Evening star., 1926-06-08
HOGAN ISSUES STATEMENT.
Declares Papers Have Misrepresented
Facts of Fenning Hearing.

Frank J. Hogan, chief of counsel for
Commissioner F'enning, today issued
the following statement:
"A morning newspaper, in what
purports to be report of the proceed
ings before the judiciary committee
of the House of Representatives into
the charges made by Representative
Blanton against Commissioner F'reder-
ick A. Fenning, makes the statement
that during those proceedings Mr.
Blanton and Mr.. Hogan had several
verbal clashes, and on one occasion
called each dirty ours The state
ment that I called Mr.. Blanton
dirty cur is literally and unqualified
ly untrue At no time during the pro-
ceedingS before the House judiciary
committee and at no time in any pub
lie proceedings in courts or before any
other tribunal in my career have l
ever called any opponent or person
dirty cur I am not in the habit Of
descending to billingsgate for phrases
to be used in forensic debate. Nor
did Mr.. Blanton apply any such term
to me. Had he done so it would have
been Immediately and appropriately
resented.
"In another portion of the morning
papers so-called report of yesterdays
proceedings it is stated that Mr..
Rankin was questioning Mr.. Fenning
about his colored ward, Ned Freeman
=. Mr.. Rankin referred to Free
man as q negro and Mr.. Hogan
Jumped up to insist that he be re-
ferred to merely as a ward. The
statement continues that l gave
notice that l would object to this
reference every time it was made
and would ask the committee to
A. 4,.I
Thereafter Mr.. Rankin referred to Mr..
Freeman as this negro, Ned Free
man." three times in succession, and
Representative Henry st. George
Tucker of Virginia referred similarly
to him, but Mr.. Hogan appeared not
to take notice.
Denies Second Statement.
''This statement is not true. The
fact is that in referring to Ned Free
man, a negro World War veteran,
who is mentally i'll and for whom
Mr.. Fenning was appointed guardian
by the Supreme Court of this District,
Mr.. Rankin called Freeman a
niger And it was to this express
sion, uniformly recognized by colored
people as opprobrious, that l objected,
suggesting that the man could be
referred to as Mr.. Jennings ward or
as a patient Mr.. Rankin did not
thereafter refer to this colored boy
who served in our Army as a mig
GER but did refer to him as a negro,
to which entirely proper expression
I made no objection. Representa-
tive Tucker, who obviously did not
have the mans name in mind, in ask.
ing a question. for the purpose of dis
tinguishing whom he was referring
to, used the term negro with entire
propriety Had Mr.. Rankin or any
other person again contemptuously
referred to this veteran as a Niger
T would have promptly moved to
strike the expression from the record.
as I had given notice l would do.
at would like to say through the
columns of The Star to. the people
Of washington that never In my pro-
fessional career of nearly quarter
Of a. century have l known OF any
proceedings, in court or before con-
gressional committees, involylng the
good name Of a citizen. to be SO oe-
| liherately and persistently unralry
reported to the public as those relat-
| ing to Commissioner Fennlng.
"F,verv fact brought out In the
hearings that could be distorted un-
| fayorablv has been so distorted IN
newspaper columns.
Testimony demonstrating MI. Fen
! ning's scrupulous integrity, his me-
| ticulous care as a fiduciary and as q
LAWYER and his conscientious dis
charge of his duties as a Commls.
sioner has been either suppressed
| entirely or so discolored as to be
| unrecognizable by those who heard
the oral testimony and read the docu-
| mentary evidence.
Volunteered His Aid.
I volunteered my aid to a fellow
| member Of my profession and a public
| officer Of this community after Mr..
Fenning had presented to me in detail
| every fact connected with the matters
| included in the entirely unwarranted
charges which were maliciously pre-
sented against him by a Congressman
| who had unsuccessfully sought to in
fluence Mr.. Fenning to restore to
| active duty a police officer who had
| been retired by the unanimous vote of
| the Commissioners upon the recon-
mendationeo Of a. board Of surgeons and