War Frauds?

In the Criminal Court of the District of Columbia, the Government lost a case brought against a large number of men for alleged frauds in the sale of surplus lumber belonging to the Air Service. This was called the "Phillips Lumber Case," after one of the leading defendants. They were accused of conspiracy to defraud the Government of $1,500,000 by taking double commissions from the Government and from purchasers in the sale of surplus lumber. Since the criminal case has fallen through, it is expected that civil suits for the recovery of damages will be dropped.

One after another these so-called War fraud cases have been lost by the Government. The important ones include the "Morse War Shipping," "Crowell Cantonment" and "Harness Frauds" cases. In the Phillips case, it happened that John L. Phillips, the leading defendant, was a former Republican National Committeeman from Georgia. In most of the cases, however, victory for the Government would have demonstrated a blot on the record of the former Democratic Administration. The fact that not one Democratic official of any prominence has been successfully prosecuted -although Democrats were in office at a time when the large and hasty expenditures of the War made graft an easy opportunity -is one of the best of the campaign arguments of the Democrats.