Evening Star Newspaper, March 14, 1924, Page 1

training for the office.” . prepared to lay aside the ermine of | WEATHER. Partly cloudy tonight; m! perature about 25 degrees; tomorrow fair. Temperature for twenty: ended at 2 p.m. today: Hi, 3:30 p.m. yesterday. Lowest, 28, at 7 a.m. today. Full report on Closing N. Y. Stocks and Bonds, Page 28 Entered as second-class matter pout office Washington, D. C. ' No. 29,172 aimum tem- -four hours ghest, 45, at page 7. ch WASHI SENATE APPROVAL | OFWILBURASNAVY SECRETARY ASKED President “Drafts” California Jurist to Succeed Denby. Kenyon Refuses. EARLY CONFIRMATION REGARDED AS LIKELY Jowan Declines Task on Ground He Is Not Properly Qualified. President Coolidge sent to the Sen- ate today the nomination of Chief Justice Cuftls D. Wilbur of the Cali-| fornia supreme court to S tary of the Navy, succeeding Denby, resigned. At the Capitol early today there were indications that the nomination of Judge Wilbur would be confirmed. The position was accepted late yes- terday by Judge Wilbur, after it had been declined by Judge William . Kenyon of the eighth-judicial circui President Coolidge fecls that Judge Wilbur for the Navy portfolio is ably suited by training and experience to discharge the heavy responsibilities of an office which, because of the oil investigation™ now rests under the critical eye of the whole American public. Kenyon Declines Post. The declination of Judge Kenyon was made formally last night after geveral conferences with the Presi-| dent, because, he said: “I do not pos- kess the essential qualifications or Judge Kenyon's statement follows: “A man in a judicial position ac- quires the habit of looking at all sides of a question before arriving at a conclusion. I am appreciative of the honor conferred and confidence ghown in tendering me the position of Secretary of the Navy. It is diffi- | cult not to respond to a supposed call | to duty from the President of the United States, especially a President of the type of Calvin Coolidge. . “I have not considered my personal preferences in the matter, as I would | * be willing to make any sacrifice for real public service. I cannot, however, escape the conclusion that' I do not po: the essential qualifications or training for the office. “Hence, it seems very clear that I should go no further in its considera- tion. It would have been & pleasure ! and privilege to serve with President | Coolidge, whom 1 esteem as one of the finest representatives of our real American life ~and one imbued In public life with the same ideals of | honesty and clean government as was ! Abraham Lincoln.” | ACCEPTS WITHOUT DELAY. . Wilbur Sends Reply to Terse Cool- idge Message at Once. By the Associated Press. SAN FRANCISCO, Calif,, March 14. +—Chiet Justice Curtis D. Wilbur of | the California supreme court today | his office and take up the weightier| duties of the post of Secretary of the Navy. Tendered the office by telegraph late last night, Judge Wilbur accepted the portfolio surrendered by Edwin Denby last Monday. He will leave for Washington as soon as his appoint- ment is confirmed by the Senate. President Coolidge's summons to the California jurist was terse. “You seem to be the man I meed| for the Navy,” the President tele- \ graphed. “Am drafting you today. Please answer.” ‘Within ten minutes Justice Wilbur | replied: “I will accept the appointment and will come to Washington as soon after confirmation as possible.” He announced that he would not resign from the California supreme court until he had been swora in .u] naval Secretary. “I cannot m regard to the ke any statement in! policy T will pursue, except to say that I will do my le best to see that the Navy is abso-| *lutely first class in every way,” he| said. The new cabinet appointee was be- sieged far into the night by congrat- ulatory telephone calls and messages, | A host of newspapermecn and ph { olution which Appointed on 13th, Wilbur Cites Proof Number Is No “Jinx” By the Associated Press. SAN FRANCISC March 14.