. which sew
cral persons were indicted, but lew
convicted the evidence showed mis-
conduct due to ignorance or stupidity
But there Is nothing IN the Jaw TO
punish lack OF brains. KS on that
Thin line Of defense that many have
escaped in the past and very niue
has been uncovered to make con-
victiun of anybody a certainty.
Cases May Take Year.
courts, and 1t may be a year or more
before they can be brought to cl-
max. Meanwhile the truth of the mat
ter is the case will not be tried to
punish individuals. They will suffer
as public opinion turns It's fierce gaze
upon them The controversy VIII be
tried after all, in the political cam
paisn of 1924. II will be the prin-
cipal argument. no doubt. of the dem
ocrats in their appeal To the people
20 turn the republican party out OF
power on the charge of incapacity.
Until the Teapot Dome scandal
broke loose there was very little on
which TO make an issue. Some OF the
democrats felt they must oppose tie
Mellon plan with the Garner plan and
force an issue on taxation. They had
failed to excite the public sufficiently
over the scandal in the veterans
Bureau and in other lesser scandals,
so they seized therefore on the qres-
tion as something which would en-
gage the widest possible interest.
Now comes the Teapot Dome scan
dal-an old ia shioued political affair
reminiscent of the Grant administra-
tion. The oil leases probably will be
revoked, but the democrats Will not
stop there. They will broaden the
resolution of inquiry SO as TO include
an Investigate of leases of public
. lands. This means the entire west
will become interested and il is in
the west the democrats have hopes
this year of securing enough eiec-
toral votes, in combination with the
south, to repeat their victory OF 1916.
.. Coolidge Stands Apart.
President Coolidge stands apart
from the Teapot Dome scandal. He
wasn't in position of responsibility
when the leases were made. 1t is
true two members OF his present
ca binet are under fire. but Mr.. Cool
hos Dpln ili al ntg1
ploycd and doesn't intend to shield
anybody for political or personal rea-
sons.
The democrats. however are not
preparing to attack an individual
their campaigns will not necessarily
be directed against Mr.. Coolidge-but
they will lombard the republican
party and ask for an opportunity to
take over the reinS of government
in all its branches.
There is no conCealing the nervous
ness at the White House and through
out republican circles in Washing
ton over the tremendous interest
which has been developed in conec-
tion with the Teapot Dome scandal
1t will intensity interest in the other
Investigations now in progress. The
Teapot Dome investigation has been
going on for many months. Rela-
lively little attention has been paid
TO It, When the most sensational dis
closures were made due to the unre-
mitting energy of Senator Thomas J.
Walsh of Montana, democrat, the rec
ord had become so involved with COM
plex questions that laymen abandoned
it is a technical inquiry.
But the Montana senator, who is
one of the best lawyers in the United
States Senate, was quietly preparing
the case for trial by jury. His pene-
trating cross-eXamination and un-
Willingness to let go of a clew has
brought the Teapot Dome scandal to
the surface. Senator Walsh of Mon
tana is really the hero of the whole
affair. It's a striking example Of
what an inQusitive legal mind can
do. And the democratic party just
now is patting Senator Walsh on the
back for giving them a real issue on
which to fight the 1924 campaign.
Copyright. 1924
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