New Britain herald., 1926-09-29

Dome is a conclusion difficult to 1 escape under this record" declares the opinion.
 The opinion declared in part: Government Sustained Claim "Our conclusion Is that the gov ernment sustained it's claim that the | lease and contract were procured by fraud and corruption, and that they should be cancelled.
 "A trail of deceit. falsehood, sub lterfuge, bad faith and corruption, at times indistinct, but nevertheless dis cernible, runs through the transac- tions incident to and surrounding the making of this lease. It should not receive the approval of the court.
 There is no corruption in this case as 10 any officers of the gov ernment except Albert B. Fall. It has been the theory of the govern ment that former Secretary Fall re- ceived from Harry r, Sinclair, or ganizer and owner of the Mammoth 1 company, a pecuniary consideration which influenced him 10 grant the company a lease for Teapot Dome. l Counsel for the United States lcharged that Sinclair received as dividends from the Continental | Trading company, Ltd, of Ontario. Can, $230,500 face value of Liberty bonds, which he turned over to Fall as a bribe. This charge is as grave land serious an accusation as could be made against a public official, aug mented by the fact that this official so charged was in a sense the trustee l for the people of the United states of it's public lands.
 "The case is one, therefore, In which not only the rights of the United States and the Mammoth oil Company, but likewise the rights of the public at large are involved.
 "The entire transaction is tainted with favoritism, collision and cor ruption, defeating the proper and lawful functions of the government Nothing is so essential to the per petuity of representative government as fidelity of public officials"
 The opinion also stated that 'it is of vital importance that government oil in naval reserve lands should not be drained away for the benefit Of private enterprises, but that it shall be preserved in the interest of the national defense"
 The Appellate court listed 64 ex- captions to the findings of the lower court as set out by special prescott tors Pomere and Roberts in three groups, as follows:
 First, was there authority of law to make the lease of April ', 1922 and supplemental agreement of Feb. g, 1923 to the Mammoth Oil Company and were they in accord lance with the law?
 II Second, were the lease and agree ment procured by fraud as claimed by the government?
 "Third, was there abuse of discre. tion in not granting continuanccs asked by the government to secure certain evidence of H. c. Osler, ar important witness, who was in Cana da and in refusing to reopen the case for this evidence?"
 Fall Was Willing.
 Discussing the law pertaining to naval oil reserves, the decision set out "as Congress deemed the law, it Intended to place the matter entirely in navy. *+"Whether the idea of Iplacing the naval reserve control in the department of the interior ori- ginated with it is matter of con- lecture. It is certain that Secretary Fall was not only willing, but anx- ious that such suggestion of Secre- tary Denby be carried out"
 Continuing with discussion Of the arrangements for tho leasing of the lands the decision said:
 This arrangement was ratified by Secretary Fall in letter of Oct. 19 1921. Secretary Denby seemed to have so little information concernine Ithe leasing of Teapot Dome that Sec. Iretary Fall thought it necessary tc write him a long letter of date Apri I12, 1922, explaining the same. Thai
 
 dominated Secretary Denby, Admira Robinson and other government off. Icers, and practically controlled the action of the navy department as tc Ithe leasing of Teapot Dome is a con, Iclusion difficult to escape under thi, record"
 After a lengthy discussion of tht transfer of s25,O0O in liberty bond: from Sinclair to Fall, shortly after Falls retirement from office in Ma! 1923, the opinion said, Daring dis cussion of the impropriety of a cab Iinet officer who had turned ovel lease hold interests of immeasurabl' value accepting employment from the beneficiary thereof within a few months after his retirement from of flee, the transactions tends to show that the dealing in bonds betweer Sinclair and Secretary Fall was not { novel affair, unusual as it might b.