The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1924-05-22
WASHINGTON LETTER
Country Will be Rid of Congress
June 18th If Present Plans
Are Carried Out.

conference Oh DOJn Jne hepuDllcan
and Democratic leaders at the White
House the President was advised that
such was their present intention. They
said the House purposed to consider
the McNary-Haugen and the postof-
flee compensation measures under
special rules, but other legislation, I'M
less it could be conveniently passed,
before that date, would be allowed to
fail. Prospects for final enactment
of these bills are not good, but men,
beers of both parties are determined to
make a number of speeches in sup
port of both, primarily for the polit-
ical effect.
Great satisfaction is expressed in
the press that President Coolidge's
veto of the Bursam pension bill was
sustained-by the narrow margin of
one vote. This bill would have cost
the taxpayers S425, 100000 for pen
sions for World War veterans and
would have proved one more obstacle
to reduced taxation, one more factor
in maintaining the high cost of liv-
ing. 1t was almost impossible to find
a member of either party who would
say, privately, that he believed in the
bill, but fear of the cold soldier vote"
prompted all to vote for it, even over
the Presidents veto, with the eXcep-
ton of very few Republicans and
t,nree. Southern Democrats who have
no soldier votes in their States or Dis
tricts.
1t is generally expected that Con-
gress will pass the bonus bill over the
Presidents veto regardless of the fact
that Mr.. Coolidge shows it would i'm
posea tax of $35 onevery man, woman
and child in the country, or S175 on
every family, and the fact that it is
likely to prove wholly disappointing
to the soldiers it is supposed to bene-
| fit. 1t is estimated that inasmuch as
in most instances the soldiers will re-
ceive only a promise to pay twenty
years hence, most of his bonus will go
to middlemen and loan sharks who
will advance a small amount of cash
for the Governments long promise.
Senator Burton K Wheeler has re-
ceived the expected whitewash from
the Senate investigating committee
which can discover no improperly III
his conduct as a Senator. There is
considerable doubt in the minds Of
many able judges, however, that a
Montana judge and jury can be per-
suaded so easily that Gordon Camp
bell undertook to pay Wheeler $4,000
year, after Wheeler had been elect
ed to the Senate, solely to handle
state litigation for Campbell; or that
Wheeler's letter to Campbell, written
after Wheeler came to Washington,
asking for all tn "details of Camp
bells claims so that he could properly
represent his, CampbelPs, interests,
and other like correspondence, does
not indicate that it was before the
Federal Departments the State
courts-that both Campbell and
Wheeler expected the latter to earn
his $4,000 year.
Senator Walsh, prosecutor" of the
oil investigating committee, announ-
ces that he is through with the oil in
Of
courts should compel Sinclair to tes-
tify-and that he is preparing re-
port Aside from irrelevant gossip
and bunk, the investigation has shown
that under specific authority of Con-
gress this administration has leased
naval reserves No. to E. H. Doheny;
and No. (Teapot Dome) to H. F.
Sinclair; that most of naval reserve
No. 2 was leased by the Wilson ad-
ministration; that all the leases were
made because there was abundant
evidence that the naval oil was being
drained off by private wells on sur
rounding property; that the Doheny
leases are yielding the Government
nearly twice as large a royalty as the
leases on Reserve No. 2; that the SIN
clair lease is yielding above the av-
erage royalty; that while there are
some contrary opinions the prepon-
derence of expert opinion is that the
leases are a most excellent thing for
the navy and the nation; and that this
was all known to Congress two years
before Senator Walsh found it polit-
ically eXpedient to make a scandal"
out of it. The investigation has shown
also that Albert B. Fall, Secretary of
the Interior-who made the leases
with the approval of Secretary DENLY
then borrowed 100000 from his old
friend, Edward L. Doheny, and $685.
900 from Sinclair as a condition prec-
edent to his going to Russia for Sim
clair. The President, with the APP
prevail of the Senate, has appointed
two able lawyers to present to the
courts the questions, "Was there any