INVESTIGATION OF ESCAPE OF GROVER CLEVELAND BERG- T 541397 SELECT COMMITTEE TO INVESTIGATE ESCAPE OF GENERAL PRISONER GROVER CLEVELAND BERGDOLL. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. SIXTY-SEVENTH CONGRESS. JOHN A. PETERS, Maine, Chairman. CLIFTON N. MCARTHUR, Oregon. HENRY D. FLOOD, Virginia. ESCAPE OF GROVER CLEVELAND BERGDOLL. SELECT COMMITTEE TO INVESTIGATE ESCAPE OF GENERAL PRISONER GROVER CLEVELAND BERGDOLL, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Washington, D. C., Friday, April 29, 1921. The committee met at 11.30 o'clock a. m., Hon. John A. Peters (chairman), presiding. Present: Messrs. Peters, McArthur, Luhring, Flood, and Johnson. Present also: John H, Sherburne, Esq., chief counsel to the committee; and John Thomas Taylor, Esq., assistant counsel, The CHAIRMAN. This is a meeting of the committee authorized by House resolution 12, passed April 18, 1921, which I will have inserted in the record, because it never was printed in its entirety as it was amended in the House, (The resolution referred to is as follows:) [House Resolution 12.] IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, U. S., April 18, 1921. Whereas one Grover Cleveland Bergdoll, recently convicted by Army general courtmartial as a draft deserter and sentenced to confinement for five years in the United States Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Jay, New York, has escaped from confinement; and Whereas charges are made, and there is reason to believe, that a plot and conspiracy existed among and between divers and sundry persons unknown to consummate the escape of the said Bergdoll from confinement under his said sentence: Therefore be it Resolved, That a select committee of five Members of the House be appointed by the Speaker of the House to investigate and procure all facts relevant to fixing responsibility for said escape and for the failure to recapture the said Bergdoll, and particularly to determine whether relatives, friends, counsel, or attorneys of the said Bergdoll participated in a plot or conspiracy to effect or give aid to said escape or to prevent recapture; or whether officers, noncommissioned officers, or privates of the Army or other persons connected with the Army or with the administration of the said disciplinary barracks or any other person participated in a plot or conspiracy to effect or give aid to said escape or to prevent recapture or were derelict in the performance of any duty devolved or devolving upon them which contributed to making said escape possible or prevented or hindered recapture or made it more easy for the said Bergdoll to elude recapture. That the committee so appointed may conduct such investigation by subcommittee or otherwise, may hold sessions during the recess of the House, may employ whatever assistance, either clerical or legal, it may deem necessary to aid in conducting said investigation, may administer oaths, may summon and compel the attendance of witnesses and the production of papers and documents, may employ a stenographer or stenographers to report the same, and have the reports of said hearings printed for use. That any and all expenses in connection with such inquiry shall be paid out of the contingent fund of the House upon vouchers to be approved by the chairman of the committee and by the Committee on Accounts: Provided, The expenses of said investigation shall not exceed the sum of $10,000. That said committee shall report its findings to the House at the earliest possible date, together with such recommendations as it shall deem pertinent and advisable. Attest: WM. TYLER PAGE, Clerk. |