Evening star., 1928-10-20

The discovery tnat an improper and
illegal sale of the Federal oil royal
ecuted in behalf of the Government
by the Secretary of the Interior in
December. 1922.
The present chairman of the Re-
publican national committee, when
Secretary of the Interior, renewed the
contract in January of this year Shortly
| after it's renewal the question of its
validity was submitted to the Attorney
General, who, in an opinion within the
last four days, declared it. to be invalid
| in that 1t was improperly and illegally
executed While it purported to offer
the valuable oil rights to the highest
bidder, the bids were so rugged as to let
one individual bidder have a distinct
advantage as against all the rest.
Contract Held Illegal.
When these rights were advertised for
| pubic bidding, the advertisements for
| the bids called for the purchase of the
| oil Tor a period of five or ten years
| The company that.won the contract did
not bid according to the advertisement,
| but, on the other hand, bid for a FIVE
| year term with an option of renewal,
thus placing the company in the posi-
| ton of being able to walk away from
their contract at the end of five years,
| if it was Improbable to the company,
and leaving it in a position to continue
the contract for 10 years provided it was
Improbable to the Government That
bid was accepted as against the other
| companies and as against the form of
! advertising, and that led the Attorney
| General of the United States to say the
| following about it:
1T is we'll established law that a
| public officer given power by statute to
enter into contract on behalf of the
public with the best bidder has no
power 10 grant that bidder any term
materially advantageous to him which
was not announced in the advertisement
| for bids. The contract entered into
must be a contract offered to the high
est responsible bidder by advertisement.
This being SO, think the Secretary has
no power to enter into contract with
the highest bidder containing an option
of renewal provision, when such provi-
sion was not offered to all the bidders
in the advertisement for bids
On March of this year President
Coolidge forwarded to the Attorney Gen
eral correspondence and papers sent to
him in relation to this matter by Sen
ator Walsh of Montana. What hap
pened between the I'd of March
and the 18th of October? This is
simple question of law that could be
determined in one hour by any lawyer
in the country. do not know how the
American people feel about it, but I
am forced to the conclusion that there
| was an attempt to suppress this decision
until after election, and am satisfied
| that it would never be given out in the
heat of political campaign if it was
not forced into the open by the in
! Sistence of Senator Walsh and news
/ 1kt I1@%I al f4 In,-tva
| the facts to the American public at the
earliest possible moment.
"Tired of Oil Leases"
The public official responsible for
| the renewal of this invalid and illegal
lease Is no less a parsonage than the
chairman of the Republican national
committee and. according to the news
papers. his >only explanation is:
II have no comment to make. Those
things are past. People are tired of
hearing of these Oil leases"
The record of the present admins
tration is a guarantee of what may be
expected of the next, and the candidate
said
THE record of these seven and half
| years constitutes period of rare cour-
! age and leadership and constructive
| action. Never has q political party
been able to look back upon similar
| period with more satisfaction
| In 1920 the Republican platform,
speaking of World War veterans. said
the following:
I'VE hold in imperishable remem-
brance the valor and the patriotism of
| the soldiers and the sailors who fought
| in the Great War for human liberty,
and we pledge ourselves to discharge to
! the fullest the obligations which q
grateful. nation Justly should fulfill in
appreciation Of the services rendered by
its defenders on sea and on land"
| Veterans Funds Looted.
This plank from the Republican
| platform was a declaration of noble
purpose. Tt was patriotic and it was
humane. It. was what might be ex-
pected from an American political
party voicing as IL does the sentiment
of the American people to the men
that offered themselves to the country
in her hour of need. What happened
afterward, however, constitutes one OF
the darkest pages OF American history
when 1t was discovered by an investi-
eating committee that a large part of
| the money taken from the Treasury
of the United States to pay only in
part American gratitude to the soldier
was SO misapplied that the Republican
director of the Veterans Bureau served
a term in Atlanta Penitentiary. When
speaking of the evidence adduced be-
| fore that committee, Gen. Organ, COM
manding officer of the 9th Division,
summed it all up when he said:
mo American can read it without a
feeling Of disgust OF the manner in
which the great work of aiding the
disabled was prostituted for self-ag-
grandizement and greed. No soldiers
can consider it without feelings of
rage and shame that the disabled
among them should be so callouSly ex-
plotted The testimony of witnesses
and exhibits of the bureau all tell a
story of almost unparalleled waste,
recklessness and misconduct. This
transaction resembles more the work OF
buccaneers in the looting and scuttling
of a ship than the mere neglect of
trusted Government officials"
T could add nothing to that, and
while the platform of the Republicans
attempts to evade responsibility for
that. let it be borne in mind that the
candidate looks back with satisfaction
upon the record of the last seven years.
While we are on this subject Of fair
and proper treatment Of our veteran
soldiers, let me call your attention to
telegram received by me since I ar
rived in the city of Chicago. The
United States Government maintains
a sanatorium for the care Of tubercular
soldiers at Tupper Lake in the Adiron
dack Mountains in my own State. !
am in possession of information that
the Republican inspectors of election
refused to permit World War veterans
in that sanatorium to enter their names
upon the register as electors.
Deny Soldiers Vote.
No matter what may be the decision
of the courts, it stands nevertheless
upon the record that the Republican
election officials in that section of New
York State are attempting to deny to
the afflicted soldier that offered his