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Show IT GASES M GRAND JURY Prosecution Without Delay of the Three Suspected Army Officers. Charged Dealing With Corporations in Which They Had Interest. WASHINGTON Nov. 1. Prosecution of the three army officers held by Charles Hughes in his report on the aircraft investigation to be guilty of dealing with corporations in which they were finan-I finan-I cially interested is to be started without delay, it was said today at the department depart-ment of justice. The cases may be laid -v before a federal grand jurv in Washing- AThe officers are Lieutenant Colonel J. (, Vincent, former vice president of the r Packard Motor Car company; Lieutenant Colonel George W. Mixter, a stockholder il in the Curtiss Airplane and Motor corporation, cor-poration, and Lieutenant Samuel B. Vrooman, Jr., a stockholder in the S. B. Vrooman company of Philadelphia. If J substantiated, the charges made against the officers would involve imprisonment of not more than two years and fines of I not more than ?2000. S Others Investigated. Reports that other army officers commissioned com-missioned since the nation entered the war have been dealing with firrps In which they have a financial interest are being investigated by agents of the department of justice. It was understood that the number of officers under investigation was small. Secretary Baker said today he had not -il completed his study of Mr. Hughes's report re-port and was not prepared to announce his action upon the recommendations of Mr. Hughes that Colonel E. A. Deeds, attached at-tached to the bureau of military aeronautics, aero-nautics, be brought to court martial for the alleged supplying of confidential war ; I department information to former busi-ness busi-ness associates in Dayton, Ohio. Spruce Producing Probe. Request for an inquiry by the war department de-partment into aircraft affairs was made some months ago by Major General George 0, Squier. Colonel Deeds and other of tiers, ti-ers, but Secretary Baker held it in abeyance abey-ance until the investigation of Hughes and the senate committee had been completed. com-pleted. Mr. Baker did not indicate today when the department inquiry would be : .1 started, but it was regarded as almost certain that the officers' request would be granted. Further investigation into conditions in the spruce-producing region of the northwest, north-west, as recommended by Mr. Hughes, is to be undertaken by government ,. agents, it was said today. jjj Ford Plant Profits. N Representative Fess of Ohio, chairman of the Republican congressional committee, commit-tee, issued a statement today commenting upon the Hughes aircraft report. He referred re-ferred to profits of the Ford plant and to appalling waste of money as indi-M indi-M Jed in sundry instances." Recalling the l Senatc military committee's report of a :"f' few months ago, Mr. Fess said: '." "These two reports empnasize the im-j im-j I perative necessity of some legislative ... supervision over the vast expenditures '.'ongress is appropriating every month. f Tv "The president has resisted all efforts iSthat end and has charged Republicans wWt a desire to control him because of r:B their contention that an auditing system must be adopted whereby the department I which expends the money must not be left to audit its own accounts, but left to the authority of the body that authorizes author-izes the expenditure. "The real danger of the present system y:l is apparent. In our last deficiency bill jrist passed, facts were revealed to prove that department estimates were mere : -j guesses. WI"A Republican congress will demand an accounting, a different system of estimating, esti-mating, a more businesslike review of these estimates, and legislative review and final preparation of all appropriation bills." Say Charge Technical. , DETROIT, Nov. 1. Alvan Macauley, I. president of the Packard Motor Car company, com-pany, in a statement tonight characterised character-ised the charge against Lieutenant-Colo-. nel J. G. Vincent, former vice president of the company, as a technical one. At the outbreak of the war, he said, the gov- eminent had no factories of its own for the speedy production of Liberty motors, I and the Packard plant, equipped for the 'mmediate output of the motors, had pushed production regardless of the technicality tech-nicality of the iaw prohibiting any person per-son interested in a corporation dealing with the government from acting as an aSerit or officer of the government. "Shortly after the Liberty motor was -i adopted as the standard aircraft motor," b lne statement says, "Colonel Vincent resigned re-signed as vice president of the Packard Motor Car company to accept, at a per-, sonal sacrifice, the position ot chief engi-'it'er engi-'it'er in the production of the motor. The-; The-; Liberty engine having been created, there was no government, organization to expe-u expe-u te its production. Nevertheless a coin-Plate coin-Plate engine was built within a month from the time the Packard company received re-ceived instructions from the government lo proceed. The accomplishment of results re-sults was put ahead of the technical correctness cor-rectness of the method. The sole charge is a technical one." Replying to criticism by the Hughes import that the Ford Motor company employed em-ployed several enemy aliens, Henrv Ford lsed this statement: "From the beginning of the war we nave taken greatest precautions against lV botage and there has been no inter-t inter-t . ,.renco with our work traceable to enemy 0, Xdieiis. Carl Ernde, in charge of the riraft-f4 riraft-f4 r department, who is referred to in the m Hfrhes report, has been with us Wi'elve vears and is an excellent engineer. No fault can be found with his work. Our I P0..y is to m&ke men. not break them. 'The Ford Motor companv manufac tured 12-12 Liberty motors during October, p jo not know what better answer could 1, be made to the criticism." |