The Montgomery Advertiser
- Teapot Dome Lease Case Is Reversed by Appeals Court
- Groesbeck Outfit Wrecked by Party Supporting Green
- Movement to Halt Cotton Avalanche Started in South
The Montgomery Advertiser of September 29, 1926, reports a sweeping reversal in the Teapot Dome litigation, ordering cancellation of Mammoth Oil’s lease, an injunction and an accounting. Its Michigan dispatch depicts Groesbeck’s organization collapsing as police exclude his supporters and Green’s candidates prevail at the Republican convention. From Mississippi comes an appeal to organize cotton withholding, with Crosby warning that current prices mean losses and urging production control and crop diversification.
Translation
Teapot Dome Lease Case Is Reversed by Appeals Court
Independent
VOLUME XCVIII—NO. 272
TEAPOT DOME LEASE CASE IS REVERSED BY APPEALS COURT
Decision Instructs Lower Tribunal to Cancel Mammoth Oil Company's Contract Without Further Delay
FURTHER TRESPASSING ON GOVERNMENT LAND ENJOINED
Accounting of All Products Taken From Naval Reserve is Also Ordered
ST. LOUIS, MO., Sept. 28. — (AP) — The United States circuit court of appeals today reversed and remanded the decision of the district court at Cheyenne, Wyoming, upholding the Teapot Dome oil leases obtained by Harry F. Sinclair and associates from the government while Albert B. Fall was secretary of the interior.
The appellate court's decision is sweeping in effect and instructs the lower court immediately to cancel the Mammoth Oil company's lease and enjoin it from further trespassing on government lands.
The opinion was received from William S. Kenyon of Fort Dodge, Iowa, presiding judge of the appellate court.
The decision declares the St. Clair lease to have been fraudulent.
The lower court is instructed to ask the Mammoth Oil company for an accounting of all oil and petroleum products taken from the government's naval oil reserve during its tenure.
The appellate court in its decision—a 65-page document—reverses Judge T. Blake Kennedy who held in district court at Cheyenne in June, 1925, that the government's allegation of fraud had not been proved. He rejected the government's annulment suit and left the Mammoth Oil company in possession of Teapot Dome. [?]
Groesbeck Outfit Wrecked by Party Supporting Green
[?]
DETROIT, Sept. 28. — (AP) — The political machine of Governor Alex J. Groesbeck was wrecked today while 300 policemen kept Groesbeck supporters from even a glimpse of the catastrophe.
It was a jubilant destruction of a machine that has been driven in triumph through Michigan republicanism for nearly six years. As uniformed officers stood outside Cass Technical High school denying admittance to 403 Wayne county supporters of the governor, 888 delegates from outstate cities and towns were inside loudly acclaiming Fred W. Green, nominee for governor, and nominating in its entirety a Green-picked slate of candidates for minor state offices.
For two years the Groesbeck machine has given signs of collapse, losing an essential part here and there, yet continuing to lead the way for Michigan republicanism. The end was believed to have come two weeks ago when Mayor Fred W. Green of Ionia swamped Governor Groesbeck in a two-man race for the nomination for governor, but the machine showed signs of rejuvenation a week ago when it caused disruption of the Wayne county convention.
Today, however, saw the end. There was no crash—just a sudden collapse of the entire machine. Groesbeck supporters had no voice in the convention dominated by Mayor Green and his allies. The entire Green slate for minor state offices was nominated without any serious attempt by the Groesbeck group to prevent it.
Wayne county (Detroit) which ordinarily has one-third of the voting strength in the state convention, had nothing to say today. The convention, faced with demands to seat both a Green and Groesbeck delegation, turned thumbs down on both and proTo T CON
Movement to Halt Cotton Avalanche Started in South
Independent
12 PAGES
Price 5 Cents
— Spang
MOVEMENT TO HALT COTTON AVALANCHE STARTED IN SOUTH
Mass Meeting of Bankers, Farm Associations and Business Men Proposed For Memphis October 12
WITHHOLD STAPLE PLAN OF MISSISSIPPI BOARD
Pre-War Levels Seen if Drop Continues; Present Price is Loss
JACKSON, MISS., Sept. 28. — (AP) — Opinions of bankers, cotton associations and leading business men in the south on the advisability of calling a mass meeting in Memphis to consider some plan to withhold enough cotton from the market to insure a fair return for the farmers, is being sought by the Mississippi State board of development. October 12 is suggested as the date and financial leaders are being asked to telegraph their replies to the board here.
L. O. Crosby, president of the board, predicted today that cotton will go below pre-war levels if the crop is gathered and placed on the market. He declared that 14 cent cotton is a loss to the farmer and stated that 20 cents would be the least figure that could be termed a fair return.
"If the southern farmers are to be saved from bankruptcy and dire distress, the business men must take prompt action to infuse into the marketing of the crop some degree of business intelligence," Mr. Crosby said. "Also the business men must formulate some plan to control production and bring about diversification." [?]
