Evening star., 1944-05-16

FRANK J. HOGAN.
Harris & Et0ing Photo.
ing up his secure job in the War
Department for the uncertainties of
clients fees.
He had to ledge" into the courts
gradually by using his annual leave
from the Government service to
take few cases he could try-a
technique not unknown to hundreds
of struggling young Washington
lawyers.
Most of his clients were INDECENT
persons whose cases were assigned to
him by judges. But, by 1904, he had
established a law Office jointly with
another Georgetown student, Joseph
G. Sheehy, and had built up his
legal contacts sufficiently to resign
his War Department job and trust
his skill as a lawyer to provide daily
bread and butter.
Mr.. Hogan, like most young
lawyers, was glad to take the routine
cases that came his way. Within
a few years, however, he had &C.
quired a reputation around the
courts for outstanding success in
prosecuting the claims of clients
suing for damages as a result of
personal injuries. He "had a way"
with juries.
In time the old Capital Traction
Co. realized that this young lawyer
who was so successful in bringing
suits against it might be highly use
full on its own legal staff and en-
ployed him.
Many Sought His Counsel.
The streetcar company was the
first Of long list of companies
which were to seek the legal serv-
ices of Mr.. Hogan. The list of
wealthy men and corporations who
retained him included, among
others, Mr.. Doheny, the Pan
American Petroleum Corp, former
President Harding, Andrew w. Mel
lon, the General Electric Co., Armour
& Co., Swift & Co., the California
Fruit and Vegetable Growers, the
District Bankers Association and
the Riggs National Bank.
The case that first brought ma
tional fame to Mr.. Hogan was an
action taken in 1915 by the Treasury
Department to revoke the charter
of the Riggs National Bank and OBJ
tain conviction on criminal charges
against Charles c. Glover, president
OF the bank, and other officers. This
was an outgrowth of an old, personal
quarrel between John Shelton Will
liams, controller of the currency,
and, an official of the bank. Mr..
Hogan led the defense. The trial
became cause celebre. Among the
character witnesses were ex-Presi-
dents Taft and Roosevelt. Mr..
Hogan won an overwhelming VIC
tory.
In the public mind, Mr.. Hogan's
legal work Is best remembered, per-
haps, for his defense of Mr.. Do
heny and the Pan-American Petro-
leum Co., which grew out of the
Governments suit to repossess the
Elk Hills (Calif) oil reserves. This
series of trials lasted from 1924 to
1880 and arrayed against each other
some of the stellar legal talent of
the country.
Although the Government won its
civil suit for cancellation of the Elk
Hills oil leases, Mr.. Hogan was sue
cessful in his defense of Mr.. Do
heny on charges of conspiracy to
defraud the Government and brib-
cry. In another case loosely con-
nected with the ''oil scandals" he
also successfully defended Robert
Stewart of the Standard Oil Co.,
who was charged with contempt of
the Senate.
In the Doheny trial. the prose-
cution made much of a slO0. 900
loan advanced by the oil man to
Albert B. Fall, Secretary of the
Interior at the time the oil leases
were signed. Mr. Hogan countered
py introducing nearly 100 pictur-
esque character witnesses to ham,
mer on single theme.
Protestant clergymen. Jewish
rabbis, Catholic priests, colorful old
pioneers and gold prospectors, told
now Mr.. Doheny, over half a CEN
tury, had handed out donations and
loans freely. The jurors we're asked
II they saw anything sinister in Mr.
Doheny's impulsive response to a
request for loan from a man who
had shared his grubstake with him
When both were half-starved pros
pectors in the West. Their verdict
indicated that they didn't.
In June, 1926, while acting as
chief counsel for former District
commissioner Frederick A. Fen
nlng, Mr.. Hogan was involved in
one OF the most dramatic episodes
ever witnessed in a House COM
mittee
A House Judiciary Subcommittee
was conducting hearings on i'm
parchment charges brought against
Mr.. Fenning in connection with Lis
handling of veterans estates. Rep
resentatlVe Rankin, Democrat, of
mississippi, acting as prosecutor for
the committee, made a statement
which Mr.. Hogan characterized as
"undeniably false"
Hurls Ink Bottle.
No sooner had the words been ut