Salt Lake Tribune | 1919-07-20 | Page 3 | Comptroller is Again on Grill

COMPTROLLER IS n 01 GRILL Williams Is Charged With Accepting1 Commission on U. S, Property Sale. i WASHINGTON, July 19. Charges that John Skelton Williams, comptroller of the currency, aided his brother-in-law, Louis ; B. Williams of Richmond, Va in negotiating nego-tiating for the purchase by the government of property In Washington, valued at $4,200,000, and received part of the commission com-mission for the sale, were made before the house rules committee today by Representative Repre-sentative McFadden, Republican, Pennsylvania, Penn-sylvania, Mr, McFadden asked that the committee commit-tee report out his resolution providing for appointment of a special house committee com-mittee to investigate the official conduct of the comptroller, and announced that if the investigation was not ordered he would prefer charges on the floor of the house and ask for Mr. Williams's impeachment. im-peachment. Says He Has Evidence. "Evidence that the comptroller made use of his office for private gain is in my possession," Mr. McFadden said. "It is very complete. It shows that he was involved in a financial way with purchase by the government of the Arlington hotel property for 54,200,000. He aided his brother-in-law in negotiating the sale, and I am prepared to prove that he received re-ceived part of the commission." Mr. McFadden told Representative Pou, fjemocrat. North Carolina, he would "rather not" go into details of the charges before the committee now. "I do not wish to make public any more than I have to at this time," he said. "To do so would seriously interfere inter-fere with my purpose. I have every reason rea-son to believe that incriminating evidence is being destroyed. At the right time I will bring forward witnesses whose character char-acter will prove the soundness of information infor-mation they give." Comptroller Williams, in a statement today, said the charges made by Mr. McFadden were "utterly without foundation" founda-tion" and "a falsehood from start to finish." fin-ish." He declared he had no interest in the sale of the Arlington hotel property to the government and received no compensation com-pensation in connection with it. Mr. Williams Wil-liams said the Richmond law firm of Williams & Mullen had been attorneys for the owner of the property for many years, and that if any compensation was paid to it the payment was for professional profes-sional services, adding that he had no interest in that transaction. Comptroller Williams later called on the chairman of the senate bankitig committee, commit-tee, which is considering his renomina-tion, renomina-tion, to summon Mr. McFadden before the committee Monday to make ' his charges and give the comptroller an opportunity op-portunity to reply. In his statement Mr. Williams said he had been urging Mr. McFadden. "by direct letters to him, made as strong as possible, to push the investigation of my conduct, at which he has been hinting since last February.' The statement continued: Says Malice Dictated Charges. "I do not know what legal fees or compensation com-pensation Williams & Mullen may have received for their ; services. Whatever they may have charged was for their professional services, in which I had no participation whatsoever. Tliat Is all the foundation I can imagine for Mr. MeFad-den's MeFad-den's instlnuations, which I denounce again as absolutely false and which have all the appearance of being dictated by intense malice. 'A Pennsylvania bank, of which Mr. McFadden is president, has come under ! my official notice in an unpleasant way. ! and I have expressed, both officially : and publicly, the opinion that Mr. i McFadden is responsible for whatever unfortunate un-fortunate conditions might there exist." RICHMOND, Va July 19. Lewis C. Williams, brother-in-law of Comptroller Williams, today denounced the charges of Representative McFadden of Pennsylvania against the comptroller as untrue. He said tlie. sum involved was $1,000,000, instead in-stead of $4,200,000. as stated by Mr. McFadden, Mc-Fadden, and that t lie comptroller was in no way concerned in the transaction.