OCR Text |
Show GRAFT III WAR 15 CHARGE lif MADE DEALS WHICH ROBBED TAXPAY. ERS OF MILLIONS ALLEGED BY TWO REPRESENTATIVES Republican House Members Make Sensational Allegations Involving Involv-ing Many Former Federal Officers of Participating Washington. The American people were robbed of hundreds of millions of dollars through fraudulent contracts con-tracts made by the government during the war. Representatives John, South Dakota, and Woodruff, Michigan (Reps.), charged in She house Tuesday. Tues-day. They demanded a congressional investigation and prosecution of the guilty persons by the department of justice. They introduced a joint resolution calling for the appointment of a committee com-mittee of fifteen members to probe ail contracts made by the government during the war. Woodruff, in a speech, cited numerous "specific instances" in-stances" where, he charged, the government gov-ernment had been defrauded of millions mil-lions 'of dollars in war contracts. "One of the biggest of the alleged illegal deals was the sale of the stock of the Bosch Magneto company, seized by the alien property custodian during dur-ing the war. Under tills sale. Woodruff Wood-ruff charged, the New York and Boston Bos-ton brokerage firm of Hornblower & Weeks "profited to the extent of 000,000 or more." "On December 31, 1919," Woodruff said, "the capital stock of the Bosch Magneto company was sold by the alien1 property custodian to Martin E. Kern for $-1,150,000. Kern was a close personal friend and client of Mr. Palmer." Palm-er." (A. B. Palmer, alien property custodian cus-todian at the time of the sale.) "It appears that Mr. Kern was not an American citizen, but was of German Ger-man birth and citizenship. It would seem that he also served three terms in prison in New York state for felony, fel-ony, and I hold in my hand copies of his photograph appearing in the rogues' gallery in New York City. "Apart from the fact that Kern was not an American citizen, his conviction of a felony would deprive him of his civil rights. The trading with the enemy act prohibits the sale of property prop-erty to other than American citizens. The sale to Kern was in direct violation vio-lation of the act. No prosecutions have yet occurred. "Shortly after the property was sold to Kern a corporation called the American Bosch Magneto company was organized. One of the chief actors la these transactions was the firm of Hornsblower & Weeks. It appears, from information obtained from reliable re-liable sources, that the profits realized by the firm of Hornblower & Weeks in this transaction was probably $1,-000,000 $1,-000,000 or more, and that the profits of Kern amounted to many hundreds of thousands of dollars. Woodruff displayed what he alleged were copies of letters which he aula Kern had written from Europe recently recent-ly in an effort to "hush up" agitation for prosecution in the Bosch Magneto company sale. ' Woodruff quoted one of the letters as saying, "Why don't Murray and all Interests take John W. Weeks to Daugherty and put a quietus on this Woodruff said, Is the former president of the Bosch Magneto company. Following Woodruff, Johnson took the floor and also attacked alleged fraudulent war contracts and sales. Johnson charged that there is "an invisible in-visible .ti-party government In the United States which controls the real government elected by the people. |