Evening star., 1924-07-14
Court Holds Six of Nine Men,
toned in Indictment Perti-
nent to Lease Inquiry.
OIL MAGNATE is GIVEN
20 DAYS TO FILE PLEA
Justice Hoehling Seeks to Expedite
Taking of "Far-Reaching Cues
ton" to Highest Tribunal.

Justice Adolph A Hoehling of the Dis
trlct Supreme Court today sustained the
authority of the United States Senate to
require answers from Harry T. Sinclair,
oil magnate, to six Of the nine questions
propounded to him by Senator Thomas
J. Walsh, prosecutor of the Teapot Dome
inquiry. Three of the inquiries proposed
by Senator Walsh, which led to Sin
clairs indictment on 10 counts, are found
by the court not to be pertinent, and
these. 1t holds, Sinclair may not be made
TO answer. The tenth count of the in
dictment charging a contempt of the
United States Senate by the refusal to
answer any questions propounded TO
him is bad, the court decided, because it
does not aver an offense under the
statute
Sinclair was recalled before the Sen
ate committee and declined to answer
nine questions put to him by Senator
Walsh. The committee referred his re-
fusal to United States Attorney Gordon
for submission to the grand jury. AtIee
Pomerene and Owen J. Roberts, special
counsel in the oil prosecutions, laid the
evidence before the grand jury, and an
indictment in 10 counts was presented
March 81 against Sinclair charging a
violation of section 102 of the Revised
Statutes of the United States by refus
ing to answer questions as witness be-
fore a Senate committee.
Finds Seven Questions Pertinent.
Through Attorneys Martin w.
Littleton, J. W. Zevely, George P.
Hoover and G. T. Stanford, Sinclair
filed demurrers and motions to quash
the indictment. The prosecution fled
motion to dismiss the motion to
quash and the case was argued at
length before Justice Hoehling, who
has had the matter under advisement.
The court finds that the first, sec
ond, fourth, fifth, eighth and ninth
counts Of the indictment embrace
questions pertinent to the subject
matter then under inquiry by the
Senate and that Congress has lawful
authority to require answers thereto;
that the third, sixth and seventh
counts theDeof do not embrace oues-
tions pertinent to the subject matter
under inquiry, and that the tenth
count does not aver an offense under
the statute
A Gives Sinclair Twenty Daxs.
In view of the questions involved
and which have been described by the
United States Supreme Court as "im-
portant and far-reaching," as we'll as
the advisa biIity of having the same
finally settled by, an appellate trib-
unai, Justice Hoehling gives Sinclair
twenty days leave to plead over. IN
order that If so advised, he may have
| reasonable opportunity to apply to
the Court of Appeals for the allow
| ance of special appeal from the order
OF this court and which special ap-
peal II allowed, Ray expedite a
final decision by the court of last
resort
The three questions which the
court holds Sinclair is not required
to answer relate in inquiry about
$4,000 shares of stock of the Sinclair
Consolidated Oil Company, which the
committee had heard he had con-
tributed to VIII Hays or to some one
| representing the national Republican
committee for the purpose of max
| ing up a deficit in the account of
| that committee; an inquiry in reIa-
tion an alleged transfer of sIoO, 900
from the National Park Bank of New
York to the National Metropolitan
Bank, February 8, 1923, and a ques-
tion concerning testimony given by
George Wahlberg, private secretary
to Sinclair, about an alleged loan of
some stock of the Sinclair COMPANY
to one Hays.