Fitzgerald leader enterprise and press., 1924-02-07

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presidential probe into the oil scandal
Possibly the President could not have
appointed anyone without the appoint
ee being put on the dissecting table
and becoming subject to the knife.
Gregory. however, it is pointed out,
was Wilson'S Attorney General and is
understood to be close friend of Do
heny. With this background, oppon-
ents of the administration are not
slow to connect the rest of the links
in the chain of criticism. Doheny was
a very heavy contributor to the Will
sor campaign fund it appears. While
he gave to both parties his gift to the
Democratic fund ran into a stupen-
dous sum of money.
One story is to the effect that he
donated 100000 to the Democratic
cause and then bet more than 100000
that Wilson would win so that the net
result OF his operations was victory and
handsome profit on the transaction
Gregory of course was appointed by
Wilson on recommendation of Col.
House, who was the real Wilson po-
itical manager and who presumably
was aware of the Doheny generosity
to the Wilson cause Whether Doheny
played any part in the way of sugges-
ton as to political appointments, of
course, is matter yet to be learned,
but the loose takers, and there are
hundreds of them now actively at
work, do not hesitate to charge that
for the reasons stated the choice of
Gregory is most unhappy one.
Daugherty 'Twixt Devil and
Deep Sea.
Tremendous interest has been taken
in Senator Wheeler's resolution call
ing upon President Coolde to request
the resignation of Attorney General
Daugherty. Daugherty has been the
old man of the administration seas al
most every day since his appointment
in face of the widest public protest.
The paragraph in the resolution,
wherein it is stated that whereas it
appears tht Henry M. Daugherty has
lost confidence of the President of
the United States, as exemplified by
the Presidents statement that he in
tends to employ at great expense to
to the government, private attorneys
not officially connected with the De-
partment of Justice indicating that this
department. cannot be trusted with the
prosecution" is regarded as master
piece, and by some persons as unans-
werable.
The fact that Daugherty requested
the President to appoint outside coun-
sci will not save his face. The open ex-
preston is freely heard that if Daugh-
erty tacitly acknowledges that the pub
lie confidence in him is so shaken
that it would regard his prosecution
of the oil cases with suspicion then
there is nothing left for him to do but
to submit his resignation in answer to
the public will.
The Situation Over At The
Navy Office
Much the same situation prevails in
relation to DENLY. Senator Walsh
openly demands that the Secretary of
the Navy resign, and the Secretary of
the Navy as defiantly declares he will
do nothing of the kind. He stands for
the part he played in leasing the gov
ernment oil lands and says he would
do the same thing again if the same
situation presented
AS for the suggested resignation of
"other officers and officials" which
includes OF course the assistant Sec
retary of the Navy, Theodore Roose-
welt, no development may be expected.
Col Roosevelt is glad to sing in the
still small voice, to be regarded more
or less as an automaton in the nego-
tiations and merely an official messen-
ger to the President outside of the con
ference rooms, and the more Roose-
welt is kept in the background the bet
ter will be pleased those party leaders
who have an interest in the State OF
New York.
1t is of course an open secret that
Theodore Roosevelt's ambition is to
follow in the footsteps Of his distin-
guished father He has got as far as
Assistant Secretary of the Navy. Up
to the bursting of the oil scandal his
eye was on the Governorship of the
State of New York. For the rest -
well, armed with spectacular record
ard name that has electricity in ev-
cry letter it is only step to the White
House.
Unfortunately for Roosevelt howev-
er, the disclosures of brother Archie
have put the Roosevelt gubernatorial
boom rather in the background.
Jokesi Yes But Promises
of More Exposures
Meantime the jokesmiths are find
ing a regular humor factory in the sit
uation. 1t is not uncommon to be So
licited for contribution for the build
ing of hospital in Florida for sick
government officials. All present facil-
tiles are overcrowded. Again we hear
close study has shown that the game
of Nah long never can become per
manently popular in this country be-
cause you can't cheat in it. Also much
amusement is found in pointing out
that the world is not such bad place
after all when men are so kindly that
they hand out 100000 and even go to
length of sending it out in a satchel
to an old friend. So life in Washing
ton is just one shock and just one
joke after another but with the under
lying conviction in the minds of the
man on the street that the entire gov
ernment as stated on the floor of the
Senate is. honeycombed with corrup-
ton. Report has il that before the Tea
pot Dome scandal wanes every de-
partment of the government will be
under investigation.
The Navy Department has long
been regarded with suspicion, espe-
cia1ly in connection with the letting of
contracts and the suppressing of any
thing that did not square with the
great guns of the business world. The