Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1926-07-02

L
the committees report of the inves-
! tigation were filed with the House
| last night.
| The nine members are not unani-
nous on the impeachability Of Mr..
Fenning. Four, either by direct state
| ment or inference. hold he is not
Federal officer, while three insist that
he can be impeached. Seven demand
| that Mr.. Fenning be removed from
office, declaring his usefulness for
such q position is at an end.
The guardianship practice Of Mr..
| Fenning also comes In for scorn by
| two members, one of whom DECLARES
| that, although the court had approved
the guardian fees. they were exces-
sive, and Congress should determine
| the rate.
The nine members are Representa-
| tives Major, Democrat. Missouri;
| Tucker, Democrat. Virginia; Sumner,
| Democrat, Texas: DOminiCk, Demo
crat, South Carolina Weaver. Demo
crat, North Carolina: Kitchener, Re
| publican, Michigan: Montague, Dem
! ocrat, Virginia; Boiling, Democrat,
Alabama. and Wheeler. Democrat,
| New York.
| Goes Into Facts.
1T find" said Mr.. Major the
l
a Commissioner of the District of
| Columbia is not a Federal officer,
| but a municipal officer of the Dis
| trict and, therefore, not subject to
| impeachment proceedings. Logically
this should end and dispose Of the
matter SO far as the judiciary COM
mittee is concerned. Both parties,
however, having requested that we
go into the fact and make findings
| thereon, the ma jority of the COM
mittee saw fit TO comply with this
| request
| while the evidence presented
| does not show technical violation of
the law. it does disclose a state of
| facts not to be commended by any
| right thinking layman, especially not
! by a committee of lawyers. who, by
| their experience and training. are
better qualified to read between the
! lines than any others. The evidence
| while not disclosing u viola ton of
law, in my opinion, and while the
| acts Of the Commissioner complained
/ of might be said TO be within the
| law, nevertheless the record in this
! case discloSeS a practice to be con-
| demned rather than commended.
Wherever and whenever one lawyer
secures the number of lunacy cases
that the record disclOses that Fred
erick A. Fenning has secured in this
! community and from which he re-
ceives the recommendations that he has.
there is undoubtedly and indisputahly
some system in vogue that does not
meet with the approval of legal ethics
or common practice. He could not
do this without assistance and CO.
operation, and while the record does
| not disclose from whence his assist
! ance came, nevertheless II is Suffl-
cient to warrant the condemnation of
any lawyer in this country who has
any regard for professional ethics. fair
dealing and commendable conduct.
Usefulness at End.
"In conclusion / wish to say that
| feel convinced that the usefulness
of this Commissioner in the District
f! is at an end and that the interests OF
| this Government and of the District
can be best subserved by his imme-
! date removal by the only authority
| that can remove him-the power that
created him-the President OF the
United States
Relieving that Mr.. Fenning is not
! Federal officer, and cannot he I'M
neached. Mr.. Tucker nevertheless
comments on the evidence adduced in
part as follows:
| "On a review of the whole evidence
in this case we feel that the practice
which has existed in the District OF
Columbia by which one man had Sc
cured practically Il monopoly OF the
business involving the guardianship
of unfortunates, among whom are
very many veterans of the late war
is to he strongly condemned COM
missioner Jennings organization
! l.
bitterness. When he determined TO
enter upon this line of practice he
notified the judges of the District his
| fellow members of the bar of his
intention But where were his clients
TO come from? He naturally cast a
longing eye toward st. Elizabeth S
Hospital, with it's spacious buildings
and hundreds of inmates that might
amply satisfy his ambitions; ana so
a friendship speedily arose between
the SUPERINTENDENT, Doctor Whlte. ana
himself, during which they became
mariners in IA real estate concern and
~ F,uzaheth's soon was sending forth
her insane veterans to his door,
whose estates, if not their personal
care. were to rest securely in the
hands of Mr. Fenning. The coming
of groups of Shell-ShoCked veterans
to the hospital was fittingly celebrated
always by Mr.. Jennings presence,
and his entree to the papers OF these
unfortunates was recognized prac-
tically as his exclusive privilege.
Veterans Bureau Helped.
"Feeling that the tide of business
that was flowing from st. Elizabeth
might not be sufficient to fill the full
measure of his ambition. the Veterans
Bureau arose on the horizon as fit
ting adjunct to st. Elizabeth in sup
plying his needs, and from this source
soon flowed a stream of World Wal
veterans to complete his success.
but should these two sources OF
clientage be exhausted, as they might
be. he was not unmindful of the
Laurel Sanitarium, nearby, in the
State Of Maryland. which offered am
pie fields to add to those who might
be under his tutelage and care, ant
so he became a director in that inSti
tuition.
But even these did not seem to sat
isfy his ambition, for finding that the
undertakers who bury the dead sol
diers often had to go into court for the
appointment Of an administrator that
they might secure from the estate OF
the deceased their burial fees. it was
soon found that he had become a
stockholder In the Joseph Gawler' S
Sons, Inc, an undertaker's establish
ment, and director in the same con
Germ and also counsel, and the evi
dence discloses that a number OF
bodies of these unfortunates were sent
to this establishment for burial at a
cost largely in excess of that provided
by the Government.
"The result Of this compact and
orderly organization for the practice
of the law could have but one result
and that is, that as his income In
creased by the number of cases that
came to him, by just that much was