The Washington times., 1935-10-19
More aste
Of Peoples
NJ on ey
By James T. Williams, Jr.

~ u Tue WOp6T UuLy OF
representative body to look
diligently into eUery aftGir of
Government The informing
junction of Congress should be
preferred eUe1t to its legislative
Junctton.-WoodroD Wilson.
1t is q far cry from the pa
triotic standard for Congress
sional inquiry defined by Wood.
row Wilson when he wrote Con.
greSsional Government" to the
personal publicity racket into
which Congressional investiga.
tions have degenerated in re.
cent years.
This type of political racket
eering is to blame in no small
part for the increasing con.
tempt with which the public is
coming to look upon the legis-
lative branch Of the Federal
Government.
Senators and Representatives
in Congress candidly admit
among themselves that the vast
majority of Congressional in
quiries in recent years have
been organized by members of
both Houses whose itch for
personal publicity appears to
strike them deaf, dumb and
blind to their legislative respon-
Sibilities and to other consid.
erations that national legisla-
tors ought to respect.
GLARING EXAMPLE
A glaring example of the
waste of public money and the
abuse of the investigating power
involved in congressional in
quiries set in motion for pub
licity purposes is to be found in
a Resolution slipped through the
Senate at the last session.
AS agreed to, this Resolution
directs the Senate Committee on
Military Affairs to investigate
the facts leading to the court.
martial of former Captain Ober.
lin M. Carter, Corps of Engi-
neers, United States Army, and
report to the Senate the result
of the investigation.
Senator Duffy Of Wisconsin
reported to the Senate that "a
prima facie case justifying an
investigation to termine
whether the proceedings were
regular and just, exists"
Mr.. Duffy did not tell the
Senate what investigation if any
the Committee on Military At
fairs had made of the case. He
did not even tell the Senate
whether the War Department
or the Department of Justice
had been called upon to submit
the voluminous records in this
case for examination. And the
Committee to this day has de-
clined to give out any report
from the Secretary Of War sent
in response to the Committees
request.
Meantime subcommittee of
which Senator Duffy is chair
man has begun to spend the
peoples money in an inveStiga-
tion not in the Federal City
where all the records exist and
where an abundance Of free
space in the Senate Office Build
ing is available, but in Chicago,
which is accessible to Senator
Duffy's Wisconsin home and is
the home city of Senator Lewis,
who is the author of this amaz-
ing resolution.
FACTS SUPPRESSED
The Carter case owed its
notoriety more than thirty-five
years ago to a fact in which the
officers and men of the regular
Army and all loyal and well.i1.
formed Americans take abiding
pride-the fact that Carter is
the only officer Of the Corps OF
Engineers of the United States
Army who ever betrayed his
trust. But for this fact his
name would be forgotten.
Who Carter was, who some Of
the witnesses were who testified
against him, the nature of the
evidence upon which he was
convicted and sentenced to five
years imprisonment and a fine
of five thousand dollars and the
publication of his offense in his
home town newspapers for one
year-these salient facts the
American people have q right
to know. They were suppressed
in the report to the Senate Of
this amazing Resolution.
But they will be given on this
page soon. Meantime it is due
the Senators who are response
BILE for spending the peoples
money to reopen this case to
say that at least they waited
until all of the chief witnesses
against Carter were dead and
gone before they took action in
his behalf.
Copyright, 1885, The Washington Times)