Evening Star Newspaper, December 30, 1923, Page 1

WEATHER. Increasin, rain today or tonight tomorrow; much cold and tomorrow night. for 22 hours ended at night: Highest, 50, at 4 day: lowest, Full report on’ page 5. 29,097. U. 5. WAR SUPPLIES - T0BE SOLD MEXICO IN EFFORT 70 QUELL No. 979.—No. HUERTA REBELLION Decision on Obregon’s Plea Surprise, as It Reverses Policy Set by Mr. Harding in Same Request by Poland. RIFLES AND TEN PLANES AMONG ITEMS WANTED Uprising Believed Unpopular, “Man in Street” Holds Aloof. Army Officers Silent, But Thought Opposed to Move. Sales to Reach $750,000 Total. By the Associated Press. The Washington government has agreed to sell & quantity of war ma- terial to the Obregon government in Mexico. The decision was reached after a Tequest for such action had been re- celved from the Obregon government and is understood to have been prompted by a desire to aid that government, which is faced by an armed uprising. Although detalls of the transaction are still pending before Secretary ‘Weeks, the material involved is sald to include military rifies now stored at Fort Sam Houston or other Army depots near the border and ten military atrplanes. It Is probable that ammunition for the rifles and other equipment is included. One report was to the effect that the Obregon government contemplated an expenditure of about $750,000 for the material. Reverses Harding Poliey. Declsion of the Washington. admin- istration to make the sale came some- what as a surprise, inasmuch as President Harding, on April 29 last, made a statement of policy for the War and Navy departments which opposed the sale of any surplus mili- tary equipment to foreign powers. Inguiry 2t the State Department Produced only the following statement: “The Mexican government has pre- sented a request to this goverdiment to sell it a limited quantity of war material. This govérnment has ex- pressed its willingness to make the #ale in-view of the relations between this government and the Mexlcan government, which were formally rec- ognized last September, and of the importance of the maintenance of stabllity and orderly constitutional | edure In the nelghboring repub- | Plenty Material to Sell. All of the material contemplated for sale s now available at Army depots in the 8th Corps area. No orders have yet been sent by -the ‘War Department to make deliveries, but it is expected that the rifles will be taken from surplus stocks of American manufactured Enflelds which were turned out in vast quan- titles during the world war. The ‘War Departnient also has on hand a vast reserve supply of ammunition, much of which probably would be- come useless with deterioration be- fore it could be used by the Amer- fcan Army. { No information was obtalnable as| to the type of Army planes likely to be delivered to the Mexican govern- ment. The Army air service also still has a war surplus of machines rapldly becoming obdolete, although still entirely suitable for the pur- poses of the Mexican government in its present conflict with the De la Huerta forces. Polink Case Set Policy. The statement of policy in the mat- ter of sale of surplus military equip- ment to foreign powers was laid down by President Harding in letters | to Secretaries Weeks and Denby at the time that Poland was understood to have made Informal overtures for the purchase of surplus rifles and smunition from the United States. Following is the téxt of President Harding’s letter to Secretary Weeks on that occasion: “Refer1ing to your inquiry for ad-{ vice relative to the sale of surplus! arms and war supplies to proposed purchasers among forelgn powers, I am Writing to say that I hope it will be the poliey of the War Department not only to make no éales of war equipment to any forelgn power, but that. you will go further and -make certain that public sales to our own citizens will be attended by proper guarantees that such eupplies are not to. be transferred to any foreign powers. I would' gladly wave aside any financial advantage that might; attend such sales to make sure that none of our surplus equipment is omployed in encouraging warfare any place in the worid. I am writing a imilar note to the Secretary of the Navy and shall confidently expect the co-operation ¢f both departments in adhering to this policy.” ‘Conmstrued As Blamket Ban. At the time of its publication, Pres- ! fdent Harding’s letter' was generally ,construed as a blanket prohibition | upon ‘any sales of war material to forelgn countries. Decision of the Coolidge administration .to make ‘the male contemplated to the Mexican _government was taken, however, ag meaning