The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-02-11
AMAZING GRAFT
 STORY REVEALED
 IN FORBES WORK
Will Irwin Begins Narra. { tive Of Imposition On
 Helpless War Vets
(csntInusd From Pass n

7 Nee"t'"eo" ''e" ' sse '
 the veterans bureau, here was sorrow among the women clerks all over the building. "I sat in on one of the investi- kations after his downfall" says an other witness to the personalit- of Forbes. 'Of course, he figured as the accused. But if you had watched the girl stenographers, you'd have thought be was the hero of the piece. Within [ two days, they were all calling him . Charlie.' That personality of his z. reached out and took Warren Harding unto itself. When. they parted, after several weeks in the magic atmosphere of the islands, they were Warren" and Charlie to each other; and Forbes had an invitation to visit Marion and stay as long as he wished.
 Gets Into Signal Corps
 We entered the war. At once Forbes applied for a. commission in the signal corps, stating his service as private and sergeant in the United States army as his qualification. Doubtless the army authorities, before commissioning him major, did not look up his folder in the war department files. The commis- sioner of public works at Hawaii was not parsonage to be question. and If they did they may have remembered that in 1900 assertion was only a minor pecadillo.
 He went over" with the Forty first division, was transferred to the Thirty third, saw service at the front, received before the armistice the American dis tinguished service medal and the French croix de guerre. At his dis charge he returned to the northwest, where he entered into partnership in the construction business with c. B. Hur- ley, afterward intimately connected with the mess in the veterans bu- f, reau.
 Now, Harding was more than "men- rfioned' for presidential candidate; :. to political insiders he was a certainty. Whatever political influence he had .s and that is uncertain-Forbes used for his old friend of those halcyon days at Hawaii. Harding was no sooner nom- mated than Forbes appeared on the front porch at Marion, court jester among the best minds. He became as son to the Harding family; in his rough and lively conversation Warren Harding got his rest from the burden of those strenuous days.
 Forbes seems to have created in his friend an exaggerated idea of his own political influence. At any rate, before Harding reached the White House Forbes had asked with considerable confidence for the Shipping Board. Harding. it would appear, inclined to es grant this application, but his advisors objected. This was not the man; he had no knowledge of the shipping busi ness or of international law.
 Harding Calls Him In
 And so one day Harding called him in. Charlie" he said, in effect, they say you won't do for the shipping board. But l have something just as good for you. We're going to hump off this whole ghusiness of caring for the ex-soldier into one bureau. With your army record you'll do fine there. It's yours if yon want it."
 -T So Forbes took his seat with the Harding administration, became, as soon as the necessary bills were passed, i-slireetor of the veterans bureau. Those .aswho held this position less Important than the presidency of the shipping board were not thinking in terms of 1 finance.E During one year of Forbes 2 6irectorship it cost $487 ,O00. .0O0-the most expensive branch of the govern ment. t.; I
 5,,ss The career of Forbes had reached its climax. Although, as papers submitted to the Senate committee later proved, he had no visible means of support ex- \ cept his salary of $10,000 year, he lived expensively, gave parties which this generation of Washington will all ways remember for lavish hospitality, maintained his family in Europe. The fatterers and sycophants on the fringe of the administration crowded around him; for he. was a direct wire into the White House.
 . While others waited in line to see ..the President, Forbes just walked in. -They were still Warren" and -.rCharlie" In his rough wit, his bub- bling high spirits, his back-slapping good-fellowshipp. the President got re- %sSlief from the burdens of a position .--which weighed. heavily upon his own '~"kindly sririr All the insiders of Wash ington knew that; and Forbes, quite naturally. used this reputation for his own ends. '"The President wants it his argument when driven into a corner. And who could answer that? The President is" not accessible to every minor office holder in the government, while Forbes visited the White House nearly every day. Already, he looked toward higher honors. Secretary Fall was going to resign; who had a better hold on the Presidents affections than he? Forbes sat on top of the world.
 Then the past came Ill, lke nlnC of the future. One day, a small, well preserved woman of fifty or so walked unannounced into the veterans bureau and reached the director. It was the first Mrs. Forbes. There were confer ences and connections in the directors office. Charles Cramer, legal advisor to the bureau, who committed suicide at about the time when his world tumbled about Forbes ears, was called into consultation. Mrs. Sarah Forbes went back to her home ill Brooklyn. She never came back; and since that day she has steadily denied information to investigators or reporters.
 Then the future crowded on the heels of the past. One afternoon, at the door !. of the veterans bureau, Mrs. Votaw, the Presidents sister, introduced Col onel Forbes to Elias H. Mortimer of Philadelphia. And Mortimer was Nemesis. That meeting leads straight up, link by link. through soiled and scaly episodes which make an Ameri- can blush for his country, to that scene in the White House when the best na- tured of our Presidents shook an erst- while friend as terrier shakes a rat and cried: "You yellow-be1ly! You've Gbuble-crossed me again.!
 Tomorrow: The second installment of Will Irrwin's story.