—Thirteen, shunned by the superstitious, is a num- ber asnociated with the luckiest events in the life of Curtix D. Wilbur, who was “drafted” lant night to be Secretary of the Navy. As evidence t the “thirteen jinx is the bunk.” axs he remarked last night, Judge Wilbur explrined: He was married on the 13th. He took his bride to live at 1313 Winifred street, Los An- welex. He was admitted to the prac- tice of 1aw on ¢he 13th. Me gvax inducted into office ax chief justice of the wtate supreme court on January He wasx appointed Seere of the Navy March 13, Cant., BRIBERY HEARINGS DELAYED BY HOUSE { Committee Not to Act Until, Next Week—Grand Jury Hears Two. The House committee authorized to invest charges that representa- Itives have improperly accepted money | decidea today to defer until next week the beginning of public hear- ings. Members declined to say whether the delay had any connection with the institution of grand jury proceed- ings In the case, which are contin- uing. Chairman Burton introduced a res- would authorize the committee to employ counsel and to provide for payment of all expenses incurred. Herman Geltzeiler, a saloonkeeper of Newar! J., and D. J. De Lancey of New York city testified today be- fore the local grand jury In the fn- vestigation by the Department of Justice. No information was obtain- able as to the relation which the witnesses might bear to the charges of receiving money for the alleged exercise of Influence in procuring withdrawals of liquor from govern- ment warehouses and in securing pardons and paroles for federal pris- oners. Declines to Discuss Scope. Special Assistant Attorney General Crim declined to discuss the scope of the inquiry now before the grand jury and would not even hazard a Bucss as to how long it would take the government counsel to present | the matter to the grand jurors. The life of the present grand jury expires at the end of this month, and ernment has decided that its evidence can be submitted in time to enable action by the present grand jury. The jurors held a protracted session vesterday afternoon and convened an hour earlier today. A late session is looked for this afternoon, as the Jjurors ordinarily do not sit on Satur- days. Whila no definite information is obtainable it is understood that more than a dozen witnesses were summoned and less than half tha number had testiied up to noon to. day. The inquiry bids fair to run wel into next weck and may occupy the attention of the grand jurors for the whole week, to the exclusion of other cases. ,,,,, — HUGHES OIL DATA Lodge and Dill in Sharp Tilt Over Committee to Get Secretary’s Report. While the oil committce was in recess today the Senate got into a squabble over a report from Secre- tary Hughes in response to a Senate irequest for information as to possi- ble oil influences in negotiation of the Colombian treaty and other in ternational agreements. tographers also aided to keep him oc- cupied until after midnight. Chief Justice Wilbur has for many | years been one of the leading iaw- | Yers and jurists of California, and ed it should be referred to the oil | & leader in child welfare and Sunday Echool work. He was graduated from b Boonesboro, lowa, May 10. 1867, he was educated in the pub- jic schools of that place and of Jamestown, N. D. After graduation from the Naval Academy he came to California, taught school for one year and entered -an _attornay’s office to study law. In 1890 he was admitted to practice. In Los Angeles, while he was judge of the superior court. he organized the juvenile court and drafted several bills which formed the basis for California's ju- venuie court law. He was elected chief justice of the California supreme court in 1922, after having served since 1919 as as- sociate justice. He is & brother of Dr. Ray Lyman bur, president of Stanford Uni- ty. VANDERLIP SUDDENLY LEAVES FOR CAPITAL Cancels Speaking Engagements and Rushes Here on Matter of “Great Importance.” Born_ in Dy the Associated Press. NEW YORK, March 14—Frank A. Vanderlip today canceled speaking engagements for tonight and tomor- Naval Academy in 1888, i Asserting the report had a specific bearing “upon the Fall case,” Senator Dill, democrat, Washington, contend ;committee. Senator Lodge, the republican leader, wanted it referred to the foreign re- {lations committee, and his demand | finally prevailed. The Senate resolu- i tion had been adopted after atten- tion had been called to the fact that the treaty, after having been pigeon- ! holed for many mouths, was brought { out and ratified after Interior Secre- { tary Fall had asked that action on jit be taken to protect American oil { interests in Colombia. later | ‘Walsh Iliness Sudden. Plans for today's hearing by the oil committee were suddenly canceled because of the