Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-12-15
BORAH. HELM, LA TOILETTE
AND NORRIS NAMED IN PROBE

ira nss ctions described. he said nor
mad he ever acted as intermediary be-
tween Mexico and any other govern.
ment. any members of Congress or any
individual.
Il have no idea why my name was
mentioned" he said. IL have never
been to Mexico nor associated with
Mexico. | have never had $1,000. 900
in my possession from any source
whatever.
Il have not seen Senator Hefiin
since 1913. Have not seen Senator
Bordh for FIVE or six years. Haven't
seen La Toilette since he came to
the Senate. Haven't seen Senator
Norris since 1918"
Informed that Senator Johnson,
Republican. California. was coming
to him for a statement. Senator Nor
ris arose from his bed and was sit
ting in his library in dressing
gown when the Californian arrived
Senator Norris. who appeared very
ill., said:
"All know about this matter is
what I saw i'm the Hearst papers. I
have no other knowledge of il.
Norris AIse Makes Denial.
nave never received any money
or emOlument or anything of value
from anybody in connection with
Mexico" the Senator continued. II
have never received any offer or any
intimation that anybody contem-
plated offering me anything. If ] had
the public would have heard of it
without waiting for Mr.. Hearst to
publish the fact.
at seems to me now to be the duty
of the committee TO go TO the bottom
OF this matter and particularly to
trace the source of these documents.
III any of these documents are
authenic the Mexican government Is
guilty of an offense which cannot be
described in words. If they are false.
the man who perpetrated them on the
public and blackened the regulations
of American officials and Mexican
officials alike deserves exposure and
punishment TO the full limit Of the
law.
I'm view of the fact that my name
has been mentioned. feel have the
right to ask the committee to go to
the bottom of it."
Hearst Editor Testifles.
At the afternoon session Malone was
asked to name the banks In which he
kept his money and he named three
in New York. saying he had accounts
also for Gene Tunney, the prize fighter,
and Gertrude Ederle, the swimmer. He
volunteered to have the banks send
the committee all records of his ac-
counts and this was agreed to. Malone
said he always had the highest regard
for the Senators named in the docu'
mentS.
Mr.. Malone later explained privately
that his signature to letter In the
Mexican files produced by Hearst was
either a copy Of my signature or a
very good forgery"
T.. b. Coblentz, editor Of the New
York American, said he first learned
of the documents in July this year
He said he was directed by Mr.. Hearst
to supervise the preparation of the
articles telling of the documents which
were printed in the Hearst papers.
Told They Were Genuine.
did you make any efforts to de
termine their authenticity? Reed
asked.
II was told there was no question
Of their authenticity. John Page, our
reporter, said they came from the
secret archives in Mexico"
Dlu yUIl GuCCh IdBC . ,alGI b.
Naturally, / spoke to the man who
obtained the documents. He was. Mr..
Avila. He said he was present wher
clerk extracted the first 10 docn
ments from the official files.
1T was not possible for me to de
termine IL the money was transferred
| did not have the authority 10 &C
to the talegra nh companies"
did you attempt TO learn what
bank was the bank of Mexico?''
IL was told there were two banks
In New York serving in that capacity
One was the Equitable Trust Co.
do not know the other" ~ e
Asked about the grammatical err
rors in the documents, Coblentz said
| he had considered that and still
thought they were absolutely genu
inc"
Coblentz said some of the docu
ments had been taken from the secret
| files of Arturo NJ. Elias in New York
A clerk of Elias extracted the docu
ments from Elias file in the presence
of Mr.. Avila on October 20, If thai
was Saturday he said.
Mr.. Avila. who was once In the
4 United States intelligence service
came to New York to see any pos
sibility of obtaining proof of docu
ments already in possession" he
, volunteered to the committee.
| 1--WE did not know there were any
documents in Elias office. but We
asked Avila to look around and see
what the situation was"
| "Avila became acquainted will
Elias clerk. The Saturday following
we got some of che documents from
/, Elias. Once before an employe o
Elias frustrated the attempt by en-
| tering the office.
| ION Saturday Elias and his clerks
were away because it was half holi
| day. The next Saturday we got more
| / was not present.
"These documents dovetailed exact
| ly with those we got from Mexico
| There are at least 10 documents hav
| ing to do with this conspiracy"
did you get any evidence that an.
Senator got any money!
mo. ! believe this was Just a con
spirac" on the part of certain Mex
can officials tn loot their own treasur,
and benefit themselves"