The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1924-06-10
DAUGHERTY
EXPOSED AS
BLACKMA|LER
Senator's FlGy Corrupt
G. 0. p. Advisor
Rx LAURENCE ToDD


Federated Press staff Correspondent
WASHINGTON, D. c., June 9.
Harry M. Daugherty, dictator
of the Harding administration
and until recently the trusted
adviser of Coolidge, was fIayed
as a betrayer of public trust, a
cowardIy conspirator and the
dominant personality in group
of notorious and despicabIe
characters, in the informal re-
port of Senator Brookhart and
Senator Ashurst of the commit
tee investigating corruption in
the department. of justice.
Their discussion was based
upon the decision of Judge
Cochran of Cincinnati that their
committee had no power to in
vestigate the acts of Daugherty,
but it covered the sordid story
of his misuse of his office, and
of the corruption that fiourished
all around him to the enrich
ment of his friends.
Brookhart, chairman of the commit
tee, read Daugherty's letters declaring
his desire to have "falsehood exposed
and truth established" and his i'm
piled promise to take the witness
chair and explain his official acts with
reference to all the charges brot
ooofnet bf,,, ~ +bo couofo,.c nbo,. Io
showed how Daugherty had attempted,
from the start, to fight the commit
tee by compromising in any possible
way the character of it's members.
Government BY BackmaiI.
This is the brave Daugherty, the
fighting Daugherty we hear about"
exclaimed the Iowa senator, in scorn.
"He fights in the dark and stabs you
in the back! He dare not face the
facts in public. His whole idea is to
get something on the senate commit
tee, to stop our work. His idea Of
government is rule by criminal black
mail He framed up the case for in
dictment of Senator Wheeler in Mon
tana, after consulting with Burns. He
had detectives in my state. He had
the desks of senators broken open,
their offices rifled, and he had his
spies trailing us everywhere. Yet
when we summon him to give testi-
mony, and when we trace his bank
deposits, he runs to cover behind a
Judge, and says we have no right to
learn how he got this money and what
was his connection with Jess Smith,
who took over $500, OOO-according to
the testimony-from the big bootleg
gers"
Cleaning Up with Jess Smith.
Enlarging upon this theme with fire.
quent readings from the evidence,
Brookhart showed that Harry Daugh-
erty was spending, with Jess Smith,
$4,000 year for rent and about $780,
600 a year for all living costs, and was
rapidly getting rich, altho his entire
wealth, as declared in his tax return,
was in 1920 only 5000 subject to tax.
Jess Smith was worth $4,000 when
he came to Washington as Daugher-
tvs chief lieutenant, and altho he did
not earn a penny of salary or fees in
the ensuing two years, he left $214,OOO
that has been located.
"The reason Daugherty would not
permit us to examine his bank ac-
count" said Brookhart, was that he
was in the same position as Albert
Fall. He had funds in his hands that
he could not account for"
Government Doomed.
a 'If this decision Judge Cochran's
pNotecting Daugherty) means that
Congress, in either branch, has not
the power to look into the official con-
duct of the executive departments for
which it appropriates four billion dol
lars year, then this present form Of
government is doomed" said Sena-
tor Norris.
"If it is going to be judicially de-
termined that the legislative branch
cannot inquire into the fidelity of the
executive branch, the end Of our gov
eminent is near at hand. Congress
should abolish itself and leave the
executive to establish a monarchy. IL
the head of the department OF justice
is to defy congress, and employ an
army of spies and detectives to OBJ
struct and trail us, to prevent the en-
forcement Of law, then we have no
representative government left"