Evening star., 1924-05-20


Attorney General Stone will be CON
suited tomorrow by Senator Wheeler
the committee prosecutor, regardinp.
the advisability of continuing the efs
fort to obtain the financial records of
George Remus, the convicted ohio
the committee sessions last week that
| he paid S250,000 or more to Jess "
Smith for protection.
Tells of Smiths Activities
Today's open session Of the com
| mittee was devoted exclusively 10 the
testimony of witnesses who said that
Smith, though not on the official paw
roll of the Department of Justice. had
large part in the conduct of the de-
partment
Upon the authority of former At
torney General Daugherty, orders
given by Jess Smith, his friend and
companion, were taken and obeyed
by the bureau of investigation Of the
! Department of Justice. Lewis j.
Bailey, its former acting chief, tes-
| titled.
| Bailey. now agent in charge ior
the bureau at Atlanta, was acting
chief from October, 1920, to August
| 1921. He said he was told by MI
Daugherty to take up all questions
with Smith.
Mr.. Daugherty said he was a very
| busy man." Bailey testified, but that
Mr.. Smith represented him Any
| thing that came up. he told me, |
| should see Smith about, and what
! ever Smith told me to do would be
all right"
Did you do so'" asked Senator
Wheeler.
Yes" Bailey replied, except in
| one or two incidents, where I had
some question as to Mr.. Smiths judg
ment and went to the Attorney Gen
| eral."
Bureau Being Reorganized.
The bureau was being reorganized
during the period, Bailey added, and
most of the consultation between
himself and Smith dealt with the
| question of employees to be retained
dismissed or hired. Smith, he said
had an Office in the department, and
took an interest in anything"
The witness related how Smith had
told an assistant chief of the bureau
he had to get out" Answering 4
question by Chairman Brookhart, he
said there was no reason in his judg-
| ment for the decision.
Everybody around the Department
Of Justice recognized Smith as the
man they had to pay attention to-,
Bailey said. He was the most power
ful man there next to the Attorney
| Gen neral"
You understood that Smith was a
sort of messenger for the Attorney
General?" asked George L; Chamber
lain, attorney for Mr.. Daugherty.
Outside of Patronage.
We'll, I don't know as to being a
messenger" Bailey responded He
was some sort of representative of
the Attorney General, though 1 don't
say 1 was to follow his word entirely
without some indication that the AT
torney General approved"
Mr.. Chamberlain suggested that the
| usual political requirements for a
change in the personnel of the bu
reau with change of administra
| tion had been responsible for the
situation, but Bailey replied that the
bureau Of investigation usually had
| been considered outside of the pat
ronage system.
Did Smith ever request you TO 90
demanded
fAeS open 10 Sm1In-
There were two or three little
questions we couldn't agree on"
Bailey said There wasn't any cor
ruption in his request"
Smith got everything he wanted,
Bailey said, when Senator Wheeler
asked as to his access to official files.
frequently furnished to him, the wit
ness declares though all the files he
remembered Smith having were in
reference to employees.
Everybody up there understood
they had to do what he told them
Bailey added. "f they were like me
they figured they had better take his
orders or look for new job
Case File on Burns.
There was a "case file" in the hu-
reau relating to w. ]. Burns, Bailey
said, when Burns became director OF
the bureau, indicating that the de-
partment had investigated the detec-
| tive chief himself at some period dur
ing the war. What it contained, BAL
ley said he did not know.
Smith was making every effort TO
reduce the force to a minimum the
witness went on, and in so dong
l
said Smith declared in my hearing
that he was in no way officially con-
nected with the Department Of Jus
tice and that he was just there as
| matter of personal friendship to th.;
| Attorney General, helping 10 get
things started
| j. Pierce Miller, a former Washing
! ton newspaper man, testified that ne
met Jess Smith in February, "
while assigned to get news from the
Department of Justice, and thaL-
| Smiths general attitude was mat OF
an official of the department Smtn
at the time had no particular once
he said, but "roamed around various
offices. chiefly occupying the Attor-
ney Generals office
Miller said he had seen CASTOR B.
| Means and Smith together on ire
| Quent occasions. He told OF seeing
A. Mitchell Palmer, the former Attor-
| ney General, call upon Mr.. Daugh-
| erty, and said that Daugherty later
told him they had talked about the
| Bosch magnetic case and that ne
didn't want to indict Palmer unless
he had to-"