illness of Senator ‘Walsh, the committee pro-ecutor. The hearings will be resumed Tues- day, but there has been no decision as to what line of evidence will be examined next. Senator Walsh has been suffering from a cold, and will be confined to his apartment for a few days. He has not been in good health for rome time, but it was sald at his office today that his condition was not serious. Chief among the questions now be- fore the committee is the report of Trade Commission to examine books of a number of brokerage com- panies for the committee to eter- mine the extent of dealing by gov- ernment officials in Sinclair ofl stocke shortly before and after the leasin of Teapot Dome. No New Evidence Found. It was disclosed several days ago that their search had revealed no drow and took an afternoon train for Washington in response to what his secretary said had been a sudden cill, The secretary described the niatter as of “great importance.” hut stock deals not already known to the investigators—thoseof Senator Elkins, republican, West Virginia, and Attor- ney General Daugherty, both of whom have stated that thelr transactione were in no way involved with the deuscs. = this is taken to indicate that the gov- | SENATE ROW BASIS, auditors assigned by the Federal | GTON, WITH SUNDAY MORNING EDITION D. C, FRIDAY, MARCH 14, 1924 --FIFTY- TEACHERS PAYBILL| STRONELY BAGKED INHOUSEREPORT Lampert Pleads for Adequate Salaries in Approving Keller Measure. “SERVICE TO COMMUNITY SHOULD BE REWARDED” ules Permanent Rather Than Subject to Annual Action. A strong plea for the adequ salaries to other employes of the schoo! te in the Nutional Capital is found in report filed in the House today by Represenfative Florian Lampert of Wisconsin, chairman of a subcommit- tee which recently conducted exten- sive hearings and which u the prempt pa of the teachers’ sal- ary and reorganization bill fathered by ntative Oscar Keller of M Representative Lampert assures the House that “it is the purpose of this bill to provide adequate compe: tion for the teachers and the in the public schools of th of Columbia and to authorize certain changes in organization that are es- sential to the improvement of the school system. “If the school teacher is to render efficient service to the community, the report says, “she must be given a salary that will help her to keep | abreast with educational progres afford her an opportunity to higher professional attainment expected of the teacher that she oc- cupy a position of respectability and leadership as a public servant. Teach- {ing s now recownized as a’ profess sion. Therefore. the salary should be attractive to men and women who purpose to enter the profession as a life work. Needed for Years. “For a numbgr of years there has {been the need of a salary schedule jauthorized by appropriate legislation {that would render more permanent !the compensation of those entering ltha teaching profession in the District [of Columbla. Since 1906 the increases |granted to the employes of the board of education by successive appropria- tion acts have been of a temporary and limited nature, Your committee feels that this new legislation should not only bring assurance to the teach- ers, but should provide compensation sufficiently large to c iof high qualifications {service of the District of Columbia. | “The maximum salaries establish- ed and the annual increments of the pay schedule should be commensurate with “the increased competency of i progressive and ambitious teachers. | Your committee is impressed by the opportunity that presents itsclf to !dignify the teaching profession in the | Capital of the nation, to the end that {a reasonable standard of compensa- {tion ‘may be established for the i country. | “wThiz bill provides only for the edu- ! cational employes of the board of edu- cation. Other employes are covered by recent reclassification legislation for federal emploves. Therefore, this ‘hill does not carry salary adjustment provisions for the following groups of employes of the board of educa- tio “Clerks and stenographers, medical inspectors, dental inspectors, school nura-s, janitors, engineers and cus. |todial positions. {""“In addition to a new salary sched- payment of teachers {ule the bill carries legislative author- | |ization as follows: 1. 