New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1909-08-14
TROUBLE FOR PINCHOT
MR. TAFT MAY TAKE HAND
FOrester's Friends BeHeUe Public Is
Behind Him.
From The Tribune Bureau. ]

d
ports the trouble between the Department Of the
Interior and the forest service over the admins
tration of the socaled conservation laws is getting
under the skin OF partisans Of Secretary Balinger
and Chief Forester Pinchot. They breakers
ahead when President Taft takes Official notice of
the speeches made at the Irrigation Congress in
Spokane. Some OF the subordinates in the Interior
Department convinced that the incident Will
not be closed short OF the resignation Of Mr. Pin
chot chief Of the Forest Service. On the other
hand. officials of Mr. Pnchots bureau insist that
public sentiment is back OF his fight for a broad
construction of the avs governing the disposition
Of the public domain. and they insist that the chief
forester will not give up the work to which he is
devoted unless his resignation is forced.
In their loyalty to their chief and in their en-
thusasm for their work of the officials Of the
forest service have been talking rather freely since
the news OF the speech at Spokane reached Wash
ington In private conversation they have not
hesitated to criticise and TO attack the meth
DDS of the Interior Department. AS a result OF
this summer vacation gossip some OF the officials
in the Interior Department have become convinced
that the forest service men are making a studied
effort to public sentiment against Secretary
Balinger and give the country impression
that he is standing in the way Of the conservation
movement It was begun by President Roosevelt
REPLY TO PUBLISHED REPORTS.
IN defence OF Secretary Ballingers conservation
policy an authorized statement given out to-
day by Henry II. Schwartz, Acting Assistant Com
missioner OF the General Land ONCE This state
in reply the published report sent from
Helena that on June II jeremiah Collins h!ed in
the BozeInan land office. Montana. 1858 acres
OF land valuable for power sites. which fling was
in the interest Of large power companies.
In his statement Mr. Schwartz sad:
That al no time since the administration OF Sec
rotary Balllnger have any power sites been Med
upon IN Montana; that neither Collins nor the Col
Inns Land Company mas made any such filings al
Bozeman or elsewhere; that the only Ming made
Ramsey OF the Riverside Land and Livestock Com
pany, and was an application TO amend an original
selection made IN 1885. aggregating total area OF
l,S.es acres. The newspaper correspondent by the
showing the sixty-eght hundredths Of an acre
converted the l5s acres into fifteen thousand This
country. and is intended by, the livestock
pany TO acquire place TO shear sheep. Ramsey
Is not In the power business, but is a banker in
Helena and stock
The only water power sites on the watersheds OF
of the government under Secretary Ballingers or
ders OF suspension are sites which have been In
private ownership for several years. and two ad-
run me streetcars and lighting plants OF Helena
and Butte and the mines in Butte.
the Helena Power and Light Company and the
o 80 ~ 1T improvement Company one having dam
feet in height across the main Missouri! River.
as distinguished from vested easements and these
permits We're approved jointly by the Department
lSI and 1905; the approval for the Helena Power
action Of the general an6 oee N feeenR the the
application for permit TO erect the dam.
acres it was rejected bV the local. land i ofice
end rejection sustained in THIS ONCE for the double
Withdrawn for reclamation purposes
In further explanation Of Secretary BalIingers
policy. and an indication Of his purpose TO en-
force laws affecting the public domain in the in
terest Of the government and against those who
would acquire them fraudulently a synopsis Of the
field work Of the General Land Office for the year
ended June 80, was made public to-day.
Inc report shows that during the year there was
an s.FT 81 I
vestigations. and that the number on July last
was 1872 During the year there was collected in
cash for coal and timber trespass and fines IN
criminal proceedings S430O@5 cases reported by
special agents OF this 1892 900 was nstallment for
coal trespass after suit brought. Since June 80
and not included in these totals a further sum %
$1,000 was collected. There were cancelled for
fraud and ilegality s1s unpateneted entries having
about 1900 acres also Sc Alaska coal entries we're
allowed 10 lapse in the face OF special agents in
vestgations. By proceedings I'm court or I'm settle
ment thereof hundred patents were
vacated and &,72s additional restored 10 the
public domain. There also verdicts secured
in lol timber trespass suits sT7677 paid judg
ments therefor In the criminal there were con
vcuons Of "a for trespass. 80 for conspiracy ) for
perjury "a for unlawful Enclosures and - mlscel-
laneous. DEGREES were secured removing forty IN
lawful Enclosures The total fines collected amounted
10 S2sss. and 26 prison sentences were imposed.
MANY ADVERSE REPORTS RECEIVED
The Office received l,44I adverse reports and 453
favorable reports upon from the forest ser
vice, and 5.So6 adverse and 7OSO favorable reports
from its agents There is $40. OcG 900 involved
IN suits 10 recover land TO the government
on appeals to the department on decisions
cancelling entries for fraud The land Office
sustained in 40 cases and reversed IN
eighteen cases. OF appealed cases 3Ss were upon
Land Office and sixteen forest cases where
in the office decided for the government, and $50
special cases. and four cases were de
cided for defendant Without suit and on demand
Of agents 1891 acres unawfully fenced were re-
stored on July ! there remained $4,000 cases
awaiting field investigation.
The large number Of cases stIII ia the field in
cludes all railroad selections in mineral regions
and all right Of way and power sites heretofore
granted and not yet reported by the field agents
Statistics on rights Of way and power sites were
not kept prior TO the quarter ended July l. and on
that date there were pending for examination 721
such cases-practcslly all cases formerly approved
and during that quarter reports we're received on
81 SUCH cases favorabiy and l46 unfavorably OF
these li6 rights have either declared for
feited grantees have been called on 10 show
cause why rights should be cancelled by the de-
pariment where the right is a nu're permit and
where easements had been granted the cases have
been referred 70 the Department Justice for suit
TO cancel such easements. OF the suspended coal
cases remaining for action about seven hundred are
in Alaska, ana investigation I'm nearly all these
are srompete except for certain land examinations
in that territory.
There remained in the Department Of Justice FOR
suit July l lH trespass cases SIC suits Ia re-
cover lands. III fencing cases and AS criminal
cases. The suits TO lands involve about
S2oO00.000. tn value Of some 81 the land re-
coyeries is indicated by one case wherein coal
lands were returned by railroad company The
company and its alleged grantees had paid about
$4,000 for the lands. Since recovering the lands
the Geological Survey has fixed the selling nrica
OF the same lands at more than 100000 and this
on basis OF less than four cents a ton for the