Los Angeles herald., 1909-11-20
DENIES CHARGE
OF LAND FRAUD
BALLINGER SAYS REPORTS
ARE UNTRUE
ALASKA COAL DEAL is GIVEN A
NEW PHASE
President RooseVelt's Withdrawal of
Area ExpIaned-Hearing of the
Case incidentally Is Be-
gun at Seattle
LBy Associated Press.l


| WASHINGTON, Nov. 19.-Replying
to charges made in magazine, Secre-
! tary R. A. Ballinger of the interior de-
partment today denied many reports
recently circulated concerning the con-
duct of his department.
"To'say that ever have advised, or
dered or lent support to any effort to
perpetuate a fraud upon the govern
ment," he said, lis not only false, but is
Intentionally so, If made by any one
who has taken the trouble to inquire
into the facts"
In explanation Of the charges in con-
nection with the Alaska coal lands, he
went into the history of President
Roosevelts withdrawal from entry of
all coal lands of Alaska in 1906, show
ing that the order was so modified by
Secretary Garfield as to validate all ap-
pllcations made prior to May 16, 1907.
He then called attention to the fact
that in his annual report of 1907 as
commissioner of the general land office
he had recommended action by con-
gress to prevent any formation of COM
binations or trusts by claimants to coal
lands, and adds:
1.-THE antitrust clause of the Alaska
coal act as finally passed May 28, 1908,
was not submitted by Clifford Pinchot,
but was submitted as a suggestion to
Herbert Parsons of New York in his
letter of May Z, 1908, and favorably con-
sidered and indorsed by the secretary
| in his report to congress-"
All Claims Probed
Mr.. Ballinger then stated that no
Alaskan coal elaine have been pat
ented, and says that the investigation
of all such claims with a view to de-
terEnining their validity or invalidlty
has been vigorously prosecuted.
Mr.. Ballinger denounced as "a plain,
ordinary Justification" a report that he
is interested in $4,000 shares of the
Alaska Petroleum and Coal company.
THE statement that / or my former
firm was attorney for this company. or
ever advised or counseled it in its eff
forts to acquire title to public lands, is
also without basis in fact" he added.
Mr.. Ballinger said it was true that
in his private practice after he had
resigned as commissioner of the land
office he had been consulted in the
preparation of articles of incorporation
under the law of 1908, which had been
approved by the president and which
permitted the entry of as much as
2560 acres Of coal lands, but not true
that either in this or in any other con-
nection he had given any advice look
ing to a fraudulent act against the
government.
Asked about a statement that he had
said that the proper course to take with
the public domain was to divide it
up among the big corporations and led
the people wro know how to make
money out of It," Mr.. Ballinger replied:
$50 asinine a statement hardly
merits a denial. OF course l made no
such statement Such a thought could
not be entertained by any normal in
70 7 fr1lr in
gard to the public domain and the con-
seryation of natural resources may be
found in my official reports as COM
missioner Of the general land office and
in my present annual report, soon to
be published.
In Vanguard
'I have not only been consistently
in the vanguard Of the conservation
movement, but / have sought to give
il permanence along lines reasonably
within the spirit of present laws and to
secure adequate additional laws"
He made an equally emphatic denial
of a statement that his firm is known
as the Standard Oil legal advisory in
Seattle
Mr.. Ballinger also made response to
a charge that in granting rights Of
way to Hill and Hartman railroads,
through the Des Chutes canyon in Ore
gon ne mad rendered impossible the
construction of a power plant in the
canyon.
Admitting that the department had
given it's approval to the applications,
Mr.. Ballinger said that this course had
been pursued under the law, and in
pursuance of the wishes of people of
the section affected, but not without
taking the precaution of inserting d
requirement that, when needed for
power plant purposes, each railroad
should elevate its tracks a hundred
feet.
This action, he said, insured to the
people OF central Oregon competing
lines Of railroad, and at the same time
guaranteed the use of the water power
when the country needed it. He also
quoted records in the case to show
that the proceedings Of the case had
been in strict compliance with the law,