New-York tribune., 1909-11-10
SEE A PLOT TO
NAME ROOSEVELT
T1FTS FRIENDS FE1R
HOSTILE PL1N.
Hill Report to HIM on H1
ReturH-La Toilette for
Re@duary LCgatec.


which may prove nothing but a sequences
Of condolences. but which. in their CO.
ordination. so strongly resemble chain
Of strikingly significant political events
that they have gravely alarmed sorns Of
the Presidents most loyal supporters. tn
cluding men who stand high in hts ad-
ministration and in his confidence.
These men. and some Of them are not
tyros IN the game Of politics. have be-
come convinced OF the existence of a far
reaching and shrewdly organized politi-
cal movement. which has for its purpose
the nomination of Theodore Roosevelt
in the national convention OF 19i@-
Whatever conclusion may be reached
after careful examination OF the evt-
dence which the Presidents friends srs
prepared TO submit to him. IL ia obvious.
even from a cursory examination OF their
case, that taken In it's entirety u lends
some color 10 their proposition that the
wheel OF time has completed its revo-
lution and that in the next three years
the history Of like period ending with
the Republican National Convention of
1880 is about 10 repeat itself.
The more important propositions which
these jealous friends Of President Taft
viii seek to impress upon him may bs
summarized as follows;
ATTACK ON ADMINISTRATIONS
That the so-caHed Ballinger- -Pinchot
controversy has far broader signihancs
than has been generally ascribed 10 ":
that II is actually only the first gun IN
the concerted movement they believe to-
exist: that the Taft administration.
rather than the Secretary of the Interior.
is the real object Of the attack which ~
being so widely prosecuted through the
columns of the press; that the effort TO
impugn the sincerity Of purpose of the
Secretary of State and TO create a popu-
lar impression that Secretary Knox has
betrayed the time honOred policy OF his
predecessors with regard 70 the open
door" in China. and that the recall Of
Charles r. crane was dictated by "a
cOterie of New York bankers. of whom
]. p Morgan is the head. constitutes
only the logical development of the or
ganized movement that the next step In
this concerted movement viii be an ef-
fort 10 impair public confidence in a
third member Of Mr.. Tsft's Cabinet. the
Postmaster General. on whom an at
tack is promised in the second article
Of a series being printed In popular
magazine. II will be further alleged that
the National Conservation Association.
of whose executive COMMITTEES James r.
it's promoters. although quite possibly
without any realization of that fact by
some Of it's most PROMINENT members. a.
a political organization for the further
auce Of this same movement.
In substantiatiou Of these allegations.
it will be urged that hardly had Mr. Taft
been inaugurated when a conflict Oc-
CURED between his Secretary of the In
terror. r. A. Ballinger. and the Chief
Forester. clifford Pinchot that. through
the instrumentality of Mr. PinchOt. II
was sought 10 convince the public that
Secretary BaIlinger was at heart inimical
to that conservation movement which
had been one of the chief OF the Roose-
veIt policies: that Mr.. Ballinger's can
collation. OF the Garfield power site with
drawaI order and the substitution there
for Of now orders which. while they con-
served more sites. released to settlement
over a million acres of public land with
drawn by Mr.. Garfield, was widely mis-
represented as subversive OF the con-
servatiOn movement; that hardly had
this misrepresentation been exposed SId
refuted when a new line Of attack. based
ON the existence of certain Alaska coal
land claims. was undertaken and vigor-
ously prosecuted by a system OF gross
Misrepresentation. such misrepresenta-
ticn continuing with undiminished en-
ergy after President Taft had himself
examined all the evidence and chsrac-
terized il as mere shreds OF suspicion"
DIR. ELIOT's STATEMENT.
II will be further charged that Presi-
Dent Eliot OF the National Conservation
Association was led. probably unwit-
tingIy. 20 add 20 the force OF this mis-
representation By the issue OF a state
ment warning the public Of the neces-
sity not only Ot legislation 20 perfect ths
laws affecting coal lands and power sites.
but OF enforcing the existing laws. de-
spite the fact that such laws have been
rigidly enforced. and that this statement
was handed to the press for publication
lust twenty four hours before the adj
vance publication OF the Alaska coal
land charges.
The President viii be informed that
through an overlapping Of the jurisdic-
tion of the Bureau OF Forestry and the
General Land Office the former enjoys
the legal right OF access TO all the rec
ords OF the latter. a privilege enjoyed by
no other bureau OF the government
Those friends of the President who
are prepared 10 submit this case for his
careful consideration believe they see
between existing conditions and those
which preceded the convention of 1850
more than one analogy. In 1850. they
submit. President Grant had completed
his journey around the world and his tri-
unphaI tour of the United States. The
nations Of the earth had paid him horn
age. and az home he had been greeted
with degree OF enthusiasm rarely IL
ever before equallsd IN the history OF the
Republic. During mis- absence thrs,
valiant and able champions had dill
gently promoted his popularity and raj
he'd his supporters with an effectiveness
which resulted in the memorable SsS
delegates who in the convention of thar
year stood stanchly by the former Pr~s,-