that in cabinet circles either & ‘more liberal construction-has been placed upon the Harding policy state- & cloudiness, followed by ‘and probably er tomorrow Temperature 10 p.m. last p.m., yester- 87, at § am., yesterday. Entered as second-class matter post office Washington, D. C. 7 i i i | i | AMBASSADOR GEDDES BLOC FOR COOLIDGE PLAN N CONGRESS Administration May Fight! Opposition With Own Methods. i BY ROBERT T. SMALL. An entirely new bloc may be formed before the present Congress is mueh older. If present plans go through it will be an “administration | loc. It will be organized to cope with the farm -bloc, the La Fbllette bloc and all the other blocs that are blocking legislative progress. The formation of an administration bloc would not be & new move in Washington. It was resorted to by Grover Cleveland when he found a recalcitrant Congress on his hands and it worked with fair effectiveness. The modern bloc system in the American Congress has grown out of & determination of a small group of senators or représentatives that noth- ing shall go through Congress unless the pet measures in which they are interesfed shall first receive favor- able consideration. Thus far there has been no retalia- tion on these groups. Congress lead- ers, acting for the administration, have been forced ta give ground here and there and to make compromises without compensating gragts on the part of the belligerent blocs. Firm Action Probable. 1t the plans of certain of the lead- ers go through this will all be changed. The administration will form a bloc and will serve notice that no measure brought forward by any bloc shall pass without an agreement that administration measures shall | recelve the support to which. the leaders belfeve them entitled. In brief it is proposed that from now on the administration shall take the of- fensive in Congress instead of being placed always on the defensive by first one bloc and then another. . These plans have been brought | forward by republican leaders who say they are no longer concerned about President Coolidge's nomina- tion next June at Cleveland, but are deeply concerned as to his fate at the November polls if Congress shall prove itself to be & “do nothing” af- | tair. It 1s becoming more and more ap- parent to the G. O. P. leaders as they study conditions throughout the country that Mr. Coolidge's fate is dependent largely upon the record | made by the Congress which assem- | bled a month ago, but which has not yet completed its organization. } Majority in Question. | The leaders say it is unfair to link Mr. Coolldge up with Congress as | closely as the people are doing, be- cause the republican majority in House and Senate is not all that it seems, because some of the legisla- tors parading as republicans are not republicans at heart and are out to knife the administration rather than to help it. But they also realize that it Is a condition which confronts them and it will have to be met. Some way | s GEDDES QUITS L., AS BRITISH ENVOY. SUCCESSOR PICKED Failing Health Is Reason :Given for Decision—Sir Esme Howard May Get Post. PROSPECTIVE CHOICE HAS SERVED IN CAPITAL Active Part in Arms Conference Most Notable Work of Retir- ing Representative. Failing hoaith due to Injuries receiveq in the world war has caused Sir Auck- land Goddes to resign his post as am- bassador for Great Britain at Washing- ton, and it is the expectation in in- formed circles here that Sir Esme Wil- llam Howard, at present British am- bassador at Madrid, will bs named as his successor. Although virtually an invalid for sev- eral months, euffering from eye troubles caused by gas on the western front, the resignation of Sir Auckland came some- what as a surprise, for recent word jfrom England, where he has been on leave, had Indicated that he was im- proving and would sail for America this week. Reported Health Better. Officials both at the State Department and at the British embassy declined to discuss the resignation pending formal announcement from London. Sir Auck- land is understood to have been in con- stant communication in recent months from' England with members of the embassy staff and other friends in Washington and {nvariably to have written optimistically of his health and his expectation of ultimately being able to return to his post at Washington. He was stricken last spring with the eye trouble, A recurrence of a malady during the years since the war, and for weeks was confined to a dark room, but eventually recovered sufficlently to return last June in feeble health to England. It was his intention to re- main there only three months, but twice that