Evening star., 1926-10-12
WAR-FRAUD CASES
. MOSTLY FAILURES
Daugherty Result One of Nu.
merous Instances of U. S.
Inability to Convict.
BY ROBERT It. SMALL.


NEW YORK, October 12.-The mis-.
trial in the case of former Attorney
General Harry NJ. Daugherty and Col.
Thomas w. Miller, former alien prop
erty custodian at Washington, illus
trates anew the extreme difficulty OF
prosecuting Government cases involv-
ing alleged conspiracy. The expense
attached to these trials is something
enormous. 1t is estimated the present
trial will cost both Daugherty and
Miller at least $50, 900 apiece. which. In
the case Of the one-time Attorney Cen
eral, is about all the Government
claims can be traced to his account
from the "fee" paid by German claim
ants in the American Metals return.
The Government expense is not so
easy to calculate, but 1t is consider
able.
Most of the alleged war frauds cases
growing out Of our participation in the
world conflict during 1917 and 1918
failed in prosecution and have all now
been wiped off the court calendars
Mr.. Daugherty himself was instru
mental in bringing many of these
cases to trial. 1t was part OF the
Republican campaign promises Of 1920
TO see that these frauds were ferreted
out and prosecuted. because they were
alleged to have occurred during a Dem
ocratic administration a number OF
very prominent men were indicted un-
der the Daugherty regime, but after
time their cases were dismissed with
out an attempt at trial.
Evidence Called Confusing.
The evidence in the Daugherty case
was very confusing from the first. Dis
trict Attorney Buckner traced con-
vincing chain Of circumstances in his
opening statement to the jury as we'll
as in his summation at the end of the
trial, but the actual testimony of the
witnesses, involving among other
things a rather technical interpreta-
ton of somewhat ambiguous Federal
statutes. was enough to confuse the
proverbial Philadelphia lawyer. SO it
was no surprise to many who had fol
lowed the trial to find the jury could
not agree. There was enough of the
element of doubt to prove fatal to the
Government claims. There was also
the element of circumstantial evidence
10 be dealt with. 1t is difficult enough
TO get a conviction on that sort of
evidence in a case involving a simple
criminal act.
The jury in this case. which delib
Grated so long and so fruitlessly, was
probably as much Confounded by the
moral codes involved in the case as
the National Capital was confounded
when the owners of these codes made
their descent upon Washington with
the advent of the Harding administra-
tion.
1t was not alleged in the Daugherty
and Miller case that the Government
itself was defrauded of any money.
1t was alleged that the Government
had been cheated of the best serv.
ices" of the Attorney General and the
alien property custodian. due to the
payment of fees by claimantS-feeS
which found their way into the bank
accounts of the Government officials.
Contention of Defense.
Evidently the moral code was that
50 long as the Government was not
defrauded of its property and finan-
cial rights, it was nobOdy's business
what might he done on the side. The
Daugherty defense contended from
the beginning that the Merton claim
of $1,000, 600. which was paid on the
authority Of Daugherty and Miller,
was just claim and the United
States paid back only the amount of
property it had seized
German claimants chose to pay GER
tain sums for influence" which ex-
pedited the claims the people were
robbed Of none of their rights and the
claimants paid only what they eX-
pected TO pay in the way of legitimate
attorney fees. 1t even was contended
the claimants got off cheaper by pay
ing for the influence" than they
would have Jared if the claim had
been prosecuted by high-priced attor-
neys in the usual way.
This is illustrative of the moral
codes of some of those who came to
Washington in 1920. Among the in
vaders of that year were a number of
men known as collectors" Jess
Smith, the intimate friend of Attorney
General DauEherty. was one of these
There were plenty of others They
dealt in liquor withdrawal cases. They
claimed they could fix" things in
Government circles. including things"
at the White House
Harding Was Outraged.
President Harding was outraged at
some Of the stories which reached his
ears. Men who claimed influence,
and collected on such claims. had no
influence at all. Some of them were
driven out Of the Capital on few
hours notice. Jess Smith committed
suicide at the door of the Daugherty
apartments in a fashionable Wash
ington hotel. Officially his act was at
tributai to bad health
John T. King. former Republican
national committeeman for Connecti-
cut. involved in the Daugherty- Miller
case, died after his Indictment King
and Smith were the alleged key men"
in the conspiracy. Their deaths made
the Governments prosecution all the
more difficult. Harry Daugherty him
self Is in very poor health. He has
failed greatly within the past year
The strain of the five weeks trial
weighed heavily upon him. He is a
crushed man-only shadow of the