Show f government frauds are ferreted out by secret service agents acting under instructions of secretary ahson washington july 8 aa the result of the investigation by civil service agents into the charges made by richard cheatham secretary 0 the cotton planters association that information had been given to cotton brokers in new york by some person or persons in the bureau of statistics of the department of agriculture secretary allson today made public an official report in which be states that edwin S holmes the associate statistician has been guilty of juggling the official report the report says it has been found that mr holmead communicated advance information to L C van riper a new york broker and M haas of new york who act ed as go between in conveying anfor matlon from holmes to other new york brokers including theodore price steps have been taken by secretary allson to prevent any further leakage of the department figures and an entire organization reorganization re of the bureau of statistics and manner of preparing monthly crops has been outlined by him the papers in connection with the investigation w ere referred to the united states attorney tor the district of columbia and hs has reported that in his opinion a criminal prosecution will not lie against holmes holmes has been dismissed from the service of the department according to the report willson judd of new york formerly in the employ of judd induced the latter tell of his deals and then communicated the information to mr cheatham van riper becala the principal witness in the investigation conducted by the secret service and said he waa induced to communicate the fact that advance information was being given out by holmes because he had heard that holmes and his associates had intended to try to manipulate the june cotton report using this information as a foundation the secret service agents interviewed numerous persons who had been mentioned by judd and van riper as well as gathering a mass of correspondence including many letters written by holmes to van riper and others the charges by mr cheatham were backed up with evidence that information bad been given lo 10 cotton brokers in new york by some person or persons employed in the bureau of statistics relative to the acreage and condition of the cotton crop of the united states prior to the official publication of the information and that the crop figures had been tampered with in the department in the interest of certain cotton gators la tors holmes Is the only employed of the government who has been found to have had any connection with supplying information to brokers prior to the publication of the official report after reviewing the charges secretary allson gives a summary of the testimony adduced before secret service agents mr van riper the new york broker under examination said he became acquainted with holmes in new york in augusia Augu sif 1904 through a mutual friend according to this testimony holmes told van riper he could get information concerning the government crop report principally through the report of the general agent and the reports of the state agents office van riper said holmes furnished him with information from time to time tor several months in advance of the publication of the official figures and that the information furnished by holmes corresponded exactly with the figures afterwards published as the official crop reports van riper states that a mr haas of new york acted as a go between tor holmes and himself and he was given to understand that haas was securing information for theodore price a cotton broker of new york the witness said he met haas at the hotel waldorf and was told by him that the report for june 1905 would be 75 per cent on condition 12 12 1 2 or 13 per cent on acreage which was as bearish as they could make it and that he was going to see price with whom he would have an interview and wanted to see van riper after he saw price that in about an hour haas called on him and said at the request of price he was going to washington to see it they could not get the percentage a little higher and the acreage a little smaller to make the report more bearish van riper testified that the official report was more bearish than the figures bously given him and that he took this to mean that the effort to influence the report had succeeded the letters produced by van riper which he alleged were written by holmes were all signed with the initial H most of these letters were tor the purpose of making appointments with van riper but the following note dated august 1904 shows the relationship between holmes and van riper if you have bought any of that stuff sell it out at once and sell as much as you can in addition we are going to show a very slight decline and athla is being totally unexpected will send things dawir ilka fury other parties will close out tomorrow and ell on thursday where is P up it maa go up a little before friday but probably not this letter was signed with ho initial H van riper testified that all of the letters surrendered were from holmes and that their contents had reference to the state of the cot ton report A large number of letters and telegrams signed with the initial F were sent from new york to van riper nearly al of these contained information concerning the cotton report together with instructions to sell or buy on the market according to tho information and all of them closed with the admonition to destroy the letter the secret service agents learned that P referred to in holmes let fsr was F A peckham 0 new york and that the letters signed with the initial T written by F A pec khaia mr peckham was interviewed in new york city and stated that the only explanation he had to give concerning the letters was that he was trying to make some money in the cotton market declining to say anything of his relations with holmes haas or van luper at the time he was interviewed ter it was learned that apeck ham came to washington and held a conversation with over the telephone it was not learned whether holmes intended to resign his position or whether he expected to be dismissed from the government service the first asked holmes were as to his ic lations with peckham and van riper holmes said that they all had been on very intimate terms socially and that when he had occasion to visit new york which was frequently his hotel bills had been paid by van riper or peckham Peck bam holmes admitted that Peck haro haas and himself were at one time an adventure in which holmes was ta have an interest equal to the sum of which he was to receive as a gift from the other members of the firm subsequently haas transferred his interest in this 1 i to L C van riper and van riper stated that the company was organized for the purpose of handling cotton holmes testified that this was true but that he was not aware of the mature of the organization at the time I 1 he was given an interest in it and that when he leanored the object of the company was to handle cotton be withdrew from it under further examination holmes stated that he bad sold to van riper about february 19 1905 a three fourths interest in some mining property in idaho tor this amount having been paid to him by van riper ln two installments n currency I 1 secretary wilson baya there seems lo 10 be every reason to believe from the report of the secret service agents that helmaa could have given approximately correct information anywhere from one to three days in advance of the publication of the official report it was found that alterations had been made in the figures of a report for october 30 1903 and that these alterations appeared to be in holmes handwriting according to the plan outlined by secretary wilson to govern the preparation of monthly reports of the bureau of statistics the general caal specified agents and state agents will report on speculative crops directly to ahe secretary or acting secretary of agriculture these reports will remain sealed in the custody of these officers until the liay the official report Is to be made when the agents I 1 reports will be opened and the official report compiled under strict alons PRICE MAKES A DENIAL new york july 8 theodora H price the new york cotton broker today declared that he had no acquaintance with or knowledge of eichi er L C van riper or M haas from whom he Is said in a report of the department of agriculture to have received information concerning the cotton crop |