1t legalizes and renders more permanent the salaries of employes. At present the salaries of employes are fixed annuaally by appropriation bills, “2” It authorizes and provides sal- lare fixed annually by appropriation | Which have developed in the public | sehools sincg 1906, such as junior high schools, vacation schools, com- munity centers and administrative principals. 3. It abolishes ‘session room pay’ | as a method of paying principals of | | elementary schools. “4, It also abolishes the grouping of the elementary teachers in salary | classes 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 and substitute | for the inadequate automatic | creases of $25, $30 or 340 per annum | uniform annual increase of $100 per {annum for all teachers. "5. It authorizes the employment iof temporary teachers and the ap- pointment of annual substitute teachers.” i .1\ CITY T ASK FUND TOEND NUISANGES | Following up their previous statements that they are without adequate funds to abate nuisances such as have been com- plained of in the alleys, the Commis- sioners today instructed Maj. Daniel J. Donovan, auditor, to ask Congress for a supplemental item of $5,000 for this work. The proposed sum v-uld be available | {for the balance of this flscal year and [ throughout ~the new year beginning L Juiy 1. In this same connection, Health Officer Fowler today made known his intention recommending that the board for the | condemnation of insanitary bui.dings {ask for an appropriation of $15,000 a | year to carry on its work. said he would lay his proposition i pefore Maj. Raymond Wheeler, chair- {man. i Monry to Be Returmed. The health officer pointed out that inearly all of this money would be ispent to correct insanitary conditions {where the owners fail to do so. and }that 1t would come back to the Treas- ury through assessments levied against the property. Only a small amount of it would be spent for em- ployment of personnel. At present the condemnation board is allowed only $2,250 a year, and has but one Inspector to look into all complaints. Ever since the recent movement to improve alley conditions began Dr. Fowler and Commissioner Oyster have contended that they could not suc- cessfully meet the situation without adequate funds. Commissioner Oyster declared today that the health office will continue to do the best it can by serving clean-up notices on alley dwellers _uader the health regulations. Legislation Would Make Sched-| and | al TAX RETURNS MUST BE IN BY ANALYSIS. 4 Pancakes Made Of Plaster Paris Prove Safe- Meal March 14— Plaster parix paneakes was the amuel L. Smith, promi- nent Corning contractor, had for breakfast a dny or two azo, d dewpite the fact that he ate four, he suffcred mo ill effects. Mrx. Smith, In mixing the b ter, dipped into a bag left in the flour by paper hangers recen iy, and the take wax not dixcovered until Mrx. Smith’ daughter noticed the peculinr taste. By thix time Mr. Smith had devoured four. He went 10 a physician ax a precautionary menasure, but has not yet beem bothered by hix unusuai meal. ALLOWS $150,000 FORWARTRIBUTE Senate Passes Resofition for Erection of Memorial to Women Here. HOUSE BONUS VDT * TUESDAYASSURED Agreement Reached to Sus-! pend Rules to Get Action on Measure at Once. ‘The House will vote next Tuesday on the soldiers’ bonus bill under an agreement reached today. Speaker Gillett announced he would | entertain a motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill approved by the ways and means committee Under that procedure a two-thirds vote will be required for passage. Only one day will bo devoted to de- bate and it will be impossible for House members to offer amendments. Chairman Green had intended to! call the bonus bill up Monday, the only day in the week on which mo- itions to suspend the rules are in or- | der, but Representative Longworth, the republican_leader, got unanimous consent to take it up on Tuesday. | Representative Garrett, the demo- cratic leader, protested against ac-| | ffon “on “the bill under ruies which | would cut off amendments. ¥ Hits Majority Plan. Representative Huddleston, demo- crat, Alabama, who favored a cash bonus, declared the suspen- i sion program was an effort to “ram ldown the throats of the House the | committee’s insurance policy plan.” Authorization for the appropria- tion of $150,000 as a part contribu- tion to the erection of & memorial building in the District of Columbia to commemorate th e es The bill, which is substantially the | ) aetvicet jand . 