The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1924-02-21
OUR WASHINGTON LETTER.
''MOb Spirit" Rampant in The
Senate. Checked by Presi-
dent Coolidge.

| That is the concensus Of opinion in
| Washington, and it is abundantly
confirmed by the press Of the country.
MIR. Cooidge's sharp rebuke Of the
| Senate when it sent him the resolu-
ton, passed chiefly by Democrats, de-
manding that he dismiss Secretary
! DENLY from the cabinet. has not only
| commanded the widest praise-from
| Democrats as well as Republicans
| but has brought home to the people
what the New York Tribune terms
"the mob spirit of the Senate, it's de-
termination TO lynch Mr.. DENLY first
and try him afterwards" AS the
Tribune points out, should it be found
that Mr.. DENLY has been guilty of
some of the things charged against
him it would become the duty Of the
Senate to sit as his judge in impeach-
ment proceedings, while the Senate
| has destroyed its judicial character
| by lynching the accused before hear
| ing the evidence-before trial. Even
the New York Times, leading Demo-
cratic paper Of the country, goes so
far in its praise of Mr.. Coolidge as
| to compare him with its greatest he
70, Grover Cleveland. 1t says: "By
his bold and immediate assertion Of
the power Of the Executive, as against
on overweanirg Senate. Calvin Cool
idge has taken his place alongside
Grover Cleveland"
The Senates oil investigation is 60
ing merrily along ana is spreading
over so much territory, german and
| nor-g ermaine, that it is doubtful if the
members Of the committee will ever
get through or even find tine to read,
the mass of documentary evidence
they are calling for AS a destroyer
Of presidential boomlets at least, it
is proving an immense success. No
Democratic politician of standing and
judgment can be found who does not
regard the McAdoo boom as dead be-
yond resuscitahon; even though Mr.,
McAdoo's hand-pickcd supporters in
conference in Chicago make their best
efforts to vh:5e-Wash their candidate
N accordance with the specifications
provided in his call for the confer
ence. That the verdict Of his friends
will be precisely what McAdoo has
already dictated no one in Washing
ton doubts. Now rumor has it that
the committee viii be credibly inform
ed that the son OF Senator Hiram
Johnson Of California, has been for a
considerable time an attorney on The
Doheny payroll,
The Democratic section Of the Sen
ate investigating committee is hav-
ing a delightful time-eXcept when
It unwittingly brought out McAdoo's
secret connection with Dohenv and
the -Secretary's S150,000 fees-and
the Republicans are obviously scared
to death, although if they had little
more CT Mr.. Coolidg's courage and sa-
gacity they would not be. But the
general public, under Mr.. Coolidge's
leadership, is rapidly coming to re-
aiize the extent to which politics is
moulding the Investigation and the
necessity of waiting for facts before
jumping to conclusions. Mr.. Coolidge
has pledged himself that the rights
Of the people will be protected, that
no guilty man shall escape, and he has
inspired confidence that he will keep
his pledge, as the Democratic and Re-
publican press alike make clear.
Gradually, the public is coming
more clearly to understand something
about the oil leases For instance, it
has been shown that under the De-
heny lease the Government has ac-
tually received 81 per cent of all the
oil taken out-instead of 6 per cent
estimated by Senator Walsh. Do
heny's company stands pledged in
addition, to furnish free transporta-
ton of the Governments oil to the
seaboard; to maintain for a period
of Is years a constant supply of
100000 barrels of oil, stored free,
on the Atlantic seaboard; to main
tain, storage free, supply of 81 ,000,-
600 barrels on the West coast: to ex-
change for the Governments crude
oil and petroleum product the Navy
may need; to sell to the Government
at ten per cent less than the market
price any petroleum product the Navy
may need on the West coast, and to
drill any Offset wells the Government
may direct on any part of Naval Re-
serve No. l. The investigation also
has brought out that before the De-
heny lease was made the Standard
Oil drilled ten wells just outside Ma
val Reserve No. 1, that they came in
with an average daily yield of $4,000
barrels each, That frightened the
navy officers and they proposed the
Doney contract, which was let. In
mediately the Standard Oil drilled a
second row Of wells along the border
and they came in with an AVERAGE