Context
Cancellation, exclusion and an accounting
The appellate ruling directed three connected remedies: cancellation would remove Mammoth’s contractual claim, an injunction would bar further trespass, and an accounting would address petroleum already taken. The Supreme Court’s 1927 opinion recounts how the appellate court ordered these measures after finding fraud and corruption, overturning the district court’s dismissal. The accounting therefore mattered alongside cancellation: stopping future operations alone would not address past extraction. The later judicial account also specifies that the cancellation order covered the supplemental agreement as well as the lease. [Supreme Court opinion](https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USREPORTS-275/pdf/USREPORTS-275-13.pdf)
Wayne County’s exclusion and Green’s control
The AP dispatch describes two barriers to Groesbeck’s influence: police kept his supporters outside, and the convention rejected both competing Wayne County delegations. A county normally holding one-third of the convention’s votes consequently had no voice while Green’s entire slate won nomination. The Clinton County Republican-News editorial of September 30, 1926, defended the exclusion and argued that the outstate delegates already had enough votes to obtain the same result. Read together, the accounts show how control of admission and representation accompanied Green’s command of nominations; the editorial presented that command as resting on an existing voting majority. [Contemporary editorial](https://www.clinton-county.org/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/2735)
Financing withholding and limiting the next crop
Crosby called for both withholding cotton and controlling production. A later regional plan illustrates how finance could connect those aims. The Commercial and Financial Chronicle of November 6, 1926, described a scheme involving northern Mississippi: a Memphis finance corporation sought bank subscriptions, planned advances against pooled cotton, and would hold it for 18 months unless rising prices justified earlier sales. Growers entering the pool had to promise that their 1927 cotton acreage would not exceed 75% of their 1926 acreage. Advances would provide cash while cotton remained off the market, while the acreage commitment would limit the next crop. This explains the practical importance of the bankers and business coordination sought in the September article. [Contemporary financial report](https://fraser.stlouisfed.org/title/commercial-financial-chronicle-1339/november-6-1926-518394/fulltext)
Original
TEAPOT DOME LEASE CASE IS REVERSED BY APPEALS COURT
Independent VOLUME XCVIII-NO. 272 TEAPOT DOME LEASE CASE IS REVERSED BY APPEALS COURT Decision Instructs Lower Tribunal to Cancel Mammoth Oil Company's Contract Without Further Delay FURTHER TRESPASSING ON GOVERNMENT LAND ENJOINED Accounting of All Products Taken From Naval Reserve is Also Ordered ST. LOUIS, MO., Sept. 28. - (AP) - The United States circuit court of appeals today reversed and remanded the decision of the district court at Cheyenne, Wyoming, upholding the Teapot Dome oil leases obtained by Harry F. Sinclair and associates from the government while Albert B. Fall was secretary of the interior. The appellate court's decision is sweeping in effect and instructs the lower court immediately to cancel the Mammoth Oil company's lease and enjoin it from further trespassing on government lands. The opinions was received from William S. Kenyon of Fort Dodge, Iowa, presiding judge of the appellate court. The decision declares the St. Clair lease to have been fraudulent. The lower court is instructed to ask the Mammoth Oil company for an accounting of all oil and petroleum products taken from the government's naval oil reserve during its tenure. The appellate court in its decision - a 65 page document-reverses Judge T. Blake Kennedy who held in district court at Cheyenne in June, 1925, that the government's allegation of fraud had not been proved. He rejected the government's annulment suit and left the Mammoth Oil company is possession of Teapot Dome. [?]
GROESBECK OUTFIT WRECKED BY PARTY SUPPORTING GREEN
[?] DETROIT, Sept. 28. - (AP) - The political machine of Governor Alex J. Groesbeck was wrecked today while 300 policemen kept Groesbeck supporters from even a glimpse of the catastrophe. It was a jubilant destruction of a machine that has been driven in triumph through Michigan republicanism for nearly six years. As uniformed officers stood outside Cass Technical High school denying admittance to 403 Wayne county supporters of the governor, 888 delegates from outstate cities and towns were inside loudly acclaiming Fred W. Green, nominee for governor, and nominating in its entirety a Green-picked slate of candidates for minor state offices. For two years the Groesbeck machine has given signs of collapse, losing an essential part here and there, yet continuing to lead the way for Michigan republicanism. The end was believed to have come two weeks ago when Mayor Fred W. Green of Ionia swamped Governor Groesbeck in a two-man race for the nomination for governor, but the machine showed signs of rejuvenation a week ago when it caused disruption of the Wayne county convention. Today, however, saw the end. There was no crash-just a sudden collapse of the entire machine. Groesbeck supporters had no voice in the convention dominated by Mayor Green and his allies. The entire Green slate for minor state offices was nominated without any serious attempt by the Groesbeck group to prevent it. Wayne county (Detroit) which ordinarily has one-third of the voting strength in the state convention, had nothing to say today. The convention, faced with demands to seat both a Green and Groesbeck delegation, turned thumbs down on both and proTo T CON
MOVEMENT TO HALT COTTON AVALANCHE STARTED IN SOUTH
Independent 12 PAGES Price 5 Cents - Spang MOVEMENT TO HALT COTTON AVALANCHE STARTED IN SOUTH Mass Meeting of Bankers, Farm Associations and Business Men Proposed For Memphis October 12 WITHHOLD STAPLE PLAN OF MISSISSIPPI BOARD Pre-War Levels Seen if Drop Continues; Present Price is Loss JACKSON, MISS., Sept. 28. - (AP) - Opinions of bankers, cotton associations and leading business men in the south on the advisability of calling a mass meeting in Memphis to consider some plan to withhold enough cotton from the market to insure a fair return for the farmers, is being sought by the Mississippi State board of development. October 12 is suggested as the date and financial leaders are being asked to telegraph their replies to the board here. L. O. Crosby, president of the board, predicted today that cotton will go below pre-war levels if the crop is gathered and placed on the market. He declared that 14 cent cotton is a loss to the farmer and stated that 20 cents would be the least figure that could be termed a fair return. " If the southern farmers are to be saved from bankruptcy and dire distress, the business men must take prompt action to infuse into the marketing of the crop some degree of business intelligence, " Mr. Crosby said. " Also the business men must formulate some plan to control production and bring about diversification. " [?]
Source: Holding institution