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Show Palmer9 s Actions Under Fire FEDERAL JUDGE SIFTS RECORD ; OF COAL GASE Attorney General Is Charged With Having Nullified Gov-ernment Gov-ernment Case PALMER DECLARES HE WAS MISUNDERSTOOD Witnesses Say No Agreement Was Made to Suppress Evidence INDIANAPOLIS, Ind . Nov. 8 At-! itorney General Palmer's orders not to; use certain evidence in the soft coal conspiracy cases against 126 operators and miners In Indiana. Illinois, Ohio .and western Pennsylvania were inter-lu. inter-lu. t. d ay possibly nullifying the gov -ernment's case by attorneys for the government In the case, testifying l"- tday before Judge Anderson In the fed- : cral district court here C H Ames, former chief assistant 'attorney general, appealing as a friend I of Mr. Palmer, however, declared that ! tin attorney general- instructions had i been misunderstood generally, and 'that evidence he ordered excluded was I that relating for a period of lme not covered by the conspiracy indictment. In starting an Investigation of the attorney general's orders, Judge An-: An-: derson declared his purpose was to ; "find out whether the attorney gen-i gen-i oral can ham-string a case In this court." The court also questioned whether Mr Palmer had any legal authority au-thority to order tho elimination of any evidence which the government counsel coun-sel might desire to use. He also an-nounced an-nounced that the government's motion to continue the trials indefinitely would be granted bv him. Ll-rri ER EXPLAINED Later, Mr. Ames, interpreting Mr. Palmer's letter, said tlie attorney general gen-eral intended only to give Instruction-regarding Instruction-regarding the contempt cases and add- !ed that "Inadvertent" use of language caused a different interpretation being made by Mr. Slnims and associated i counsel. ! Mr. Ames declared that Mr. Palmer ! believed he had tho right to elect i whether to prosecute court actions at j the time of the coal strike as civil or ! criminal cases, and having cJiosen to act on the civil side that he also should not attempt criminal prosecutions. "Do you understand that the attorney attor-ney general has the right to Issue pardons In advance?' asKed Judge Anderson. "I understand that the attorney gen-I gen-I oral has the right not to proset uto these miners for the strike." ( oM P &.RED K) UUflEfi Asked why the attorney general did , not want evidence that was the basis , for the contempt proceedings used In ! the present cases, Mr Ames said thai this was because the miners submitted to Judge Anderson's crder directing .cancellation of the strike order last ' rear This was challenged by Judge ! Anderson, who asserted the miners I "flouted" his order, but submitted to negotiations with Mr. Palmer "Here are two armies," continued the Judge, referring to the cases "The ! general of one agrees to hold back his. strongest divisions. Can he do It? He I may but he would be court martlaled1 ' if he did Mr. Simnis. I. Frt Slack, special 'prosecutor, and District Attorney Van 1 Nuys testified that no agreement for : the suppression of any evidence was made Ia8l year with the attorney general gen-eral Mr Ames, ,s hn attended tlif,oii- ference with Judge Anderson and others and at which Mr Palmer has ' been quoted 8S saying the agreement ' was reached, volunteered a similar statement and flat denial that any sot t of an agreement Was made by judge-Anderson. judge-Anderson. Mr. Blmma and Mr. Slack also said that their efforts to leinove defendants living outside Indiana had not yet been successful and I hut they had the impression im-pression that the department of Justice was not in favor of pressing the a--Mr. Van Nuys declared ihut intima-tlons intima-tlons had ome from "people connected connect-ed with the defense" that the eases .would not come to trial and he named I. u l Houck an Inevsligator employed i by the miners, as his Informant. Mr I Van Nujs' statement was In answer I to the Judge's question whether he I felt persons outside the case could get. information from the department be-, be-, fore ho received It. Were you confronted with the suggestion sug-gestion that the department of Justice was not In sympathy with this prosc-CUtloh?" prosc-CUtloh?" Mr. Slmms was asked, i. stl I fj ing about remov al proceedings in ' other states. ' W'e were," he unewered. i ' Was that repeated '. " i "Very many limes." said Mr. Slmms, but the source of these suggestions was j not brought out. Just before the investigation ncl-' Journod to o renewed later in tho day I Judge Anderson declared "I am go-j jlng to find out If this government j ; centers in a few individuals In Wash- lngton " ami he added that he alsol I would learn whether he was "a puppet i to be controlled by strings pulled I 'from Washington" |