Los Angeles herald., 1910-01-12
TAFT HAS FAILED TO
MAKE GOOD


best citizens of the country, to an eX-
tent hardly equa1ed and never sur
passed in the history of our country.
This was done by his evident devotion
to the policy of curbing and regulating
those great interests that had already
worked serious injury to the general
economic welfare of our country, and
threatened, unless restrained, to
achieve infinitely greater evils than
they had already accomplished.
The program for restraining the evil
influence of the interests which by a
ruthless use of the great powers that
they had gained had shown themselves
the enemies of the general welfare, be-
came known as the ROOSEVELT
POLICIES, and under that name re-
ceived the Endorsement and support of
every patriotic lover of his country-it
made no difference to what party he
belonged.
When President Taft, the choice of
the great executive who had inaugu-
rated these important policies, was
elected to succeed him, it was ardently
hoped that such election meant a con-
tinuation of these policies. The evil
dent satisfaction with which the inter-
ests that had strenuously opposed the
Roosevelt policies, which curbed their
malign influence, regarded President
Taft's election, gave the first chill to
the ardent hopes of good citizens for
a continuation by him Of the Roosevelt
policies. Some of his selections for
cabinet positions did not tend to re-
move these doubts. This was especially
the case with the selection OF his sec
retary of the interior.
Mr.. Ballinger already had achieved
some unenviable notoriety on account
of his connectiona with the efforts of
the Guggenheims and others to appro-
pirate to themselves natural resources
in the territory of Alaska of almost
incalculable value His most intimate
friends and supporters were among
men in the northwest, and especially
in his home city of Seattle, who were
interested in these efforts to obtain
by proceedings which some government
employees denominated as fraudulent,
that belonged to the people
That a cabinet officer with such con-
nections and supporters should come
in conflict with honest men who had
been employed to safeguard the inter-
ests of the government was not only
not surprising, but was inevitable.
The first Of these conflicts to claim
public attention was the difference
which arose between Mr.. Ballinger and
a subordinate under the control of his
Mr.. CLAWS. An investi-
cation by the president of the charges
against Secretary Ballinger involved in
a report made by CLAWS resulted in an
executive order discharging CLAWS and
finding the secretary free from fault.
And yet this order contained one state
ment by the president himself which,
if true, showed Mr.. Ballinger to be a
violator of the laws Of the United
States. This statement was to the
effect that shortly after retiring as
of the land Office, Mr..
had accepted employment
from some of the interests that were
to secure the peoples
in Alaska, and this employ
ment related to matters which were
pending in Mr.. Ballinger's department
at the time that he was an official of
the government. If this employment
was accepted, it was in direct violation
of statute of the United states pro-
q government official for two
years after he retires from a depart
ment position from accepting any en-
upon a matter pending at the
time he was in the employ of the gov
ernment.
An astonishing feature in Mr.. Taft's
order was that after finding that Mr.,
Ballinger had done thing which was
in absolute violation of this law, the
president gives no attention to this
grave fault upon his part, but con-
cludes his findings with a complete ex-
oneration of the secretary.
The next, and the most serious re-
suit of the efforts on the part of hon
est employees of the government to pro-
sal of Mr.. Pinchot. The greatest of
the Roosevelt policies inaugurated
by Mr.. Taft's predecessor was the pol
icy of the conservation and protection
? mt ~ volt
said before retiring from office that the
services of Mr.. Pinchot as the head of
the forestry division had not oaly
greatly assisted him in developing this
most important OF his policies, but that
Mr.. Pinchot's services were the very
foundation of this policy and without
his services its Inauguration and de-
velopment would have been impossible.
So far the net result of ten months
of Mr.. Taft's administration has been
to depose from his position as a gov
ernment official the man who, above
all Others was hated and feared by
those very influences that are seeking
to secure wrongful possession and con-
troll of the peoples property, and seek
ing this by means which some of the
employees of the government have de-
nominated as fraudulent and illegal.
1t may be true that Mr.. Pinchot was
guilty of technical breach of official
decorum. 1t must be evident, however,
to students of the situation in the de-
partment of the interior that Mr. Pin
chot's act for which he was dismissed
was the result Of conviction upon