OCR Text |
Show Russian and Teutonic Forces Are I - in Deadly Combat on the Sereth I TUMULTY, LANSING AND LAWSON HEARD ON PEACE NOTE LEAK Tumulty Reads Statement Endorsed by Wilson-Lansing Wilson-Lansing Denies Ability to Find Leak and Lawson Raises General Rumpus Without Giving Any Information. Washington. Jan. 8 Thomas W Lawson occupied much of today's ses sion of the house rules committee hearing on the alleged stock market leak on President Wilson's peace note with a tunning row with thee oravnit-: oravnit-: which, ended in much of his statements state-ments being expunged from the record and concluded with the declaration that he could tell where the leak was, but wouldn t. At the outset of the hearing, Secretary Secre-tary Tumulty read a statement, endorsed en-dorsed by President Wilson, that he had no knowledge whatever of the president's note before it was announced an-nounced to the newspapers and Secretary Secre-tary Lansing gave testimony about the handling of the document after it got to the state department. Both denied they had been able to find any "leak." Lawson began hia statement io the committee with general declarations which soon led into an uproar. It J ended by the clerk of the house fore r I r him to his chair and the commit k." rating unanimously io expunge the whole exchange from the records. Washington, Jan. 8. Inquiry into ' alleged "leak" to Wall street on Pres ident Wilson's peace note was resumed re-sumed today by the house rules committee com-mittee with a number of witnesses on hand ready to testify. Among those on the list were Secre tary of State Lansing, Joseph P. Tu-multy, Tu-multy, secretary to the president; Thomas W. Lawson, Boston financier; ,7 Charles H. Sabin, president of the Guaranty Trust company, New York; Bernard M. Baruch and Otto Kahn, New York brokers; Washington representatives rep-resentatives of the Wall Street Journal, Jour-nal, Financial America and the Ctn-tral Ctn-tral News association and the managers man-agers of the local branches of the I Western Union and Postal Telegraph companies. Lansing and Tumulty Not Summoned All but Secretary Lansing and Sec I retary Tumulty had been subpoenaed. The newspaper men had been summoned sum-moned to testify regarding their knowledge of ticker service reports on the day the president's peace note was -iven out. The managers of the two fcjjj' telegraph companies had been asked to produce dispatches filed by the newspaper men named bearing on the subject of the peace note. Mr Kahn and Mr. Sabin wore ihe first witnesses to arrive They con-ferred con-ferred with Chairman Henry to fir-range fir-range to give testimony as soon as possible. When Ihe hearing opened Representative Repre-sentative Campbell. Republictn, moved that the committee subpoena. F. M Lockwood & Company, brokers at -16-1-2-48 Broadway, New York, to bring papers and documents, showing sales from December 10 to Decerabjr 13, The committee decided to consider it in executive session. On motion of i Ropresentathe ( hiperfield, the B8ton stock exchange was ordered to preserve pre-serve its brokers' slips for the same period. Joseph T Tumulty, secretary to President Wilson, then was called and read a statement. Tumulty MakeB Statement. Backed with an endorsement by President Wilson, Secretary TuiauKv today made the following statement to the house rules committee: "I appear before this committee lo resent the unjust intimation ilia". I pi gave information to Mr B. M. Bnruch F in regard to the so called peace note- sent to the European belligerents last month by the secretary of state. This intimation was contained In a statement state-ment made to this committee by Rep-resentativ Rep-resentativ Wood of Indiana, a -uan whom I do not know. To the rest of my knowledge I have nev,?r met Mr. Wood. Certainly he made no effort ef-fort to find out the truth rom mo before dragging my name into this affair. af-fair. Denies Giving Out News, "I wish to deny generally and speri-flcally speri-flcally that I gave advance information to Mr. Baruch or to anybody else in regard to the peace note. I d'd not know of the existence of this nc'.t), or that this government contemplated the dispatch of such a note, unUl atler printed copies of the note had been glevn to representatives of the press by the stale department. I was not consulted in the preparation of tie note by the president, or by anybody else. The conference and communications communica-tions relating to the drafting of the nte and its despatch were confidents confiden-ts tlal between the president aud ihe r secretary of Btate. I knew nothing of them whatever, nor did any other person per-son employed in the executive ofnee "I have had no correspondence, 4 written or telegraphic, with Air. Baruch, or anybody representing hm, regarding this matter. I have had no telephone talks with Mr. Baru.n, or anybody representing him, ,-egardmg this matter. I have never talked with him, or anybody representing him, nor with anyone else publicly or privately, with regard to this matter "Apparently the onh insinuarione made against me are that I luncicd with, or met, Mr. Baruch at the B t-more t-more hotel, or about the time of ihe preparation of the president's suggestion sugges-tion that European belligerents s..te their peace terms. I have never breakfasted, break-fasted, lunched, dined or taken any meals with Mr Baruch. I have met him only at several hanquets and large dinners when many other pur-sons pur-sons were present I have never discussed dis-cussed anj peace, or other note, either when it was in prospect or afterward) with Mr. Baruch or any other person engaged in the purchase or sal"1 of securities