19¢! sacrifices of the patriotic women of proposal advanced by Representative | s 4 * . 3 = €| the United States in the world war, ach, republican, New Jersey, | ¢ » 2 H r is contained in a joint resolution | provides for paid-up life Insurance e i . L i and. cash payments to veter- | Passed by the Senate today. Ins mot entitled to more than $56.; The resolution provides that the Thres members of the committee op- | memorial building shall be used by posed it on the vote to report it to!the American National Red Cross and the House—Representatives Tread- | shall cost not less than $300,000, one- way, Massachusetts; Tilson. Connec- | half of which shall be raised by pri- tieut, and Mills, New York, repub-!vate subscription. licans. |, The building land now occupied in part by | memorial to the women of the civil war, the permanent headquarters of the American Red Cross. Spmriiare s | POINCARE’S REGIME | IS AT STAKE TODAY Ry the Associated Press. PARIS, March 14.—The French sen- ate is to decide today whether the | Poincare government shall be granted authority to make laws governing { immediate economies and fiscal mea: ures by simple decrees without rati- fication by parliament, or is to be Te- moved from power, leaving to another cabinet the task of balancing the i budget, improving the franc on the |exchange market and, incidentally, passing upon the report of the ex- pert reparation committees. { Bacha Differs from 1922 Bill. The new measure differs materially ! from the bill passed last session and vetoed by President Harding. The same basis of adjusted com- pensation allowed in the old bill, $1 a day for home service and $1.25 for overseas service, is provided. Tn figuring the face value of the policy, however, 25 per cent is added to the adjusted service credit and also the interest on the total amount com- pounded annually at 4 per cent for twenty years. TLoans after the first two years| would be allowed on the policies up to 90 per cent of the paid-up value. Revised estimates showed the max- imum total cost of the measure would be $2,119,000,000 spread over {a period of twenty years. Pay From Current Revenue. Chajrman Green declared that care- ful inquiry had shown the cost could be met by the government from current revenue, without additional taxes. Chairman Madden of the ap- propriations committee had assured the committee, Mr. Green said, thati 1. ic the crucial day of the fight the necessary funds for meeting the|yqiween the premier and the senate annual payments could be met outlgnqnce committee, and the issuc i of appropriations which would be| yncertain. with the chances favoring available as a result of the discon- | qnoCuEe " 10 T0 BE TRIED HERE IN WAR FRAUD CASE | war welfare programs of the govern- Another war fraud case will be { ment. ! To provide for costs of the meas- ture, a sinking fund of $110.000.000 tried in the District Supreme Court this spring. Justice Hoehling, pre- \siding in Criminal Division 2, today for the first year is provided. This denied the motion of John L. Phillips, i amount, Mr. Green said, would des crease annually until the payment in | the nineteenth year would be $91,000,- 000. Omit First Sixty Days. ! In computing the adjusted service | credit the first sixty days of serv- ice would not be counted. All vet- is to be erected on! the | ¢ Foening Star. EIGHT PAGES. “From Press to Home Within the Hour” _The Star’s carrier system covers every city Slock and the regular edition is delivered to Washington homes ‘as fast as the papers are printed. Yesterday’s Circula ion, 103,026 % TWO CENTS. URGES 7E0 000 CUT ING.&P.CO.INCOME Clayton Declares Telephone Company Cleared Nearly 15 Per Cent in 1923. The Chesapeake and Potomac Tele- | {phone Company could stand a cut of $750,000 a year in its revenues| {and sl earn a reasomable return Williar McK. O representing the Federation of ens’ oi tions, declared, in & memorandu ifiled with the Public Utilities Com- Smhs on today } The commission held a public hear- ling on telephone rates two weeks ago. | but has been waiting for the written jaTguments before deciding the case. |Chairman Bell sald this morning h would give the company time to| answer Mr. Clayton's statements prior to rendering a verdict. “The federation asks that redue- tions in the tolls and charges of the company be made to the extent of $750.000." read the petition. This could | |be done and the company continue to earn 8 per cent rate of return through out 1924 by proper and just treatment | by the commission of the depreciation nd royalty accounts of the company. | £2,350,000 Profit Charged. { “It could be done and $300,000 ai- lowed to depreciation for the year 11924 if the company is heid to 6 per cent rate of return and the bonus paid ' {the American Telephone and Tele-| graph Compnay held to $125.000.] | These estimates assume that the com- | ;pnny has no Increase in business dur- jing 1924 with resulting increase o | profits therefrom, and no econom iare effected in the management and {conduct of the company. | Mr. Clayton contends in his brief! that the company ecarned three rates| of return last,” year, as follows: | Amount deducted f-r depreciation, | 771,000, or 5 per cent on investment: ' | i | i ‘i amount deducted for payment to the, i American Telephone and Telegraph, ! 1§245.000, or 11 per cent on invest- iment, and amount available for net| ~eturn. $1,370,000, or 8.35 per cent on ! investment. | . Combining these threc rates of return resu'ts in a rate of return for 1923 of | 14 5-6 per cent, or in dollars, 000 | on a valuation of $16,500,000," Mr. Clay- | ton asserted. i As in previous rate cases, Mr. Claston | attacked the payment by the local com- | pany of 43 per cent of its gross re- | caipts to the Ame; n Teicgraph and Telephone for the rental of telephone in- struments and for engineer.nz, profes. | sional and legal services rerdered A. T. & T. Owns Stock. i The federation representative asserted | ‘rhat the American Telephone and Tele- | eraph Company owns all of the stock of the local compuny. He added that | thould the commission grant his pending | motion to make the American compans. | 1 party to the present case the commis- sion could not allow the 43, per cent | payment, which amounted to 22 | ‘ast year. ’ Frtahon Mr. Clayton recites ‘that the compary | fow has in _its depreciation account | $4,500.000, “or over 27 per cent of \he | “air value of the property as found by | the commission. The company clain.s to | e operating 100 per cent efficienly, | ’l:h‘li? Qul‘sli‘g;’l occ;xrs at once: How n o 5o with a plant and equi de- preciated 27 ver cent? oo Pment de) “r'he truth is that no such deprecia. | ton_exists or can be found, and the | depreciation set up is far beyond the | bounds set by the ‘adequate’ deprecia- | tion named in the public utilities act. | and exceeds by a large marsin anv | seasonable needs and requirements of | Wheeler Says He Wax Checked Up On. | that { the stand. MEANS SAYS SMITH GOT $100,000 TO STOP U. S. AERO PROSECUTIONS Ex-Justice Department Agent Asserts Money Paid Through Him in D. C. Hotel. HARDING ASKED INVESTIGATION OF MELLON ACTS, HE DECLARES “Got Him”. on Liquor Withdrawal Per- mits, Daugherty Committee Told. La Follette Shadowed. Another Pandora’s box—brimming over with allegatic corruption in the Department of Justice—was opened today fore the Senate committece investigating Attorney Gen Daugherty. % Gaston B. Means, former Department of Justice agent. nouncing that he expected no quarter and would give none. r+ lated an amazing story of collecting money for the late Jess \\ Smith, Attorney General Daugherty bumper and friend”; intimidations calculated to prevent his testimony. and of espion: of senators. TELLS OF GETTING $100,000. The most sensational of Means’ testimony. ii one ati could be assessed as greater than another, was a charge that ! (Means) in February, 1922, recewved in the old Bellevue Iote here in Washington $100,000 from a Japanese representative the house of Mitsui & Co., which he paid over to Smith an which he said was for the purpose of stopping government prose cution of the Standard Aircraft Company, against which the War Departmeént millions. On behalf of Smith, Means further alleged he had received zer claiming overpayments aggregating six ilarge sums of money, which he turned over. and which he said were for the purpose of guaranteeing that there would be no prosecution- for transportation and showing of the Carpentie Dempsey prize-fight films in interstate commerce. In other instanc in connection with which he rrier.” Means testified, he had reccived money liquor permits.” In all these transactions alleged. Means described himseli as “ths money Suys He Investigated Mellon. Replete with details of his aetiv- | ities, Means