The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-02-24
ADMINISTRATION MAY BE INVOLVED
 IN OIL TANGLE
Telegrams Sent From The Capital To Fall And Mo-
 Lean To Be Inspected
SLEMP TO BE WITNESS AT INQUIRY MONDAY
Bankers To Be Asked For Stubs Of McLean's Checks
 To Fall

WASHINGTON, Feb. 23.-(By the Associated Press.)-A thorough inves- tigtion as to what communication ad- ministration officials may have had with persons involved in the oil scan- dal was determined upon today by dem ocrats on the oil committee. c. Bascom Slemp, secretary to Presi- dent Coolidge, who accepted an invita- ton today of Senator Walsh of Mon- tana to appear before the committee Monday, will be the first witness in this line of inquiry.
 H. F. Taff, Washington manager of the Western Union Telegraph company and Thomas P. Dowd, Washington manager of the Postal Telegraph com pany, will be additional witnesses. Sub- poenas were issued for them today.
 They will be required to present cop ies of any telegrams which were sent from Washington to Albert B. Fall and Edward B. Mclean, publisher of the Washington Post, at Palm Beach, Fla, between December 20. 1923, and Janu- " 20, 1924
 Copies of telegrams sent to Fall at New Orleans, also, will be called for and, in addition, records of any long distance telephone calls made by gov ernment officials to Palm Beach while Fall and Mclean were there, may be sought.
 Slemp Was At Palm Beach
 It was on January g that Senator Walsh left Washington for the Flor ida resort with authority from the oil committee to question Mclean as to his statement, transmitted to the committee by telegraph, that he had loaned Fall $100,000. Fall then was at Palm Beach and conferred several times with Mclean.
 Secretary Slemp went to Palm Beach for vacation on December 22, and re- turned here January 1. Some mem- bers of the committee want to know what conversations, if any, he had with either Fall or Mclean during his stay and also whether he has communicated with any other persons mentioned in the oil scandal since that time.
 These committeeman also desire to ascertain whether any individual mem bers of the oil committee had any com munication with the former interior secretary while he was either at Palm Beach or at New Orleans, where he SohAVAt VI WhSh G. ~, .0pNGuy Auu learned that Doheny was coming to Washington to testify that he loaned Fall $100,000.
 Mclean Unable To Produce Stubs Although he had informed the com nittee that Fall obtained the $100,O00 from him, Mclean, when placed under oath by. Senator Walsh, testified that he had given the one-time secretary checks aggregating $100,OOO, but that these had been returned to him un- cashed with the explanation that Fall had arranged to obtain the funds from another source.
 The Washington publisher was un- able to produce the stubs of the checks and it is to inquire further into this transaction that Senator Walsh caused subpoenaes to be issued today for off cials of the Federal American and Com mercial National banks of Washington. Mclean said the checks had been drawn on one or the other of these banks.
 Charles B. Lyddane, vice president of the Federal American, and J. H. Baden, vice president of the Commercial Ma tional, will be questioned by the com mittee Monday, at which time the pub- lie hearings will be reopened
 On the same day the committee plans to examine Milton E. Allies, president of the Riggs National bank of Wash
 (centIaued on Pane Fsur coIumu Tvo)