Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1924-03-13
NEWS REVIEW OF
CURRENT EVENTS
Daugherty's Resignation Is
Expected, Following New
Corruption Charges.
BY EDWARD w. PIcKARD


TT HARRY DAUGHERTY is still at
! torney general of the United States
when this reaches the reader the ex-
pert prognosticators in Washington
are badly at fault Last Thursday
they predicted his resignation from
the cabinet would be in the hands of
the President by the end of the week,
and that it would take effect on Mon
day, the day when Secretary of the
Navy DENLY was to step out of Office.
Mr.. Daugherty went to Florida for a
stay Of two weeks, but was summoned
back to Washington, arriving Friday.
Already the President had changed his
MIND about asking the attorney gen
eral to retire, according to reports, and
was considering his successor. Those
said to have been approached included
Senator Borah of Idaho, Judge Will
liam S. Kenyon Of the Federal Court
of Appeals, Federal Judge Frank S.
Dietrich Of Idaho and Curtis D. Will
bur. a Suprene court judge of Califor
MIA.
President Coolidge's change of mind
presumably was brought about partly
by the sensational revelations of Off
cial corruption to the federal grand
jury in Chicago that indicted Charles
r. Forbes, former director OF the vet
Grams bureau. These were not related
to the Forbes case, so the information
was carried to Washington by a spe-
cial prosecutor. Some of 1t seriously
involves the Department of Justice, re-
lating to procurement of pardonS for
federal prisoners. This is only a part
Of the matters that will be investigat-
ed by the senate committee named to
handle the charges against Daugherty.
The committee is made up of Senators
Brookhart of Iowa, chairman; Moses
Of New Hampshire, Jones of Washing
ton, Ashurst Of Arizona and Wheeler
of Montana
This Department of Justice evidence
was not the most sensational carried
to Washington from Chicago, how
ever. Charges of wholesale corruption
and graft during the Harding admin
istration were made against certain
persons known as "the Ohio crowd"
and two members of the house of rep
resentatives as yet not publicly
named, are directly accused Of having
collected between $4,000 and $780,
600 in two or three years from federal
prisoners and their friends as payment
for pardons, paroles, communications
and ether forms of clemency. If the
charges are substantiated, these con-
gressmen face expulsion from the
house and also indictment for penal
offense. AS soon as Special Prosecutor
Grim reported in Washington, Presi-
dent Coolidge directed the Department
OF Justice to take immediate steps to-
ward the prosecution of the two rep
resentatives. The house was asked to
Investigate the matter by Represents
tive Garrett Of Tennessee.
Whether officials Of the Department
of Justice were in collision with the
members Of congress who received
payments for dispensation Of clemency
Is not clear. One official, closely iden-
titled with the Harding administra-
ton who was active in obtaining
clemency in cases in which the mem
bers Of congress were interested, is
said to have been their dupe.
THOSE kilograms that passed be-
tween Washington and e. B. Nc
Lean in Florida and the persons that
handled them occupied much time of
the senate oil lease committee last
week. A code expert of the army sig
nal corps translated the messages that
were in cipher and Mrs. Duckstein, an
operative of the bureau of investiga-
ton in the Department Of Justice, adj
mitted sending the telegram warning
Mclean that the committee was on
his trail. She said the code she used
was obsolete. William J. Burns, chief
Of the bureau, testified that Mclean
was a "dollar-a-year" operative and
that the message was sent to him in
the hope that he would resign that po-
sition. More interesting was this tele-