time elapsed without the neces- sary improvement being noted In his condition. His resignation is uhder- 'stood to be due exclusively to considera- tions of health. Bir Esme Is kpown in Washington diplomatic life through residence here (Continued on Page 3, Columa 3.). URGES NS TAX ARANST THE R Rainey . Proposes Exoess Profits and Increased In- come Rate'EIan. With republican members of the House who are former service men pressing for early action on the sol- diers' bonus, Representative Rainey of Illinols, a democrat on the-House ways and means committee, came out yesterday with a proposal that pay- ment of adjusted compensation' be financed by restoration of the excess profits tax and an increase of the surtax rates on incomes. He de- clared these levies would . provide more than enough funds for & bonus, and at the same time a general tax reductlon could be put into effect. The republican war veterans who are clrculating petitions for a con- terence of House republicans on Jan- uary 10 with a view to putting the majority membership on record in favor of a House vote on the bonus before February 1 continued today to obtain signatures. They plan to flle the petitions when the House reconvenes Thursday, a week before the proposed party confereice. Mr. Rainey, one of the most out- | (Continued on Page 3, Column 3.) Two dirt farmers, ‘both members of Uncle Sam's official family, brought rural tests of skill within hailing dis- tance of the Capitol dome yesterday, and at the end of a spirited milking contest a farmer-edifor from the state of Towa was declared the winner over a farmer-senator from the horthwestern state of Minnesota. Towa added another laurel to her crown yestérday when one of her native sons, Secretary of Agriculture Henry C. Wallace, won by a pint from Senator Maguus Johrison of Minnesota. Two patient Jerseys cows,.prize win- ners of the famous herd maintained at the United States Soldiers’ Home, stood patlently while official, if somewhat un- accustomed, hards worked industriously to win a cohtest decided as much by skill and practice as by dexterity. And Secretary Wallace won by ‘a pint, ac- cording to Referes Tasker H. Bl erstwhile major general, U. 8. A., who descended from the'dignity of com- mandant of the Soldiers’ Home yes- ment, permitting each question of sale of arms to-be solved upon i _ fContinued um.z.cohmnu terday to referee the contest. For weeks past this contest has been - Whispered about in commit- spoken_proponents of bonus legisla- (Continued on Page 2, Column 6.) Cow-Milkin® Title Won by Wallace With Magnus Johnson Pint Behind Senator Claims Opponents Practiced Up and Had Beétter Animal, Anyhow Mrs. Johnson Is Family Champion. tee rooms of the Capitol, taiked about at the Department of Agricuiture (rumor has it it even Invaded the sacrosanct portals of the White House), a far-flung challenge was accepted by a quietly confident red-headed cabinet member. And yesterday the two farm- ers met on neutral ground, far from the pastoral scenes where they first learned the gentle art of milking the cow. They worked hard. ‘Bach tried his goldarned level best. ' At the end but a pint of creamy ‘milk separated the winner and the loser. margins is victory in greater things won. Bringing all their early training into play, the best teachings of American dairymen strove to overcome the Norse method ‘of milking, as exempli- fled by Senator Johnson. The Ameri- can won, but' he ‘won by taking an unfair advantage, according 'to the Minnesota member of Congress, for Senator Johnson claims the cow as- signed to him had been.milked but a short time before. Among other alibly advanced he also claimed that Secre- Sary -Wallaes had: heen “holdiag eut™ (Continued oo Page 3, Column 33 2 k3 % By such small |' o) “‘,\“\\?} i\ \ \\. MODERNISTS INGIT | TOPAY'S sTar ON FULL LIBERTY Willing to Confer, But Not Compromise on Truth, Manifesto Declares. By the Associsted Prees. NEW YORK, December 29.