The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-03-02

it in Ballinger's hands and that he had great confidence in MT. Ballinger.
 What as to your being insubordin- ate?"
 T was not. but 1 do not care to lay stress upon that point, for 1 should have been insubordinate without sec ond thought if l had considered 1t necessary to bring the facts before the public"
 Were you in fact then insubordin- ate?"
 q was not. But I have no desire for a personal vindication and would rath- CT not go into that question"
 "Why not?" asked the witness at torney
 Because it is not important and l would regret the necessity of bring ing out a difference of opinion between Secretary Wilson and myself
 Senator Nelson pressed his question as to whether or not MT. Pinchot had conferred with the secretary before sending the letter.
 MT. Pinchot said he would decline to answer the question unless 1t was put by the whole committee moton to press the question was carried.
 Did you confer with the secretary before sending that letter. repeated Chairman Nelson.
 T did."
 Conference With Wilson
 The witness proceeded to explain his answer by saying he went to Secre- tary Wilson January and told pim Senator Deliver had requested inform ation from the forest service and that the secretary made no objection. We discussed at some length the right of Senator Deliver to get the informa- ton from me. As to the President or der forbiddlng subordnates to give infor- nation to Congress, Secretary Wilson said: You and l will have no trouble about that order or words to that effect. | I believed I had his consent. l described | to him the situation as to the controversy | between the interior department and the | forest service. I told him of the in- tention of our opponents to magnify what had been done by Messrs. Price and Shaw, | and I thought the only wise thing for us l to do was to lay our hand down on the | trouble admit what we had done and force the congressional inquiry to the point to which it ought to devote itself. "I was convinced that Secretary Wilson favored my effort to defend Price and 1 Shaw. although he did not favor my plan I of getting publicity at the same time the other side did. I felt I had, however, se- cured his permission to write to Senator l Dollver"
 l Mr. Pinchot said he had endeavored to | see Secretary Wilson the morning that l his letter to Senator Deliver was read | in the Senate to submit to him his letter transmitting to the secretary the reports | by Price and Shaw telling of their trans- actions with MT. Glavis. Pinchot Explains Letter | He did not find the secretary until the l afternoon. In this letter of transmittal MT. Pinchot said he had included clause l fa,. ta fha tt-ar1 1Ct11it n q
 his own letter to Senator Deliver. Secre- 1 tary Wilson asked him what the clause | meant, MT. Pinchot said, and he told him | that it referred to the letter they had previously discussed The secretary told l him to strike out all reference to the Dol liver letter and rewrite the letter of trans- initial. This he did, MT. Pinchot said, in | the secretarys office in the department of | agriculture.
 | The former forester ended his direct tes- timony by saying:
 If I had 10 minutes with President l Taft-if I had been accorded a hearing | it would have been easier for me to have convinced him that I had been neither disrespectfu nor insubordinate, and thus I could have avoided the necessity which he felt of relieving me of the public ser vice.
 The cross-examnation of MT. Pinchot was delayed until Secretary Wilson, who desired to take the stand at once. could be heard. The grizzled old official, who holds the record for cabinet service, was plainly agitated when he took the oath as a witness, and when he began to testify his voice was high-pitched and strained
 The secretary proved impatient at some of the questions put to him on cross-ex- animation, and became somewhat mixed as to just what letters were being referred to by his questioners and resentful of any inference other than his own that they wished to draw from his testimony.
 MT. Vertrees, counsel for Secretary Bal finger, undertook the direct examination.
 You have heard what MT Pinchot has said. Have you any statement to make?'' he said
 Some of the things MT. Pinchot has said here-a good many of them'-began Secretary Wilson ''are correct. but there are other things that are not correct.'
 The secretary brought his fist down on the table with a resounding whack He then continued:
 Wilson Denies Consent
 ''He never got my consent to send that letter to the Senate. There are two things In 1t that would have made 1t iY possible for me to have given my consT He attempted to review and judgef : mental processes of the President s also assumed the authority was nlf discipline officers of my department. lf Pinchot says it was lanuary 3 that we talked of this matter There Is no use making point as 10 dates. It may have