 The tangled dispute over whether Barnes did or did not repay led to charges of dishonesty being preferred against Barnes before the Socialist Party, which were dismissed as "frivolous" by the governing National Executive Committee.Morgan and Jones persisted, however, and a special investigating committee was established to hear the charges.In February 1911 the committee affirmed that "the charge was indeed a most frivolous one, whose action could have no other motive except a desire to embarrass, harass, and annoy the National Secretary."