ABSTRACT
In the past, congressional investigations have been intermittently and sometimes sharply attacked. The 1923-1924 investigations into the oil industry and the Departments of the Navy and Justice were condemned by Owen J. Roberts, speaking before the American Bankers Association, as mere "propaganda for nationalization". The New York Times declared that Congress was "investigation-mad", and was trying to introduce "government by clamor hole in corner gossip". The abolitionist Senators from New England could hardly have been expected to further an investigation, headed by a Senator from Virginia, which was likely to confirm the formal case against Brown and to uncover the links in the conspiracy. The opponents and critics of congressional investigations do not explicitly call for the abolition of the investigatory power; that is, they do not state that Congress should be altogether deprived of the right and power to make investigations.
