The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1909-04-19
NEW SECRETARY
KNOWS HIS DUTY
Judge R. A. BaIIinger Takes
Lively Interest in the Inte-
riOr Department.
BOSS OF THE WHOLE WORK
RECLAMATION SERVICE UNDER
HIS IMMEDIATE SUPERVISION.
Special to The HeraldD

Washington, April lS.-The new sec
rotary of the interior. Judge r. \. Bal
/ linger. has undertaken to supervise the
administration Of the national reclama-
ton law, and i'm doing this has begun
/ to exercise his authority over the
/ United States reclamation service. In
der the terms of the reclamation act,
the secretary of the interior is charged
with the construction of government If
rlgatiOn projects. but not until Judge
Ballinger entered the cabinet did any
secretary Of the interior bother very
much about government irrigation af
fairs Mr.. Hitchcock, who was secre-
tary when the law was passed, welded
merely a nominal influence over the
work, leaving practically administra-
tive matters in the hands Of the Off
Gals Of the reclamation service. When
Mr. Garfield succeeded Secretary Hitch
cock, he gave over to the reclamation
service almost absolute power. And the
reclamation service has heretofore ope-
rated practically without restraint.
A Practical Lawyer.
But Secretary BaUinger is what his
immediate predecessors were nOt-a
practical lawyer familiar with the re
Quirements Of the statutes, and deter
mined to follow them. in so far as they
relate TO the business of his depart
ment. He was aware that the reclama-
ton act placed in the secretary Of the
interior the power and responsibility
Of enforcing the terms Of that act.
Therefore he has taken to himself that
power which the law intended he should
have. And in doing this, the secretary
has materially upset the plans Of the
reclamation officials for he has decided
hr s1r- To-
forced along practical businesslike
lines, and not along lines of fancy or
within.
Just what changes are 10 be made in
the manner Of conducting the work of
the reclamation service has not yet been
determined. for Secretary Ballinger is
still informing himself as to the affairs
Of that bureau. and until he has the
subject well in hand, will probably in
augurate few big reforms. Neverthe-
less, the secretary has already taken
from the reclamation service much of
the initiative it enjoyed under Messrs. I
Hitchcock and Garfield. and is acting
upon current affairs himself He is not 7
acting. however. without consultation /
with the officials of the reclamation /
service.
Has Views of His Own.
There is one particular. however, in .
which the secretary has taken issue /
with the reclamation service; that is on .
the matter Of Withdrawing from entry .
vast areas Of land which may or NAV /
not be susceptible Of irrigation at some 4
future time. Complaints were made to 4
the secretary that extensive withdraw /
ais made heretofore had not been util- /
lied by the reclamation service. vet /
those Withdrawals stood as barriers in /
& ,,e.
terprise. In some instances private
capital, anxious to reclaim lands under
the Carey act. has been unable to do
so because the desired lands had been
withdrawn by the interior department
on request of the reclamation service. .
These Withdrawals had been made on
the assumption that some time i'm the
future the government might reclaim
them.
Restoring Lands to Entry.
Wherever Secretary Ballinger finds
big Withdrawals which are not likely TO
be utilized by the government in the
near future, and for which there are no
definite plans for reclamation. he is re-
storing such lands to entry, so that
they may be developed by private CAPT
tai or otherwise utilized. Later on
when the government needs new fields
into which to carry its reclamation
work. he believes there will be no diff
Guilty in finding localities in which the
money Of the reclamation fund may
readily and advantageously be expend-
ed He does not believe il is good policy
10 lie UP thousands and hundreds of
thousands Of acres Of land merely on
the presumption that at some future
time the reclamation service may de-
sire to evolve plan for its irrigation
There is too much uncertainty about
the practice, anyway. for withdrawal
Of lands does not necessarily mean that
they are to be irrigated. it merely indi-
Gates that possibly they may be irri-
gated.
Already half a million acres or more
Of land withdrawn at the request of the
reclamation service has been restored
to entry by order Of Secretary Balm
ger and as new complaints are re-
ceived and new Information is gath
cred, other restorals viii follow Only
such lands Will be held in withdrawal
as are known to be actually needed for
government irrigation work