—Mod- erniet champlons of the Protestant Episcopal clergy announced today that peace could come In the exist- ing church schism only f the fun- damentalists were prepared to grant them liberty of thought and “their own. place in. the church as loyal sona.” The manifesto contained in a state- ment issued by Dr. Stuart L. Tyson, vice president of the Modern Church- men’'s Unlon, was in gagwee to ¥ terday’s’ announcement that 3 Walf dozen bistops, including Bishops Manning and Lawrence, had met with prominent laymren of the chuyreh in the firdt of & serles of cont destgned to end the existing con- troversy. Dr. Tyson, who previously had satd his organization had net been invited to yesterday's peace conference, and knew nothing of it until inforiied ‘o¢ the. meeting by rnewspapermen, - 8ald his statement was fssued “on behalf of the modernists generally. Demand for Liberty. “If the conferences are to lead up to an ‘American Association for the Advancement of Religion,'” the statement said, “wherein the mod- ernist will be granted that liberty which he unreservedly accords his fundamentalist brother, the whole unhappy quarrel automatically will come to an end.” But the modernist, Dr. Tyson add- ed. “will not cry ‘peace, peace, when there is no peace. very modernist” he continued, “will agree that conference is better than controversy. But heretofore conference and fellowship are ex- {actly what his fundamentalist broth- er has refused to grant him. He quoted ‘statements from a re- cent address before the American Aspociation for: the Advancement of Sclepce declaring that it defined the modernists’ attitude toward.truth.in general Nature of Trath. “The pltimate truth {s elusive. When scince establishes & truth that may seem at first to be ultimate, it but points the way to another truth lying beyond:” The modernist, he added, bat- tling only for freedom, for, the right to apply the Wealth of mew know- ledge to the :interpretation of our holy religion, sG.4% to exhibit its un- impaired vitality to men and women today.” P The basic issue betWeen modernists and fundamentalists, “is nothing less than the.right.of the Christian minister-to.think free- 1y and to utllise present day know- ledge and enlightenment in .religion as well as in all other reldtions of lite. vs Soe While not seeking to foree ac- ceptance of new. knowledge on the fundamentalists, Dr. Tyson said “the modernidt “will strenuously claim his (Continued on Page 7, Column 2.) * Wilson’s - Picture On Egg Laid on His 67th Birthday Bpecial Dispatch to The Star. |, HAGERSTOWN, Md., Decémber 29.—X big-black’ hen, owned: by. Mrs. Samuel Doyle, Smiithsburg, near this city, gelebrated Wood- row Wilson's sixty-seventh birth- day yesterday’ by laying an ims . mense double eg¥, on the .one side of which is.a distinct portrait.of . the former Présiaént,'while ‘on the other side is a perfect “W." The egs, which Mrs. Doyle found in her chicken coop yesterday,' s seven ,and thrge-fourth inches around lengthwise, while around the smaller portion it is ’six and three-fourths inches, The-freak is’ being: E nt 'vo ‘M. . PART ON] General News—Local, National, Foreign. National Pelitical Survey—Page 6. | 8chools and Colleges—Page 18. Radio News and Gossip—Pages 22 and Fraternities—Page 26. PART TWO—18 Pages Editorials and Editorial Features. Washington and Other Society. Tales of Well Known Folk—Page 7. Books Recelved—Page 10. Art Notes—Page 11 Around the City—Page 11. ified Advertisements—Pages 12 to Army and Navy News—Page 17. At the Community Centers—: Spanish War Veterans—Page 1 News of the Clubs—Page 18, PART THREE—10 Pages Aml:umnl.—YMlun and the Photo- play, Music in Washington—Page 5. Thae Civillan Army—Page 5. Motore ;nfl Motoring—Pages 6 to 3. Young Folks' Page—Paga 3. . Glris and Their Af; ln—a.” age 8. 8oy ScoutymPage 3. A : Serlal, * Suspicien”—Page 10. Pink Sperts Section. PART FIVE—8 Pages. Magazine Section—Fiction and Features. GRAPHIC BECTION—8 Pages World Events in Plctures., . COMIC' SECTION—4 Pages d J’f’: Reg’lar Felers; Betty; d M rs. Mutt 1M, 3 OF CHURCH RIOT GANG SURRENDER Mountaineers Give Bonds to Answer Charge of Wound- ing Four Worshipers. Special Dispatch to The Star. HAGERSTOWN, Md., December 29. ~—Three of the seven members of the mountaip gang who wrecked the Methodist Church at Black Oake after wounding four members of the con- gregatign of the church, for whom 'lrrln‘inw.re issued yesterday, to- day surrendered to the authorities of Fulton county, Pa., in which county the were issued. at the in-, stanés of Isaac Bishop. Bishop W one of the four wounded when he re- mohetrated with the mountain mob when the gang attacked the church. Sheriff Cgmen sent word to_the other four mem! of the, gang that they #hould either surrender or that he would come after them. ¥ Those who surrendered this after- noon were Preston, Charles and David Bishop, while . Wilbur and . Walter Bishop, John Miller-and James Powell did not appear. - Hearing January 15. The three Bishops were held in bafl eachi on two charges, assault and bat- tery and with maliclous mischlef. AIl three gave ball for their appear- ¢ 'a hearing om ‘January 15 at McConnellsburs. . % The ops told Magistrate Lynch that the attack was not ‘made until after they had been attacked by Isaagc Bishop, & deacon of-the church, who, came to' the door and strick one of «the gang over ithe head with a lantern: Six prohibition agents left thiscity, tonight afid ~will.be jolned fh the morning by a dozen more’ from ‘Wast Virglyia and’Pennsylvanta. A ral@ will b, conducted tomorrow. at Blacl Osks, 1t was learned"tonight. i of the gang" without ewhat unexpectedly rpkise. to the Fulton ho anticipated prol & fight,: when seviral " péared’ in Hancoek yesterddy and’| considerable supply of* 'the ‘ police’ t3 " believe . thi IBELIEVE DIXMUDE FELL NEAR SIGLY Italian Experts Think Giant Craft Fell on Morning of December 22. By the Associated Press. SCIACCA, Sleily, December 29.