Evening star., 1926-12-06

sons showing the naval officer had
made a memorandum to the effect
that this proposition was brought to
his attention originally by FAN. Fan
thought Of 1t very favorably. the
memorandum stated, and suggested
that 1t would benefit the Navy. he
could not recall whether Fall brought
this matter to his attention in per-
son or by letter.
"Didnt Fall tell you that Doheny
had told him that he was very mucn
concerned over the oil situation?'
asked Roberts.
Robson replied that he thought SO.
"And didn't Fall communicate to
Won that he thought that this was a
matter of time Of taking advantage
of Doheny's necessity?
Robson replied that he thought II
meant I'VE could profit out OF DO
heny's necessity"
Witness Flounders.
How could you do that?" Roberts
asked sarcastically, as the witness
fioundered.
The Government counsel pressed
the witness with regard to anything
having been said to him as to how
much profit Doheny might be expect
ed to make out Of the contract.
1.-THE December II proposition was
purely a business affair" replied
Robson.
"In other words, then, it was not a
patriotic offer?" remarked Roberts.
II never regarded 1t as having been
inspired by patriotism" answered the
witness.
Going into matters connected with
Ol& z.
ness if he had not reported to DENLY
that the Doheny company would be
paving about $1,500,000 to do that
work. The witness replied, yes.
Roberts read from the record to
show that Robson knew at that time
that the December II proposition was
founded on q prior right to the future
naval reserve leases.
Roberts then produced the letter of
November from Doheny, which mad
been found in the safe of the Bureau
of Mines after considerable search by
the Department of Interior officials.
! The letter was not officially stamped
and contained figures of w. H. Ander-
son, president of the Pan-Amerlcan n
Petroleum Co., used in estimating the
work at Pearl Harbor.
Robson admitted that these f1gures
nau Deen uStu III So'iiA
negotiations.
Treated AS Secret.
WAS that paper treated as secret
in character by the Interior Depart
ment?" Roberts asked.
Mr.. Hogan at this point interrupted
to say, "Mr. Fall never saw It,"
I'm other words" said Roberts,
1.-The question Of making a lease with
Doheny was treated as a secret?"
Robson maintained that only the
figures were not disclosed, and tnat
they had been produced at the nego-
tiations.
Mr.. Roberts questioned the witness
at some length regarding the prefer
entail right clause, and Robson ad-
mitted that there were two negotla-
tions leading up to the December Ii
contract, at which Doheny was pres
ent. At these conferences the prefer
entail right matters were considered.
Roberts brought out that the origi-
nal offer included 10-year period,
during which the company was to re-
ceive Government royalty oil. In
the contract, as awarded, this period
was increased to Is years.
How was that raised from 10 to
Is years?" asked Roberts.
"To get a better deal for the Gov
ernment," the witness replied.
Slow in Answering.
During the cross.examination the
witness was slow in answering and
Roberts at one time interrupted.
LET him answer" urged Mr..
Hogan. .,,
"Oh, I'm not going to cut him OFF,
replied Roberts, Don't get nervous"
Robson answered in reply to ques-
tions that the Navy got better royal.
ties as a result of the extra five years
prior right given the Doheny com
pany.
Mr.. Roberts pressed him closely
about conversations leading up to the
additional five years concession.
"You didn't actually get any IN
creases, did you?" he asked.
mot all l asked for" replied Rob
ison, "but in the long run we got an
increase of about per cent"
did you know exactly what the
preferential right did cover during
these negotiations?" asked Roberts.
Robson replied he could not recall
exactly how much of the reserves
they covered, but added, Il knew
then"
Roberts referred to testimony OF
the witness at the Los Angeles civil
suits and precipitated a sharp clash
with Mr.. Hogan.
He asked if the witness had not
said "the more they get the more
we get"
Robson asked if he was reading
from the record.
Court Recesses for Lunch.
"Well, I am not forging any testi-
mony," Robert retorted sharply. Mr..
Hogan sprang to his feet and inter-
jt cted that the remark was uncalled
for.
After further questioning about the
terms of the contract and matters
leading up to it's negotiation, court
recessed for lunch.
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