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The Sixth Section of Article 1 of the Constitution of the U. S. gives immunity for practically all forms of misconduct on the part of any Member of Congress and states that for any speech or debate in either House they shall not be questioned in any other place. This license has often been flagrantly abused and this is one of the glaring examples which every citizen of the U. S. should know about. I never had any part whatever in the financing of any of the Washington hotels, nor did I even know about any of this financing until a long time after it had been done.
In the early part of 1930, after it was known that Mr. Wardman was in financial distress, some of the real estate men of Washington tried to interest me in the purchase of some of the Wardman properties, but I did not even go into the details of the matter—I told them I had been greatly distressed to learn that Mr. Wardman was in difficulties and I had been told if he could raise a million dollars he could clear up his situation. I told them that I thought that Mr. Wardman had done more than any other man to build up the city of Washington. D. C., and, while I knew him only slightly, and did not know a great deal about the entire situation, nevertheless, I felt that he was a great asset to Washington and that the responsible people of Washington could afford to give him substantial financial assistance even at the risk of losing their money, if they could make it possible to continue his operations. I stated that while I had no property interest in Washington, I was willing to put up $50,000 towards the million dollars I was told that he needed and I was willing to accept the entire loss of my money before anybody else was called upon to lose a single penny. No effort was made to raise this fund.
I do not know that I ever before told about this happening but I tell it now simply to illustrate the gross inaccuracy of the statement made by Senator Blaine and to cite one example of perhaps many, where members of Congress take advantage of the immunity given them, to make false and reckless charges, either for the purpose of injuring their enemies or to glorify themselves —and perhaps as a cheap means to gain notoriety.
HENRY L. DOHERTY
Washington, D. C.