—-The French dirigible Dixmude was wrecked early In the morning of De- cember 22, -six miles off the coast of ‘Siclly near Cape St. Mark. This i$ the conclusion reached by experts of the :Halian navy, who are now engaged in searching for the bodles of those ‘who perishéd when the Dix- mude fell into the sea. Besides finding the body of the jcommander of the Dixmude, the Selacco figherman have netted wiring which Is suppased 1o be part of the radio apparatus of the dirigible. The heaviest gale In many yeurs is raging in the Mediterranean and &0Mme of the French warships which Were off shore this morning hurriedly ’Du‘ out to sea. The fishing community at Sclacca is notoriously poor, but the fishing folk collected enough money to buy a wreath for the body of Lieut Grena- dan. ALL HOPE ABANDONED. By thie Associated Press. PARIS, ,December 29, —Hope _ has Deen abandoned of finding any sur- vivors from the missing French dirlg- 1ble Dixmude, and the government to- day began sending high officlals to {the familles of the fifty victims to extend its sympathy and also to ex- press {ts admiration for the herole qualities of the airship's crew. All available warships are being |concentrated for an organized search of the Mediterranean In the vicinity of ‘Sicily where the body of Lieut. De Plessis de Grenadan, commander of the Dixmude, was found, and this search will be continuea until it is quite certain that nothing more can be learned of the fate of the great dirigible that vanished in the night. The Dixmude is officlally regarded as lost at sea. All the French land forces in Africa, as well as the civil authorities, are on the alert for any information, but the search in the southern Algerian region was aban- doned today, the searching partles being ordered to return to their posts. The sea search, however, is hoped to sleld something eventually: The fact that nothing has yet been found is not discouraging these efforts and squad- rons of airplanes will fly over the water, hoping to £py something in the.depths that may clear up the mystery. It is hoped & message of some kind, perhaps in & floating container, may be found. - An extremely heavy sea is still run- ning off Sclacca, but the Freuch war- ships Mulhouse, Calais and Annamite reached there this morning and French naval officers went ashore to thank the Italians. Several of the smaller French warships have put into sheltered waters temporarily because of the storm. The naval attaches of the United States, Great Britain, Spain and sev- eral of the South American countries and the Belglan military attache called today at the ministry of marine and presented the sympathy of their gov- ernments over the Dixmude disaster. King George of England and the air and marine- minsters of several natlons, together with ‘many other officials and notables, also sent their copdolences, R MAKER DEFENDS DIXMUDE. ! AKRON, Ohio, Degember 29.—Capt. Ernest - A. Lehman, , designer of the French airship ‘Dixmude, who ar- rived in this city ‘todsy from Ger- ‘many to become assoclated with a local rubber manufacturing company in the manufacture of alrships, said, “The dlsaster that apparently has overtaken the Dixmude emphasizes the factithat the successful operation of aircratt must’be linked up with sdequate landing and mooring facili- nd a theroughly tralned per- sonnel. ' i ! “By a-thoroughly trained person- nel,” Capt. Lehman sald, “I mean those who_hive ‘had sufficien} experience to bandle. airships not only under.normal oon:m'onl.’ but under. emergency conditions. 3 ¥ rts indicate that hio, Ship Searted with less fusl and mo: last than it should have car- Fisd, but it weuld be unfalr te form |course, the mob quietly dispersed m‘ww - (Continued on Fage 2, on Page:3, Columa 1)’ v “From Press to Home The Star is Within the Hour” delivered every evening and Sunday morning’ to Washington homes at 60 cents month. Telephone Main 5000 and service will start immediately. Barrels of Wine By Thousands Go In Seine Flood By the Assoclated Press. PARIS, December 29.