told a story alleging that for the of Harding, d records o at o President | President | L s information through Sm Underwood, he had con 2 igation of Secretary Mellon connection with liquor permits in New Yor! e slipped through our fingers ihe Means said, “hut we g0t «t bis elbow, ent | through the < {He seemed | menscly. books for id Wax Suspended Onee. The office of Senator La Follette. | ypoono sieq e fapare o Means testified, had been ransacked | ° nen £ Department by hix agents koon after the senator | Justice October 2 1. and worked om Wisconsin hegan agitating in- | there until 1y in 1 when he stigation of the Teapot Dome sean- [ wug suepended, te said 1, in an effort to “find something o e ymaging.” Senator Caraway, demo- | instated, with back pay, X of Arkans .| “Burns didn't know why they also came unde Peaded SN began attacking Daugherty and itor Bruce of Maryland, aiso a demo . and newly elected, Means t came under espionasme, didn’t know much abeut it « e had been ‘“nother had reguested it tou_activ a 1A heen | oil in M He was rel continued, w Attorney ated May 28, ome ceremony. Assistunt ~Attor- 1 and and Crim, andg present, he said, in the sral's office. ¢ tipped me off up here,” I knew I was to be Senator Wheeler. democrat, Montana interiected into Means' (es- timony at that point that he under- tood five men were “checking up on him in Montana” and Senator Brook hart, insurgent republican " chairman of the investigation, s he understood he was looked after, too. A great deal of Means® about the aire: He was assisted in his t 3 Capt. R l. Scaife. a former investi gator for the Department of Justice, | Who, since he.left the department, has been agitating congressional in vestigation of the subject. Means emphasized that he gave Scaife a fully clean bill of health in the af- fair and did not connect him in any way with the corruption he alleged. “Scaife wouldn't knew how to col- lect money,” said Means. The prize fight films were first shown in Washington, Means testified, at the home of B. McLean, the pul lisher and central figure in the Tea- pot Dome inquiry. President Hardin. Sccretary Hughes and other notables were there, Means testified, consult- ing his records. Means Walves Immunity. Means. a large, heavy-set man of the typical “officer” type, waved to ac- quaintances in the room as he took | 1n the high-price-of-bread inv Before Mcans began his|tjon Smith directed his worlk, testimony Senator Wheeler read i (%ujq letter\from the Department of Justice suggesting that Means might recciv immunity under his pending indict- ments it he testified before the com- mittee. Asked if he Means replied: “I waive immunity; T ask no quar- ter and give no quarter.” Means said he had been urged and advised by his counsel, T. B. Felder, Produces Burnw’ Letter. He produced a letter of s from Burns, in which Burx fessed ignorance of the cause of s pension. The Attorney General did not state who the cabinet member was, Mcans said. “L didn't know whether 1 was When he was suspended Burns told him. he d. that he (Burns) “thought they were damn fools.” eans said his orders for investi- ion work in the department wer: initialed by various officials, and many orders bore the intitials of Jess W. Smith. Means said he did not know then nor now whether Smith had any offi- cial positign. Smith's work would Ls “very difficult to describe,” he said Bread Price Inquiry, “That doesn't mean there was a thing wrong there, because Smith was ¢ merchant with knowledge of conditions Final disposition of his reports w made, not by Smith, but to the Attc ney_General, Means explained. When reinstated, the Attorney Gemera! asked him, Meun, if he had ca in a law firm—Douglas, Ruffin & Obes in regard to the oil and Mexican situ- ation. Means told Daugherty he had callec on the law firm, and the Attorney G wanted immunity, !” Dr. Fowler, who is automatically a {member of the condemnation board, | erans including officers up to and in- cluding_the rank of captain in the Army, Navy and Marine Corps and lieutenant in the Navy would be eligible for the bonus, and also de- pendants of veterans who have died since the war. two-thirds vote must be had. Little opposition, however, is expected to the bill. The cost of the measure would be much less, committee members said, provided four options—cash payments to_those $50; adjuted service certificates, sim- ilar to the present