GRAVE SCANDAL

Dominion, Volume 18, Issue 105, 29 January 1924, Page 7

GRAVE SCANDAL

INVESTIGATION OF AMERICAN OIL LEASES SEVERAL MINISTERS INVOLVED MAY INFLUENCE ELECTION OF PRESIDENT By Telegraph—Press Association. Copyright. Washington, January 27. With the oil lands investigation developing into the gravest scandal in the history of America, President Coolidge’s announcement that he will form a Bi-partisan Legal Committee to take over the Senate Committee’s evidence and begin the prosecution of all persons found guilty of malfeasance, reveals the existence of an unusual situation. The evidence developed before the Senate Committee now involves a former Secretary of the Interior, Albert B. Fall, Edwin Denby, Secretary of Navy, H. M. Daugherty,. the Attor-ney-General, and the Assistant-Secr. - *- tarv of the Navy, Theodore Roosevelt. President Coolidge hints that senous. conniption exists, and that the testimony given by Fall conflicts seriously, especially concerning certain large loans granted by various individuals, who obtained oil land leases. The Democrats are openly gleeful over the situation, and it is widely a»sumed the scandal spells death Republican aspirations at the cominte Presidential election.—Aus.-N.Z. Cable Assn. >, According to a message from New York, the appearance of Archibald Roosevelt, son of ex-President Theo dore Roosevelt, before the Senatorial Committee investigating the lease ol Governhien t-'"'-nr<l oil lands, to private interests promised to precipitate «. widespread scandal involving two Cabinet Departments. Mr. Roosevelt, who is an employee of the oil company which secured the leases, testified that upon the advice of his brother, Theodore, who is Assistant-Sec-retary to the Navy Department, he (Archibald) resigned his position in order to- protect the family name. Jh intimated that he was dissatisfied with the manner in 'which the leases -wore secured. Mr. Roosevelt’s evidence added further complications, and intimations of bribery have been freely made and much damaging testimony adduced. The facts briefly are that ex-Secretary Fall, of the Department of the Interior, having obtained jurisdiction over these oil lands from the Navy Department, which held them as a naval oil reserve, leased them to the Sinclair Oil Company. Experts estimated that the lands contained 22,000.000 barrels of oil, and the Navy Department had received as payment only 1,600,000 barrels.