—A thou- sand kegs and barrels of wines were floating down the Seine to- day, swept from the Bercy ware- houses In eastern Paris by the swollen river. The Seine has been rising steadily for four days. It is overflowing Its banks and the wharves in some places, and more serious damage is feared as the meteorological bureau predicts that the tide will not be stemmed until January 2. St. Louls Island, in the center of Paris, Is practi- cally under water. SENATE TOPRESS ON DESPITE DEADLOCK Commerce Committee Chair- man Fight Not to Hinder Business. When the Senate convenes next Thursday it will have before it as unfinished business the election of a chalrman of the Senate interstate commerce committee. o far there has been no indication of a break in the allgnment which deadlocked the Senate on twenty-five roll calls be- fore the adjournment for the Christ- mas recess. Many senatgrs have been in thelr home states for Christmas. In the few remaining days, it is expected, eftorts will be made by the republic- ans to reach an understanding whereby a chairman may be elected. 1f no agreement is reached among the republicans, either the election of Senator Smith of South Carolina, the democratic nominee for the offica of chairman, will be effected through = combination of the progressive group |of republicans and farmer-labor sen- jators with the democrats, or the Sen- ate will drop the whols matter, leave the committee without a chairman and turn its attention to other busi- ress, according to influential repub- lcan leaders. Senate May Go Ahkead. The Senate can go ahead with its regular business without -electing a chairman of the interstate commerce committee, it was said, and the com- mittee itself can struggle along per- haps through the selection of a tem- Pporary presiding officer, There were rumors iast night, how- ever, that stéps are being considered by the republicans which may make possible a break in the deadlsck and the élection of & republicant as chair- man. Senator La Follette of Wisconsin, a leader of the progressiv. been ill and unable to attend the ses- sions of the Senate, expects to return to his seat In the Senate chamber, it was sald at his office, when the Senate convenes Thursday. This may have considerable effect on the situation, Big Issues Await Action. Senator La Follette is the rank- ing republican member of the com- mittee after Senator Cummins of Towa, who is the candidate of the regular republicans for the chair- manship. It appeared clear after a number of ballots that neither of these senators could command a majority of the votes cast. The pro- gressive group on the last day be- fore the recess was voting for Sen- ator Couzens of Michigan, as chair- man. Should the Senate be unable to break the Jeadlock and lay aside the question of & chairman of the com- mittee it has a number of important matters to which to turn its atten- tion, including the proposed treaties with Turkey and Mexico. Appropria tion bills, tax and bonus legislation must originate in the House, and the Senate will have to wait until the House sends these bills to it for con- sideration and actlon. 1f the charimanship of the inter- state commerce committee ls finally settled by the election of some sen- ator other than Senator Cummins, It is likely that Senator Cummins will (Continued on Page 2, Column 8.) 500 IN MOB DEMAND ARKANSAS NEGROES Three in Fort Smith Jail Are Charged With Slaying ‘Woman. By the Associated Press. FORT SMITH, Ark., December 29.— Belleving that the three negroes who were alleged to have confessed the killing of Mrs. Robert Latimer at her home, near Van Buren, yesterday, ‘were lodged in the Sebastian county jall here after belng spirited away from the jail at Van Buren early to- night to escape a crowd of men, a mob estimated at 500 men surrounded the local jail shortly after 10 o'clock and demanded the prisoners. Automobiles . bearing reinforce- ments arrived at brief intervals and the strength of the mob grew rapldly. County officers locked all doors to the jail and stationed guards at the| windows and In the corridors. Sheriff Pink Shaw addressed the throng and. ‘warned that no person would be perritted to enter the prison. To_ attempt to force an en- trance, the sheriff said, would “Invite trouble.” “We don’t want bloodshed, but we want thosé negroes,” shouted a voice from the mob in reply to the sheriff. Heeding the pleas of county offi- cials and local attorneys, who urged that the law be permitted to take its | FIVE CENTS. NEW LIQUOR LIST REVEALED BY BLARR, CALLING FIRST MYTH 1,400-Name