Evening star., 1924-02-11


said, in part:
Secretary Denby has repeatedly
affirmed that he initiated the move
ment to transfer the. naval oil re-
serves from his own control. where
Congress had invested it, to that of
| the Secretary of the Interior. He must
have known--every one else knew
| that the last fifteen years had deNel-
| oped II sharp conflict between the
| policies of the two departments, and
| that Congress and the public gener-
| ally were i'll sympathy with the plan
established by former Secretaries of
| the Navy. He must have known-no
one else was lacking in the informa-
| tion-that Secretary Fall was utterly
| opposed to the conservation of nat
! ural resources, and a mere analysis
of the. terms and effects of the leases
! discloSeS that they will not provide
| an adequate supply of oil for use by the
| Navy in possible emergencies. More
| over, the enormous profits which both
Sinclair and Doheny expected to re-
ceive---s10 00, ,000,O 900 each--coupled with
! the inadequacy in amount of the oil
to be stored under them. impeach the
| transaction as either Senselessly i'm
Drovident or damnably' corrupt. The
| Secretary of the Navy sWearS that he
| Sthit tHt "Hole ultH
! resulted In the nationwide scandal
and which has brought humiliation
and Disgrace to every one connected
! with it.
] secretary Denbys action regarding
! the leases is expIicable and incom-
prehensible. The Senate has unani-
mously and solemnly affirmed that he
| acted without authority of law; that
he violated the law; that the leases
and contracts which he caused to be
\ m RI tn @nE. ~ hn ,nf loA
ipolicy of the government and against
the public interest
/ Secretary DENLY has offered no ex-
planation for this disregard Of his
official duty. this wholly defenseless
breach of trust. Blindly, if not de-
i1iberately. he caused the sale of the
nations resources intrusted to him to
be conserved. Recklessly. if not pre-
imeditatedly, he violated the law
which defined his duty to his country
which he had sworn 10 serve.
Plan Opposed.
The same strange rccklessness
marked every step in the whole ne
fartous proceeding After some dis
, cussion of comparatively unimportant
amendments, in the face of bitter
and unyielding opposition from Ad-
miral Griffin head OF the bureau of
Shafroth, whose statements clearly
denounced the transfer and proposal
| to lease as a. violation of law and of
sound public policy, without even
accompanying the executive order
! with Il letter to the President As
sistant Secretary Roosevelt was sent
to the Chief Executive with the mere
verbal statement that the order was
/ satisfactory TO both Secretaries. The
naval officers who opposed Secretary
N-1 h x
department of control over its own
reserves were all assigned to foreign
duty. y queer coincidence, to say the
| least.
Every Senator knows that the
way the subject was handled was un
usual. Every Senator understands
that the practice for many years has
been TO transmit such subjects for
the consideration of the President i'll
! formal and explanatory communica-
tions. Assistant Secretary Roosevelt
haStened the consummation of the
scheme in every way. When Admiral
Griffin suggested amendments to the
ieXrcutive order. he reported after Il
conference with Secretary Fall that
he had done the best he could. Just
as soon as the two Secretaries had
! adjusted their slight differences he
hastened to the President with only
an oral statement concerning the
) transaction and procured the sigma
:! ture which consummated the nations
I betrayal by the unworthy and un
faithful guardians of its honor and
its wealth--SecrctarieS Fall and Dem
by.
scores Dcnby's StznG.
| IF Secretary DENLY had manifested
regret for his error which has
I brought shame to every one: if he had
| subsequently shown respect for the
laws which define his duties; if he
had manifested Willingness to re-
gard his public office as trust and
to correct in so far as possible the
wrong which he has SO unblushingly
committed, senators might justify
their attitude in supporting the
Walsh resolution and at the same
time in voting to reject this reSolu-
ton, thus giving him chance to
lre-establish the honorable reputation
which he has previously borne. Let
senators. however. be reminded that
notwithstanding the natural inclfna-
tion which all fair-minded men dis
play to exemplify leniency and mercy
to errinE friends no basis for such
! a policy can be found in Secretary
Denby's present attitude.
Notwithstanding the embaTrass-
ment and humiliation which his
course has occasioned every friend. he
defiantly declares he has no intention
of resigning because he has done the
right thing, obeyed the law and con-
served the public interest. So un-
mindful is he of every propriety that
in the face Of the resolution unani-
mously adopted by the Senate out
lawing the whole transaction, Secre-
tary DENLY prociaims to the world
he would repeat it tomorrow, regard
less of circumStanceS-rega of
the shameful disclosures of bribery
and corruption which have touched
the cabinet officer whom Secretary
Dephy swearS he caused to assist in
bringing about the transfer and lease
of the naval Oil reserves.
No Evidence Of Crime.
mo evidence couples Secretary
DENLY with bribery. either on the
part of Doheny or Sinclair. and this
circumstance apparently prompts the
Secretary Of the Navy to assume the
senators to invite his resignation be-
| cause he has not. been indicted or
convicted of d crime.
Not only was the Secretary of the
Navy blind to his trust when he lni-
| tiated it's transfer to one certain to
disregard it: not only was he forget
full of his official responsibility when
he transferred without authority of
law fuel oil reserved for the Navy in
| case of war, but with the knowledge
that without his own negligence and
incompetence the alleged crimes of
! others who participated in the trans
| action could not have occurred. he is
| still unable to appreciate that the
most favorable thing that can be said
of him is that by negligence or in
difference to plain duty he has ter
minated all capacity for usefulness IN
the cabinet. If Secretary DENLY had
sign the executive order, IL never
would have been issued. If he had
respected the settled policy of the
government, if he had observed the
! n fYf