The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-03-13
KEEP TO THE INQUIRY


 The withdrawal of Senator Lenroot from the senate committee Investigating oil leases, and the elevation to that position of Senator Ladd, cannot materially alter the situation, for the real force behind the inquiry is Sen ator Thomas J. Walsh of Montana, the man referred to by the objects of the investigation as the man who could not be turned aside, because he had This jaw set" To be sure, the effort to kill the inquiry and prevent the revelation of further facts has been strong and persistent. Doubtless it has been suc- eessful in causing pertinent information to be withheld Perhaps there will even be an effort made in the senate itself to have the committee called off, just as the committe Investigating the Veterans Bureau was called off.
 But there is every indication that Thomas J. Walsh still has his jaw set. If the facts do not come out in open meeting, perhaps ne has up his sleeve some further device whereby he may elicit other Illuminating and discon- certing, but pertinent, knowledge. The evil doers, at first stampeded into flight, have taken coerage from numbers and now in pack are standing at bay. Their courage is amazing, but it is that of desperation. Po- litically, they have been wounded unto death Physically some have succumbed. Morally they are as they have been. But there is no Justification under the sun for any relaxa- tion in the effort to bring the guilty facts to light, to punish the offenders, and to re- have been wrongfully taken from the gov ernment
 The legal prosecutors of the government s case, both civil and criminal, have betaken themselves to the great Northwest, there to seek in federal court to establish reasons why the properties should be restored to the government. The lessees have the effrontery | to surround themselves with the ablest legal talent in order to contest the right of the government to recover that which has been wrested from the government by methods which will not bear the light of day, and by the evident corruption of the highest off cials. It is the hope of the American people that soon the offenders will be on the de- fensive, not merely to retain their possess sions of highly questionable title, but even to retain their personal freedom. Civiliza tion has come to a pretty pass when negro may be sentenced to years in jail for stealing ham, while malefactors of national moment actually seek vindication in court for their knavery, and claim legal title to the public property they have won by deceit and cor ruption.
 Efforts to quash further inquiry are in themselves strong indication that the worst has not yet been revealed, and that it now behooves the defenders of the public trust | to be more dligent than ever in uneovering the furtive manipulations whereby high public trust has been betrayed, the national defense resources squandered, and the spoilaton of public property condoned and abetted For the senate committee to halt now would be for the ugly situation to escape the healing rays of the spotlight of publicity, and to find a cover under which the formal prosecution might dwndle in it's energy and die away.
 The contest is between the dignity and sovereignty of government, on the one hand, and the ability of great wealth to escape due penalty for it's transgressions. on the other In that contest there can be only one out come that will not endanger the very foun- datiOns of our government That is the detection and punishment of crime in high places in the fullest measure and with the utmost extreme penalties. Let the eyildoers know that they cannot transgress our laws, conspire with our public officials and make q joke of it.
 THE GI I'M IpIC CCunnI