New Britain herald., 1926-12-01
the bureau of mines without con- sultation with Wall.
 Defense Starts Tn

SulIAllOu Wltl wall.
 Defense Starts In.
 With the structure of the govern ment's conspiracy case against Fall and Doheny nearly completed, the defense already has begun work on tho effort to tear 1t down.
 The first important move in that direction became apparent at the first overtime session of tho trial of the former interior secretary and the oil magnate last night when their counsel took up cross-examin- ation of Assistant Secretary Finney of the interior department.
 Finney. who has much first hand knowledge about the awarding of contracts to Doheny's Pan-American Petroleum Company for construc- tion of the Pearl Harbor. Hawaii, naval oil storage plant and for ex- poitation of the Elk Hills Cal, naval oil reserve, was still in the hands of the defense attorneys when the session went over until today.
 The conspiracy charge against the two men arises out of those awards and a s100,000 transaction between Doheny and Fall which enabled the latter to extend his ranch holdings in New Mexico, all Of which took place after President Harding, by executive order, had transferred administration of the naval oil re- serves from the navy to the interior department, headed at the time by Fall.
 Frank J. Hogan, chief defense counsel, told the jury at the begin ming of the trial that he would show that the navy departments partici- patton in the awarding or the oil storage contract and the lease pre- cluded the possibility of collision between Fall and Doheny. Ques- tioning Finney. he brought out tes- timony that Fall, then at his ranch sanctioned awarding of the Pearl Harbor contract to Doheny's com pany on condition that Admiral Robison and secretary of the navy think best" and "lf authorized by D0lDy SLIlc lltlNdl SCClCtdAyJ. 1NCDA- son was chief of the bureau of en- gineering of the navy at the time.
 Statements that the plans for the Pearl Harbor project originated in the navy department also were plac- ed before the jury by Hogan, to- gether with testimony by Finney that Theodore Roosevelt, as assist ant secretary of the navy, was the first to suggest to interior officials that publicity be avoided in the ne- gotiations.
 Acceptance of the Doheny bid was approved, Finney said, by Robison and A. w. Ambrose, petroleum tech- nologist of the bureau of mines, be- fore Fall was requested by telegraph to authorize its acceptance. He gave his conditional approval in a telc- gram dated April IS, 1922.
 Ambrose, Finney asserted, also prepared the schedule of royalties in the Pan-American contract, and he recalled that officials of the com- pany requested that the navy secre- tary be made a party to the agree ment.
 The royalty question had provided a point of conflict between govern ment and defense counsel just be- fore Finuey took the stand, the lat ted ohjecting strenuously when the prosecution presented six other oil leases executed about the same time by the interior department, which required royalties ranging from GA to 72 per cent of all oil produced under them over 100 barrels a day from each well. Comparison of roy atty per centages was held by the defense counsel to be unfair in view of the differences in productions in various oil fields.
 Testifying under the questioning of Owen J. Roberts of government counsel, who was attempting to show that the reserve leasing nego- tiations were personally handled by Fall between April, 1922 when the Pearl Harbor contract was award ed, and December of the same year, when the lease was authorized, Fin ney declared that the Elk Hills mat ter did not come to his attention between June and December al though, in the same period, he handled a number of other leases.