Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-09-16

used in the public press to support gem
eral charge that you are out of SYM
pathy with the declared policy of this
administration. following that of Presi-
dent Roosevelt. in favor of the conserva-
ton Of national resources, especially in
connection with coal lands. with water
power sites and with the system of
reclamation Of arid lands which are all
within the jurisdiction of the Interior
Department.
Gov. Pardee's Charges Cited.
I'm the first place, 1t was charged on
the floor of the irrigation convention at
Spokane by former Gov. Pardee of Cali
fornia that you had restored to the pub
lie domain for settlement certain lands
which had been withdrawn by the last
administration for the purpose of con-
serving water power sites, and that after
complaint made thereof you had subse-
quently withdrawn some of the lands
again from settlement: but that mean
time, between the one act and the other,
an opportunity had been given to the
so-called water power trust to file en-
tries and obtain vested rights in valu-
able water power sites in the state of
Montana.
AT the same time that this charge was
made by Gov. Pardee there appeared in
the public press In telegram which
SeeInS 10 nave mao the WIDEST C1rCuldtlOn
a statement quoted from Montana pa
per that water power company, with a
capital of $1OOOO.OO, had. in the interval
between the order of restoration and
the order to withdraw, located and OBJ
tanned vested rights in $4,000 acres of
land in Montana which absorbed for the
company all the valuable water power
sites in that state, and that the state
ment was accompanied by detailed refer
ence to the particular land office and the
,orfio ,hny h
suit was accomplished.
THE inference it was sought to have
drawn and which was drawn by news
papers hostile to you was that you had
ment Of the land upon which were the
water power sites for the purpose of en-
aiding private and water power COM
panies to acquire vested interests: that
after doing so you had then withdrawn
what remained from public settlement,
and that you took this course because
you were out of sympathy with the pol
icy of conservation of national re-
sources, and were in favor of the cor
porate control of such water power sites.
A Cruel Injustice.
when the facts are examined in this
regard 1t will be found that the persons
responsible for the circulation of these
charges have done you cruel injustice.
The fact was that in January, 1909, in
the last administration. executive orders
were made, withdrawing from public set
Element 1,5O0.OOO acres at the instance of
the reclamation service for conservation
came Secretary of the Interior you
brought this order to my attention and
said that it included a great deal of land
that had no water power sites ON 1t. run
ming back many miles from the rivers.
and that it included much land which
ought to be opened to public settlement:
that you had applied to the reclamation
bureau to know whether 1t was desired
for reclamation purposes and what their
recommendation was in the premises, and
that they recommended that 1t be return
ed to the public domain.
You also advised me that it was pos
sible to procure from the geological sur
vey an accurate statement of the water
power sites which were available and
which might be subjected to private own
ership. and that you would direct the geo.
logical survey to make such statements
and that then there could be made tenn
porary Withdrawals of the land needed
to preserve these water power sites until
Congress could act.
Withdrawal Revoked.
The order revoking tn withdrawal of
10000 acres was made in April. Stuff
cient information was procured from the
geological survey to permit an order
Withdrawing the land upon which were
water power sites in May, and this with
drawal covered about 100000 acres in
stead of 1.5OO,CO0. The form of the new
order Of withdrawal was such that it set
aside all filings and entries of any kind
which had been made prior to its going
into effect. and. as matter of fact, not
one single filing has been attempted on
any of the water power sites since the
original order of withdrawal in January,
1909.
The story as to the 1900 acres in
Montana circulated by publication in the
newspapers, when presented by Gov.
Pardee. was reduced to 1913 acres near
the Missouri river in Montana, or four
tracts of forty acres: and it now turns
out from examination of the records that
these filings were reflings of entries
made ten years before, that the refilings
were made June II. 1909 more than two
weeks after the withdrawal of the water
power sites in Montana, and that the
four tracts of forty acres each flied upon
had no water power sites on them at
all.
1T further appears from a report of the
director of the geological survey that the
order of withdrawal of January, 1903
was hastily made by townships and by
reference to Inadequate maps; that it
included large areas not within miles
of any river or stream. and that it failed
to include many valuable water power
sites in the immediate vicinity. From
the same reliable source 1t is learned
that under the Withdrawals made by
your department from time to time. be-
ginning in May last. there are now with
held from settlement, awaiting action of
Congress. so per cent more water power
sites than under previous Withdrawals,
and that this has been effected by a
withdrawal from settlement of only one
fifth of the amount of land.
In connection with the same charge
weight has been given to the fact that
you have declined to carry out the con-
tracts made by the reclamation service
with homesteaders and entrymen, by