The National tribune., 1909-08-26

the decision Of that controversy test
Of President Taft's adherence to or de-
parture from the policies OF nus preoe-
| cessor. q,
Chief Forester Clifford Pinchot is
plainly pressing the issue home. he
was a member, of the Hooseveit ,,,s tenn,s
cabinet, one Of President Roosevelts
closest personal friends, and q believer
! in the Roosevelt plan OF doing Things
and talking about them afterward he
| insists that the water powers IN the
West are. being gobbled up by a trust,
has dared to contradict Secretary bai,
| linger on, that and other matters, anu
consequently has become an lIol anlong
the Rooseveltians of the West even
thru to the Pacific Coast, saving only q
few States, where the Development OF
| the public lands is preferred 10 tneir
preservation for forest purposes. MS
progress thru the West has been a sort
of triumphal affair. whereas secretary
Ballinger has faced frowning auoiehces,
| and has had to present MS deIehse "
people who were plainly against MIN.
The Ballfnger- -Pinchot Controversy.
Both men have been touring many
Western States. They attended the ma
tional Irrigation Congress at SPOKANE,
and then Chief Forester Pincnot wen.
to the Trans-Mississippi Congress al
Denver. Both men have spoken 10
scores Of public gatherings thruout the
West during July and August, ana the
controversy between them has become
a tremendous issue. Now President TART
will touch many points where these Two
officials of his Administration nave WIS.,
tied, and Secretary Ballinger' stepping
out upon the rear platform with him,
in the same halls and at the
same public gatherings with the Presi-
dent, will be recognized by the Western
public as having the Presidents faVor.
OF course, the President can hardly
speak out against his Secretary OF the
Interior, when he is travelling with him
and has invited him to go thru all the
Northwestern country with him. If the
President makes any speeches on con-
servation, he naturally Will be general
and noncommittal or he will speak out
against the Pinchot plan, which, In the
public mind, has come to stand for
more things than Mr.. Pinchot has him
self been fighting for. So intense has
the feeling become that many believe
the popularity of the Presidents West
tern trip would be diminished material
ly should he come out against Chief
Forester Pinchot. 1t would be inter-
preted as a slap against Mr.. Plnchot
and the forest reserves and against d.
rector Newell and the Reclamation Ser
vice, whose policies in some particulars
Secretary Ballinger has opposed, and
also against the general Rooseveltian
conservation plans These probably
were the most important policies that
President Roosevelt formulated. The
Western people are firmly convinced or
1t, and they will not listen to the con-
duct of these very great enterprises ac-
cording to the interpretations or the
law which Secretary Ballinger and Pres
ident Taft sanction. They want things
doing them
Several times at Burgess Point. where
the Stetson cottage is located, callers
have asked President Taft about the
Ballinger-Pinchot quarrel. Invariably
he returns a. noncommittal answer. He
shakes his head, smiles quizzical smile
and ventures no opinion favorable TO
the one or to the other. He is aware
of the political dynamite there is in the
controversy, and is waiting to see how
far 1t will quiet down if let alone. or
course, this is the Summer season. when
agitation comes naturally to the Ameri-
can people, and, to no portion of them
more than to the breezy. aggressive,
self-opinionated Westerners. If it does
not quiet down, the President may have
cause to worry as his train steams to
the westward,
But the President after biding his
time is generally fearless in facing an
enemy. Only a. day or two ago it was
announced that, the arrangements for
his visit to Des Moines. Iowa. included
breakfast at the residence of; Senator
Cummins, the leader of the Republican
insurgents of the West. who is privately
regarded as antagonistic to the Presi-
dent and as having Presidential ambi-
tions himself. And yet the Cummins
people and the insurgent sympathlzers
all over the West may unite to make
his trip very pleasant and very success
OIL NJ Ds..f %pe,
ago. when he was making his speaking
tour as candidate thru the West. In
Iowa the Cummins people Wed with the
reactionary Republicans to see who
should give him the most cordial well
come and show him the greatest honor.
They did not all vote for him the fol-
lowing November. but nevertheless
turned out for him even better than had
been expected.
Political Aspects OF the Tour.
The keenest prophets are looking for
this performance to be repeated during
the coming October, as far as a show
of enthusiasm and loyalty to the Re-
publican Party is concerned. But there
is doubt enough about it to give a zest-
ful interest to the Presidents trip. His
speeches will be closely followed for
evidence of the tact with which he han
dies some very troublesome complica-
tions. The long trip was probably
planned primarily in the hope that the
President could become better acqua int
ed with certain of his critics beyond
the Allegheny Mountains, and perhaps
prepossess them in favor of his stand
ard.
He has nothing to fear from the rim
of States along the Pacific Ocean or the
Intermountain States adjoining But
political rebellion is rampant all the
way from the Rockies to the Allegha-
nies. and there are few Republican
States in that broad expanse of terri
tory which are not somewhat affected
The President on his tour will pene-
trate nearly every hostile stronghold.
which means that the popular attitude
toward him and the popular verdict
about him. as he departs to the coast
will be of political concern 1t may
forecast the prospects of Republican
House of Representatives next year,
and the prospects of ambitious men
who would like to snatch away a Presi-
Dental nomination in 1912
The Presidents trip thru the South
will be of a distinctly different charac-
ter than the trip thru the Middle West.
Republican Presidents are not in high
favor politically in that section. But
Democratic as the South is. it is very
well disposed to President Taft and the
signs are already multiplying that he
will receive robust welcome all the
way from, San Antonio, Tex, to Alexan-
dria, va. a7lt IS a contrast worth noting