of any kind in the stock market. Makes No Stock Market Deals. "While this is a complete denial of the ouly insinuations which have hern made. I wish to go further and say thai I have never engaged in StCCk market sales or purchases myself nor through brokers, friends or AgontB. "I discussed the president's note with no one, first, because my OAtlk of service requires that I TVi'e no private use of official information, and, secondly, specifically because a I have staled, I had not seen the president's presi-dent's note and did not know that it was in preparation or even cont'.iu-platt cont'.iu-platt d Charges Without Basis. "As I have already said in a public statement, I have frequently requested the president to keep me free iron any knowledge of impending Interna tbenal moves, so that 1 might .101 be embarrassed by requests for information informa-tion from the newspaper correspondents, correspond-ents, who appeal to me in my office constantly for such information. The insinuations which have been naoe, whether conceived in political main or merely through misinformation, are wholly false and without ovtn the flimsiest basis. I have not al any time since acting as Mr. Wilson a 0 . retary, first when he was governor of New Jersey and later when he became be-came president, been interested in any stock transactions of any kind, or giv. en any information to an porson upon which purchases or sales mlgth be made. "I wish to make this statenietn as sweeping and complete as l Know how. I am still waiting for Mr. Wood's public pub-lic apology. "I am authorized by the president to quote him as follows: " T wish in Justice to Mr. Tumulty Tumul-ty to say that he has stated that exact fact. He had no knowledge of the note whatever until it wa ien out for publication.' " Chairman Henry of the rules committee com-mittee announced thai he had no questions ques-tions to ask and Representative Campbell Camp-bell questioned Mr. Tumulty. "Do you know who aided in the preparation of this note?" "The president prepared and wrote the note himself," said Mr. Turuult. "He Is an expert typewriter, in addition addi-tion to his other achievements." "Did any stenographer or clerk in the executice office know of the existence ex-istence of the note?" "I do not know." Mr. Tumulty added that he had tried to find out how a leak could have occurred, but had been unable to got any definite information. Gains First Knowledge From A. P. "The mere mechanics of preparing the note might make it possible for it to get out," he said. "My first knowledge that a note had been given giv-en out came from the Associated Press correspondent at the White House on the afternoon of December 20. He told me. when I returned from lunch, that the note had been given out. I asked him what note and he said the peace note." "Have you any information as to how the leak occurred'" Mr, Campbell Camp-bell asked "I have not," Mr. Tumulty replied. "Any opinion I might have would be speculative and would involve reputations. repu-tations. I Am very careful about making mak-ing statements in 6uch circumstances." circum-stances." Representative Chipperfleld asked Secretary Tumulty if he knew that Alfred H. Curtis of 135 West Seventy-ninth Seventy-ninth street. Now York, former president pres-ident of the National Bank of North America, was in fact the "A. Curtis" who wrote the letter Mr. Tumulty said he did not. Mr. Tumulty added he did not think the "leak" could have occurred on I the note through any employe of the executive office. He then read a let-ter let-ter from L. T. Russel, editor of the . Newark Morning Ledger, referring to the mysterious "A. Curtis" who wrote I Representative Wood, author of the I I investigation resolution. "What prompts me to write." said ! the letter, "is, I note by the name of! 'Curtis' is brought in as having writ-fen writ-fen the Wood letter using your name , and I recall that on a number of occasions oc-casions under various suspicious circumstances, cir-cumstances, since I have been in Newark, New-ark, I have received telephone calls from New York from a man calling himself 'Mr. Curtis' and alleging him self to be a banker or broker In each case he undertook to give me tips of various sorts of what was happening In the financial world, but, on one occasion, oc-casion, called me up on the telephone to tell me that he had good reason to believe that Dorothy Arnold was at an Orange. N. J., hotel. During the Standard Oil strike he called up almost al-most daily giving what purported to be inside Information and also predicting pre-dicting future developments. Could Not Identify "Curtis" "I made considerable inquir. but could never identify or locate Mr. Curtis," Representative Campbell asked Mr. Tumulty if he knew that Mr. Wood asked for an executive session to make his statement bringing in Mr. Tumulty's name last week. Tumulty Is Angered. "I wish you wouldn't ask me anything any-thing about Mr. Wood," replied Mr Tumult heatedly. "I would be ashamed to be a party to anything that would blemish the reputation of a public man, on a mere letter written writ-ten by a man named Curtis If I were guilty of such a thing, I would not be fit to hold the smallest public office.'' Representative Lenroot. Republican asked Secretary' Tumulty how the , president sent the peace note to Sec retary Lansing. Mr. Tumulty said It was transmitted in a sealed envelope by private messenger. "Do you know," asked Representative Representa-tive Chipperfield. "that Alfred H. Curtis was president of the National Bank of North America with which Charles W. Morse and others were associated?" i do not," said Mr. Tumulty. (Continued on Page 10 ) |