Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1926-12-15
ANENT PATRIOTISM

Whatever happens to Mr.. Doheny
we shall have heard what wonder
full patriot he was, for he went into
that matter at the trial.
The cruel counsel for the prosecu-
ton commented: Patriotism, bunk!
They were out after the business"
Lawyers are so aggravating at
| times!
Doheny tells the world that at the
| time cold chills were running up and
down patriotic spines. his included,
| or words to that effect. 1t doesn't
appear, however. that this resulted
in cold feet on the part Of those who
volunteered to save the country's oil
and so protect it from Japan.
This country then was being very
nice to Japan. Was she mobilizins
against us? OF course we wouldn't
| be so treacherous as to proffer the
olive wreath with one hand and make
ready to ply the dagger with the
other. Yet she may take Mr..
Doheney seriously.
The New York World regards the
situation so seriously as to depart
from the custom Of commenting on a
case in court and says: MIR.
Doheney's use of the yellow peril
| to shield his own transactions must
| be characterized for what 1t is
| worth: a complete and unadulterat-
ed fraud.
| Let three facts be remembered:
Z. The first Doheny contract was
| signed on April 20, 1922. The second
| Doheny contract was signed on Dec.
II, 1922. Meantime the Four
Power Pacific Treaty originating in
the Washington Arms Conference
had been ratified by the Senate on
March "a, 1922. The treaty had
thus been ratified more than a
month before the signing of the first
Doheny contract and more than
eight months before the signing of
the second Doheny contract. 1t was
treaty which specifically pledged
Japan and the United States to
friendly arbitration at the first sign
of any trouble likely to affect the
harmonious accord now happily sub
sisting between them" 1t was a
treaty described by Secretary
Hughes as "a straightforward docu-
ment which attains one Of the most
important objects the American
Government has had in view"
namely, maintenance of friendly
relations in the Far East upon a
sound basis" 1t was eight months
after this that Doheny says he sign
ed his Elk Hills lease because
orders had actually been issued for
mobilization" in Japan.
2. Lest it be thought that the
Four Power Treaty meant nothing,
that Mr.. Hughes was in total ignor-
ance of the real status of this coun-
try's relations with Japan. and that
the Navy Department had superior
information, it is just as well to re-
member that inside the Navy De-
partment itself Admiral Robinson
was practically the only ranking
naval officer who urged the .Doheny
leases as a protective measure
against a japanese invasion. Secre-
try DENLY remembers nothing of the
war scarce, of Doheny, or of any
thing else. But it is on record that
various ranking officers in his de-
partment were more alarmed by the
threatened loss of the navy's oil
than by the prospect of Japanese
invasion. Admiral Griffin, who had
been chief of the Bureau of En-
gineering for eight years, warned
DENLY: Il told him that if he turned
the administration over to the In
terror Department we might just as
well say goodby to our oiP [Sen-
ate hearing, p. 34S1.
8. Finally, let us narrow the case
e.%.1 e.,
only Admiral Robinson and Mr..
Doheny knew the facts. the facts as
they knew them were really true.
What was 1t, in this case, that Mar.
Doheny was to do?
He was to meet a threat so i'm
mediate that "orders had actually
been issued for mobilization" by I'M
dertaking a building and drilling
program which would take months