The Ely miner., 1924-02-15
TOO MUCH PARTY
IN OIL CHARGES
SPECIAL coUNsELLoRS, HOW
EVER, MAY BE TRUSTED TO
AVOID ALL SANSHiP.
ev TOWARD 3. CLARK


BY EDWARD 8. CLARK
Washington.-Certa members OF
congress seem TO be attempting TO make
| 1t appear that guilt in any matter Is
| partisan rather than personal. Some
| congressman, some senator's particu-
larry, possibly are hurting the cause
of party by their violen. and virulent
attempts to involve not only persons
but parties in the oil lease scandal.
Atlee Pomerene of Ohio and Silas
II. Strawn of Illinois, the attorneys
named by President Coolidge to con-
duct the civil and criminal investiga-
ton into charges of delinquencies or
worse, can be depended upon probably
to walk the chalk line of non-partisan-
ship. If either shall step over the
line 1t will hurt one way or the other,
but seemingly everybody in Washing
| ton believes that both men will keep
eyes and feet on the line until Its
end is reached.
1t does not seem to be generally
known that it was almost Immediately
after Albert b. Falls confirmation as
cabinet officer that he sought to OBJ
tain an executive order transferring
| the oil reserves from the Department
of the Navy to the Department of the
Interior where they would be under
! his jurisdiction.
Now there are two ways of looking
| at this almost precipitate action OF
Secretary Fall. All through the years
he was known as an advocate of cap
| italistic exploitation of government
| lands always of course supposedly
with proper reservations safeguarding
| the government. Therefore, Mr.. Falls
request for the transfer of the oil
| jurisdiction to his department was not
at all unexpected by the conservation
lists of the country who had, rightly or
wrongly, looked upon the New Mex
leo man as an enemy to conservation
as they believed in it.
Serious From One Viewpoint.
Now another way the thing is looked
at is of course a much more serious
way. A suspicion, right or wrong, is
that Mr.. Fall wanted to obtain juris-
diction over the reserve fields in order
that they might be leased to persons
who were friendly to him. The main
| thing, of course, is that the executive
order was issued and Mr.. Falls de-
partment was given the Jurisdiction
| that he sought for 1t. The step by
step history of the affair is fairly
| clear.
The transfer was made by the order
of President Harding on May 3, 1921.
There was objection from many naval
! officers, notably from Admiral Griffin,
chief of that branch of the service
whose duty 1t was to look after the
| oil reserves, and from Commander
| Stuart, who was the immediate guar
dian of the navy oil fields.
! 1t will be seen that President Hard
ing ordered the transfer within two
months after his induction into Office
year later that the secretary of the
interior turned over a lease of the
Teapot Dome reserve in Wyoming to
the Sinclair interests. 1t was nine
months later, in December, 1922, TO be
exact, that the Interior department
gave lease to what is known as Re
serve No. / to Mr.. Doheny.
Presidents Authority Questioned.
Today the question Is being raised
In Washington as to whether the pres
ident had the power by executive order
to make the transfer which he did.
This will be one of the questions into
which probably Mr.. Pomerene and Mr..
Strawn will inquire. If the executive
had no such authority, the transfer of
the leases was illegal and the whole
| thing would be undone, so to speak,
| automatically.
What followed after the transfer of
the Jurisdiction over the oil fields from
Navy to Interior is now matter of
public knowledge. The sharp question
] is of course whether or not a cabinet
| officer advocated and secured the
transfer of the jurisdiction over the
reserves from one department to an
other in order that later he might be
in position personally to profit by the
change of control.
| washington, ike the rest or the
country, is wondering If when Mr..
Strawn and Mr.. Pomerene finally get
going there will be another epidemic of
sickness in the ranks of men whose
names have been used in connection
with this Teapot Dome and California
oil field affair. Word has come from
France that one gentleman intimately
connected with the present troubles
is Ill under the shadow of the old
palace built by Louis the Grand.
Tales of physical woes have come from
! the wales of Florida, and almost within
the shadow of the dome of the cap-
itol other gentlemen are contracting
colds which possibly are induced by a
much more serious ailment known as
heart failure.
Derby Thought to Be Honest.
Edwin DENLY, secretary of the navy.
declined to resign from the cabinet
while he was in any way under fire
because apparently resignation would
have been taken as an acknowledp-
ment that he had done something
wrong in connection with the Teapot
Dome and California oil leases.
Some of the senator's seemingly
strove to make it appear that the Sec
retary was worse than neglectful of
duty in the case, but one judges from