life insurance policies; vocational training aid, and farm or home aid. 3 —_———. VON KAHR FOES JAILED. Four Arrested for Alleged Plot to Kill Dictator. actor, a barber and two other men plotting to assassinate Dr. von Kahr, former Bavarian military dictator. They will be placed on trial within e week, e To bring the measure up under! suspension of the rules, however, a' than the bill passed in 1922, which ! ] I M —An | government was defrauded of nearly MUNICH, Bavaria, March 14—An | governie have been arrested on a charge of a contract With Phillips & Stephens. not entitled to more than | Yiic, the company.” . Hits Tax Deduction. ir. Clayton then asserts that the ~ompany treated its $160,000 income fax in 1923 as an operating expense e then says the commissjon ruled ‘*hat income tax should not be sc cated, but must be deducted from tie company’s net returns and not from the gross receipts. . slr. Claytan tukes the position that since the telephone company has . monopoly, it should not earn more than per cent return. At present the telephone rates are: Unlimited residence service, $5 | month; limited service, $4 a month and party line service, $2.50 a month, S GERMAN ACTRESS MISSING; Rilda Bethmann-Hollweg, Niece of Former Chancellor, Sought. BUDAPEST, March 14.—Rilda Beth- mann-Hollweg, niece of the former German chancellor, has disappeared The price of sales reported to the| from the home of friends where she government, it Is claimed, did not| was staying here and the police are represent the amount received from | searching for her. She is twenty-five the ultimate consignee, years old and un actress, republican state committeeman from Georgia, and nine othefs charged with a conspiracy sto defraud the United States in connection with the sale of surplus lumber from Army canton- ments, for a.bill of particulars of the government's case against them. The court then set the case for trial April 15. The defendants, besides Mr. Phil- lips, are John Stephens of Jackson- Fla.; Ernest C. Morse, former director of sales of the War Depart- ment; Charles S. Shotwell of New York; George M. Chambers of New- ark, N. J.; Frank T. Sullivan of Buf- falo, N. Y.; Charles Phillips, jr., At- lanta, Ga.: Roland Perry, Washing- ton, D. C.; Gus Eitzen, Pensacola, Fla., and Mitchell A. Touart, jr., of Pensacola. The prosccution claims that the in the disposition of the lumber for the sale of which it made not to, but had decided to waive im- munity and “tell it all.” Sketches Hix Career. Means sketched his early life, hi birth in North Carolina, experiences as a school teacher, then as a sales- man and confidential man. “I've been accused of every known erime in the catalogue, but never con- ! victed so far,” said Means, when ask- | ed if ever convicted of a felony. ‘When asked what his present busi- ness was, Means first said “Answering indictments After- ward he said his business was that of | investigator. Senator Wheeler brought up Means® indictment for the murder of Mrs. Maud King. He sald his evidence in that case was in a large suit case in the room. Means said he hsd done work for Henry C. Frick in 1915 or 1916 in the coke flelds in Pennsylvania. Worked for Berlin, Means said he also had worked for the German, British, . Mexican . and United States governments—first for the German government. He often was employed by the Burns Detective Agency, Means sald. adding that his relations now with W. J. Burns, chief of the Department | 35 investigation | _ bureau of iriendliest i the world.” {if he had obeyed these eral said his suspension was the “result of & requekt of a fello e r that T did not cantuory, - Dinet membe Means told of visiting Smith at his apartment here, and when asked if I~ ook orders from Smith, Means said, Smith, however, never gave him orders in the presence of the Attor General, w Them Separately. “They kgew the game,” said Mear telling of visits to the Daugherty-Smi apartment, and adding that “they” neve saw him together—always separately Means testified he knew that in- formation he had given Smith had been turned over to, the Attorney General. Means had been directed to make some investigations by Smith. \Asked instructions, although he knew Smith was not em- he department, he said: g, Sir. “Have you collected money on various occaslons and from various people in your employment by the Department of Justice?’ Means was i3 N delivered to