New Britain herald., 1926-10-05
LONG DRAWN CASES IN OIL SCANDAL

IoNtI DfNlA W N N[tNTS
 IN OIL SCANDAL
 One reads with feelings akin to surprise that Albert B. Fall, for mer secretary of the interior; liar ry F. Sinclair, and Edward L. Do- heny, oil men, are "a step nearer" to criminal prosecution for their part in leasing the naval oil re- serves in California and Wyoming. Once in a long while one finds such a step being taken; but at best, the pace is ridiculously slow. The canny attorneys for the de- fense have made use of so many techncalities that the courts need time to unwind them. In the long run they probably will avail little, although giving the clients plenty of time in which to hope for the best. Of such is justice when one party is not devoid of the means to employ the right kind of legal tal- ent.
 The three men, according 10 the latest ruling of the District of Co., | lumbia Court of Appeals, must stand trial in the criminal courts of the district. Had they been in volved in anything less than grab biny enormously valuable oil de- posits there are those who believe they would have stood trial long ago.
 Still. whether they will stand trial or whether they will not, is not really finally settled. The de- fense lawyers intend to appeal this point to the |. S. Supreme Court! For the action of the District Court was based on new law rushed through Congress late In the last session by Senator Thomas ] J. Walsh of Montana, the special | prosecutor in the Senate inNfstiga- | ton of the oil leasing scandal This 1 law was designed to deprive the 1 District Court of Appeals of Juris- diction to allow and hear special appeals in criminal cases, or some | thing like that. Anyway, the de- fense attorneys do not like the law and are going to test its constitu- tionalitv before the Supreme Court That anyway will take a little more time - and time seems 10 be the essence of this defense.
 Former Senator Atlee Pomerene of Ohio and owen J. Roberts, the governments special counsel en- gagged in the attempt to make the former secretary and the two oi men criminally responsible for the 1 Elk Hills and Teapot Dome doings have been waeing a relentless fight but in the face of the ocean O technical motions continually brought to light by the defense i has been slow work.
 The criminal cases being lid gated in the District of Columbia of course. are separate from thu goycrnmcnts cases for equitable restitution of the oil lands. So in volvcd have the oil cases become that one angle of the restitution cases will come before the Supreme Court this week, while the crimi nal court angles will not reach tha court for some time.
 Hut the people have not alto gcthcr forgotten nor forgiven tn oil scandal. Restoring the oil land 10 the government and punishinl | the guilty, is necessary part o the process that must be taken re Cardlcss of how much time clapse before that is finally achieved. Tn Coolidge administration, which in herited the cases from the forme Harding administration, has earne' commcndation for its apparent, relentless efforts to push them t q conclusion. On this score ther is no criticism possible. Such de lays as have accrued have bee due entirely to the skill Of the de fcnse lawyers. The Coolidge admin istration realizes one thing fully and that Is the public will not lool with favor upon a lackadaisica | prosecution of these cases. It woul be bad politics to permit 1t