Los Angeles herald., 1909-11-08
tBy Associated Press.l

WASHINGTON, Nov 7.-Secretary
Ballinger's widely discussed revocation
of the famous Garfield order" with
drawing from settlement a million and
a half acres of public lands and the
substitution therefor of a withdrawal
order Withholding from settlement
100000 acres today was declared by Mr..
Ballinger to have been wholly promo
tive-not subversive-of the conserva-
tion policy.
A lengthy explanation of his cancel
lation of the Garfield withdrawal was
given to the press by Mr.. Ballnger,
who asserted that it was logical step
In the prosecution Of the policy of con-
serving the water power on the federal
domain, and one which Mr.. Garfield
must have taken himself had he re-
manned in office.
The first order was a blanket with
drawal issued to meet the emergency
and without taking time to ascertain
just where the power sites were
located" Secretary Ballinger said.
Intelligent prosecution of the policy
demanded that as soon as possible
thereafter the sites be located and the
lands not needed to protect them be
restored to entry.
Unwarranted Reflection
1T would be an unwarranted refiec-
tion on Secretary Garfield to assume
that he would not have done precisely
what l did. ascertain as soon as prac-
ticable where the power sites were ac-
tually located and issue a new order
withdrawing them from settlement
and restoring to entry all lands not
needed for that purpose.
Il found that by utilizing the geo.
logical survey instead of the reclama-
tion service, which had been employed
by my predecessor, 1 could secure ac-
curate information as to the location
of the power sites. On consultation
with the legal officers of my depart
ment 1 found that 1 could make with
drawal orders retroactive-that is, that
l could issue withdrawal orders later
that would effectually protect any
power sites within any entries which
might have been made in the interim.
The retroactive provision of the sub
sequent Withdrawals operated com
pletely TO conserve the sites.
mot a single power site has passed
out of the possession of the govern
ment during this administration
"As a matter of fact, the with
drawals ordered by me protected so
per cent more power sites than were
conserved by the Garfield order This
implies no criticism of the Garfield
order and merely shows that the Gar
field order was tentative.
First Withdrawal
MY first withdrawal order was dated
May 4, 1909. and the last, which in
cluded many of the lands formerly
withdrawn, June 10, 1909, but each OF
these orders contained the language
All existing claims and filings are
temporarily suspended AS a matter
of fact, there was not a single filing
made on power site during the in
terim.
"On the other hand, the restoration
to entry of more than a million acres
of land not needed to protect the power
sites allayed widespread discomfort
and thus avoided unnecessarily making
enemies for the conservation policy
Since June 10 1 have made twenty-five
additional Withdrawals in entirely new
territory"
Secretary Ballinger stated that his
orders of withdrawal do not protect
power sites within forest reservations
and added in explanation that pre-
viously he had offered to include power
sites on forest reservations, but that
the offer was declined on the ground
that the forest service could not take
care of such sites
The secretary asserted that a number
of factors caused the course to be
misunderstood and misrepresented,
but some of these he was not at liberty
to discuss.