Maryland independent. [volume] (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1874-current, 1924-06-13
REPORT OF WALSH
ENDS OIL INQUIRY
Brands Leases Of Reserves
Illegal and Corrupt
CHIEF POINTS IN REPORT
Committee Adopts Report With But
Few chanses-chief
Points In Re-
port.

Washington. - The Walsh re.
port denouncing the naval oil
leases as corrupt and illegal was
accepted by the Senate investigat-
ing committee,
Senator Thomas j. Walsh, leading
figure in the long and sensational
scandal" inquiry, was instructed to
submit the report to the Senate as
expressing the views Of the commit
tee.
Only few changes were made in
the original as composed by Walsh.
who submitted it to the committee
after making 1t public.
His recommendations for tighten
Ing existing regulations so as to di-
minish possibilities of future sin ar
leases of the public domain were
stricken out. The committee de-
cided that this should hold over un-
til a final report is made after pend
ing court actions have been disposed
Of.
The report brings to an end the
long and sensational scandal" in
quiry, which involved scores of men
high in public life, and resulted in
che resignation Of a Cabinet officer.
Indictments now are being sought
against the principals. and suit is be-
ing prosecuted for cancellations of
the leases.
The chief features of the Walsh
report are:
1. A denunciation OF the leases
made by former Secretary of Interior
Fall, Harry Sinclair and E. L. Do
heny on the legal ground that they
were made in "hagrant disregard of
law"
2. A severe arraignment Of Fall
for accepting loans" of s25,000
from Sinclair and 100000 from Do
heny. with an attack upon former
Secretary of the Navy DENLY. charg-
ing dereliction of duty in failing to
investigate the leases before afixing
his signature TO them.
8. A suggestion that hereafter
no lease of Government oil lands
should be made without competitive
bidding, and then only in case the
lands are suffering from drainage by
adjacent properties.
4. A requirement that hereafter
leases should be passed upon by the
Comptroller-General
8. A charge that the leases are
Corrupt" without mentioning names
of those against whom corruption is
charged. but aiming it clearly at the
half-dozen principals in connection
with the leases.
g. An attack upon Fall for using
Marines to chase off from Teapot
Dome certain squatters who were
contesting Sinclair's rights. Walsh
calls this "an outrageou and unjus-
tilted use of the armed forces of the
United States" and declared a civil
suit should have been instituted to
chase off the squatters.
Z. Denial that the leases could
be justified on the ground that there
was heavy drainage. which was di-
minishing the supply of oil in the
ground
s. A denuneiation of Sinclair for
having paid millions of dollars to
irresponsible" claimants with more
or less shadowy claims
Most of the 36 printed pages OF
the report deals strictly with the
testimony developed from a lega'
standpoint. 1t refrains from pass
ing Judgment in most instances, and
merely sets forth the facts without
interpreting them. Walsh, however
said:
"a disposition Is evidenced. in
some quarters to dismiss or overlook
the very suggestive circumstances
shown in the hearings indicating cor
ruption in connection with the SIN
clair and Doheny leases, the fragrant
disregard of law and the. unwar-
ranted assumption of authority that
attended their execution, the aban-
donment of the settled policy of the
Government evidenced by them, to
Inquire as to whether they are or
are not excellent bargains from the
standpoint of the Government.
These efforts. invariably arriving
at or pointing to the conclusion that
they are such, are obviously designed
TO divert attention from or to over
come the effect upon the public mind
Of the features of the transactions.
mot only was the Teapot Dome
lease awarded to Sinclair without
competition. but he paid a fabulous
price to procure the elimination Of a
potential rival
"one seeking a fair contract from
the Government does not buy off his
competitor; neither does he, when
he secures it, ordinarily submit to
blackmail in connection with it; nor
does he, while negotiations are pend
ing, accommodate the awarding ofi-
Ger with loans"
Walsh based his main attack
against the leases on the ground
that the executive order issued by