The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-01-28
VODING OF OIL
 LEASE FORECAST
(ceatlnusd frsn Pass oas) cial counsel who should have charge of the litigation.

cial counsel who should have charge of the litigation.
 Unanimous Is Agreement
 T stated it would be agreeable to me if the committee would signify its support of the resolution and any mem- Der of the committee committing him. self particularly to the form of it. The suggestion I made was unanimously acceded to, and the chairman was in structed to 50 advise the Senate when the matter should come before it.
 "It was agreed that the action of the committee should be regarded as confidential.
 ''The resolution I had prepared was as follows:
 Whereas, it appears from evidence taken by the committee on public lands and surveys of the United States Sen ate that those certain leases, namely a lease of Naval Reserve No. 1, in the state of California, bearing date Decem- Der Il, 1922, by the government of the United States, through Albert B. Fall Secretary of the Interior, and Edwin Denby, Secretary of the Navy, as lessee and the Pan-American Petroleum and Transport company, as lessee, and. a lease of Naval Reserve No. 8, in the state of Wyoming, bearing date April ', 1922, by the government of the United States, through Albert B. Fall, Secretary of the Interior, and Edwin Denby, Secretary of. the Navy, as lessor, and the Mammoth Oil company, as lessee, were executed under circum- stances indicating fraud and corrup- tion; and
 Authority Is Challenged
 Whereas, the said leases were en- tered into without authority on the part of the officers purporting to act in the execution of the same for the United States and in violation of the laws of Congress; and
 Whereas, such leases were made in defiance of the settled policy of the government adhered to throughout three successive administrations, to maintain in the ground a great reserve supply of oil adequate to the needs of the navy in emergency threatening the national security;
 Resolved, That the said leases are against the public interest and the lands embraced therein should be rec ognized and held for the purpose to which they were dedicated, and
 Resolved further, That the Presi- dent of the United States be, and he hereby is, authorized and directed i'm mediately to .cause suits to be insti- tuted and prosecuted for the annul- ment and cancellation of the said leases to enjoin the further extraction of oil from the said reserves under said leases or from the territory covered by the same, to secure any further appropri- ate incidental relief, and to prosecute such actions or proceedings, evil and criminal, as may be warranted by the facts.
 And the President is further author ized and directed to employ special counsel who shall have charge and con trol of the prosecution of such litiga- tion, anything in the statutes touching the powers of the Attorney General or the department of justice to the con trary notwithstanding"
 Predicts Its Adoption
 Senator Walsh predicted tonight that the resolution would be adopted tomor- TOW. He added that he hoped action also would be taken without delay on the Doheny offer. Despite any action by the Senate or in the courts. he said the committee will proceed with its in veStigation.
 There is no reason, so far as can see," he said, "why judicial proceed ings should interrupt or postpone a congressional investigation"
 The appropriation committee of the two houses, Senator Walsh said, will ployment of counsel and cover the ex. | # hn
 Il am getting lot of information now concerning these matters" said MT. Walsh. While the help got al the outset was distinguished for its negligible character, a great many peo pie are now willing to volunteer assist ance."
 Further discussing the announced in tention of the President to direct inves tigation and prosecution, the Montana senator said it might be considered sig nificant that "all the facts which miti, gate against the policy pursued in the leasing of the oil reserves. as well as all the facts affecting the want oi power or abuse of authority in the ex. ecutiOn of the leases, were developed more than two months ago."
 Criticises Statement
 The only thing in the White House statement that seems to take note of anything outside of fraud and corrup- tion," he continued, "is the expression If there are any contracts which are illegal they will be cancelled 1 sup pose that refers not to the fraud and corruption, but to the want of authority to give the contracts.
 i Evidence as to whether there was abuse of authority was developed some time ago. The committee commenced hearings on October 22, and practically all the facts as to want of power or the abuse of authority were before the committee more than two months ago
 Secretary Fall relied. first upon tha overman act. In his letter to the presi. dent he relied on that act. and he also referred to the acts of February ,, 1920 and June 4, 1920. When he was on the stand he was confronted with the Over. man act, which by its very terms ap. plies only to the acts of Congress passed for prosecution during the war and he admitted that he was in error in asserting that he had been justified by that act. He was confronted with the two statutes referred to above, and he was obliged to confess that neither of them gave the President any power to transfer the administration of the naval oil reserves from the navy to the interior department. When pressed fol his authority he then claimed that m der general principles the President hat authority
 The investigation committee is tal; ing no action to bring Harry r. Sin clair back from Europe, Mir. Walsl said, explaining that although he haC fn okr