Slow-grinding Mill

On May 4, a new Federal Grand Jury was scheduled to convene in Washing ton to hear criminal charges against Messrs. Fall, Sinclair, Doheny, Doheny Jr.

Twenty-five long months have elapsed since an unadvertised Senate Committee on Public Lands delved into the matter of oil leases made by Mr. Fall to the oil barons, Sinclair and Doheny.

Sixteen months have passed since a hitherto little-known Senator--Thomas J. Walsh of Montana--emerged with dust-laden documents, which the public was led to believe contained the fingerprints of monstrous robbers.

Over a year has passed since this Thomas J. Walsh and fellow Democrats tarred and feathered the names Fall, Sinclair, Doheny.

But beyond this public lynching--of which Senator Walsh was the impassive, modest hero--nothing has transpired which permits the word "criminal" to be attached to Fall, Sinclair, Doheny.

Indictments for bribery and criminal conspiracy were returned against them by a Grand Jury last winter. Last month, these indictments were quashed (TIME, Apr. 13) on technical grounds:

A new indictment for bribery cannot be sought on May 4 -- the statute of limitations (time limit) forbids it.

The U. S. attorneys--Owen J. Roberts and Atlee Pomerene--can ask only for an indictment for conspiracy. Even if they get it, the trial has yet to begin.

Meanwhile two civil suits have been tried--one in California for the cancelation of Mr. Doheny's lease of the Elk Hills reserve, one in Wyoming for the cancelation of Mr. Sinclair's lease of Teapot Dome. Decisions have not been handed down. In any event, no jail sentence and no criminality is involved.

Meanwhile, also, Air. Sinclair was indicted for refusing to testify before the Senate, but the trial has not been called. Such a crime, if it was a crime, has the mildness of water compared to gin.

Last week, Mr. Sinclair wrote a letter to the stockholders of the company: "When subjected to the cold scrutiny of a Court of Chancery, the inflammatory accusations so widely advertised were shown to be of the most flimsy character. . . . There is confidently expected an affirmation of the validity of the lease and the acquittance of the false charges that have been so loosely made."

This being the present status of the Nation-rousing "oil scandals," few were surprised when Senator Walsh recently announced that he would call for another Senatorial investigation as soon as Congress opens in December. Working silently, as is his habit, the Senator seems to have found new evidence against Air. Fall. It pertains to the Salt Creek oil field of Wyoming, now dominated by the Mid-West Refining Co.

The Montana Senator has refused to sit. idly by, for his interest in the conviction of the oil men is perhaps even greater than theirs. He is fighting for his place in history. What will his face--"the most evenly proportioned, the best balanced face" in the Senate of the present--mean in the history books of 2025?

Age has taken from him the forelock which once wandered down over his forehead. Gone is the drooping walrusness of his once black moustache. What is there to mark him from the obscurity out of which he came? To date, only that he--one of the greatest constitutional lawyers in the Senate, one of the most conscientious, careful-minded men--is the greatest discoverer of political mud in this generation. This will be all--unless Mr. Fall or Mr. Sinclair or Mr. Doheny goes to jail. If one of them serves a jail sentence, then that finely molded head of Senator Walsh becomes much more--it becomes heroic, the chiseled likeness of a patriot, vigilant, unforgetting, bold.

And, for Air. Walsh, there is one more immediate prize at stake. As Chairman of the last Democratic National Convention, he profoundly impressed his warring fellows by his calm, authoritative impartiality. He had already supplied his party with its issue-- "corruption." There was always the bare possibility that the political lightning would mark him as its leader.

The Democratic party is still leaderless. Last week, Senator Walsh, successfully defending Senator Wheeler (see above), further endeared himself to the people of Montana, and added to his prestige throughout the country. Three years hence, his party will pick a leader. It might pick a Montana hero who got his man, but scarcely one who shot and missed.

*Unlike the Montana indictment, this one is on a charge of conspiracy to defraud the U. S. But the facts in both cases are similar.