Record Con-« fused With Smaller One, Says Commissioner. DENY HINTS OF FRICTION IN PROSECUTOR’S OFFICE Gordon Allays Rumors by An- nouncing Presmont Will Stay on Case. A new list of names in the alleged - rum syndicate came into the lime- light last night through David H. Blair, commissioner of Internal rev- enue, who brought out this hitherto unnoted fact In an official statement. denying existence of the famous 1,400-name list. This list contains about fifty names, according to Mr. Blair, and is the second that s held. A list of twenty- one narzes s also in the hands of the investigators, he sald in the statement. Explained Mystery List. A detatled explanation of the mys- tery surrounding the list of names was made by Mr. Blair in a lotter dated December 28 to Representative Newton in reply to a letter from the latter. After denying that a list of 1,411 names had been discovered, Mr. Blalr said: “The press has no doubt been mis- led by the fact that codo numbers were discovered, indicating that there were 1,411 customers. Nelther the police nor the officers of the spe- cial intelligence unit were able to find a Jist of those customers, but we have succeeded in getting from some of the defendants the names of a few peopls they say wers customers of the liquor syndicate. “It appears from the affdavit of one of the defendants that there was & black book containing a list in code of all the customers and, as above stated, evidenco was discov- ered indicating that 1,411 of - those cods numbers had been Issued, but that book has never’ been found, oither by the police or by the spe- clal intelligence unit" This served to clear the atmosphers ©of a foggy interpretatipn of state- ments by police and special agents relative to the exibtéence of the list, neéwspaper men believing that théy originally asserted they had posses- slon of that list, whereas they have maintained since that they assertea only knowledge that such a list ex- Isted. Referring to the two lists men- tioned above, Mr. Blair continued: YOutside of the above-named lists neither the police nor the epecial in- teiligence unit have any lists what- ever and all reports to the oon- trary are untrue. Lists To Be Withheld. “It {8 not deemed advisable to pub- lish the names that appeared on this list because this might mate- rially interfere with the Investiga- tion and, besides, the fact thata name is on the list only raises a suspicion and gives a clue, but is not in itself a sufficient evidence upon which to base legal action.” In the concluding paragraph of the letter Comimssloner Blair states the police and agents are working in “complete harmony” and are “intensely interested in this case.” He adds also that a thorough in- vestigation will be made “of all the people, regardless of their standing, and all the facts will be presented to the district attorney as quickly as the Investigation can be com- pleted.” The discovery of the fifty-name list was made by Lieut. Davis, chief of the vice squad, last May, through a lucky chance. He was investigat- ing & case in which one of the de- fendants In the present case was im- plicated. He saw this person get into an automobile, so the story goes, and drop a bunch of papers. He picked them up, and among them was found the list of names. As soon as the present investiga- tion was set on foot and the data turned over to the special intelligence operatives of the Treasury Depart- ment, this list of names came into promient significance. And now, ac- cording to Mr. Blalr, “Investigation i& j being made to determine whether the persons named on this list are cus- tomers of this particular syndicate. Blair's Statement. The full atatement of Mr. Blair was as follows: “When asked about a list of more than 1400 names of supposed cus- tomers of the bootlegging syndicate which is under investigation, D. H. Blair, Commissioner of Internal Rev- enue, stated that no such list was found either by agents'of the special intelligence unit of the bureau of in- ternal revenue or by the city police who conducted the rald. The only list found was one containing twenw ty-one names, and that list with cer. tain receipted bills is the one for which Special Agent George E. Gold« ing gave the receipt which has been published in. some of the papers. This list 18 now in the possession of the special intelligénce unit and" the agents are investigating every per. son named therein. This is the only' lst of names found in connection with the recent raids. 2 “Some of the defendants havegfur- nished the names of some of the pposed customers of the syndicate, The bureau also has in- its possession