Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1910-02-10
P|NCH0T ASSA|Ls
SOLICITOR M'CABE
Because Latter Took Action to
Abolish Collegiate Training of
Foresters at Govt Expense.
CHARGES SECRET ATTACK.
Great Grievance Seems to be That He
Did Not Follow Ex-Chier
Forcster's Policy.

New York. Feb l0.-Gifford Pinchot,
deposed chief forester of the United
states, but still loyal to his policies rs
president of the national conservation
committee. defended rangers OF the for.
est service In a speech before the Ma
e,phaI arts club In New York tonight
~. ~ fihchot bitterly assailed the a.
.ion OF George P. McCabc, solicitor of
tne department. who, as temporary
chie1 AFTER Pinchots dismissal took
action TO abolish the collegiate training
oi ioresters at government expense.
rms action MIR. Pinchot described
as secret attack on the service.
prostitutlng of the law. method 50
eHectiveiy used by special interests
against the people, and a cruel and
needless loss"
PROUD OF FOREST SERVICE.
He said in part:
am as Proud OF the forest gerry
ice and Its men as l ever was, ana
venture TO think that 1t has proved the
value of its ideal by its achievements
and the enemies 1t has made.
Now let me give you the best illus-
tration l have seen In recent years OF
now public officer. under preteXt OF
ooeulence TO the law may traffic wirh
it and abuse it to the public injury.
Upon my dismissal. the solicitor OF
the department OF agriculture George
r. McCabe). pending the arrival OF an
other officer from the field was made
acting forester for three or four days
Ii appears that he learned then OF the
ranger schools at the four state uni
Versltles and sent kilograms to tho
dlsbursing officers in the field to nay
no expense connected with them These
kilograms were kept secret from every
member of the service in Washington
except the stenographer who wrote
them.
with equal concealment from all
the men In the forest service. letter
was prepared and sent to the comp
troller asking for n speedy advance de-
cision as TO the legality OF the ranger
schools. This letter was clearly in
tended and was so framed as 10 secure
decision against the schools and Il
was successful In doing So
This letter Is a Misrepresentation.
because it omits to state the central
essential and incontrovertible facts.
First that the forest service must have
trained rangers Second that il can
get 3heTn only by training them after
they enter thef Service.
ut follows that the training of the
rangers by the service is necessary
clearly and nndeniably for the admins
the national forests. Being necessary
for that purpose. it falls we'll within
the terms of the AGRICULTURAL bill and
is therefore lawful.
Consider now the situation under
which this decision OF the comptroller
was obtained: The solicitor OF the de-
partment of agriculture Is the officer
charged with promoting the welfare II
the department and all its bureaus on
1,A oil D-4l. IT.
acting forester, he was In honor and I'm
duty bound to forward the work of the
forest service by every lawful means at
his command BY his official position
he was its counsel and advocate Yet
he made no attempt TO assist the serv-
ice in this matter.
CHARGES SECRET ATTACK.
"On the contrary. he led the secret at
tack upon 1t and used an anxious and
successful care that no attempt to de-
fend Its course should be made by
any other man. The men OF the forest
service were first informed that the
legality of their work was in question
only after adverse judgment had been
rendered without giving them any hear
ing whatsoever
'I am not concerned with the motive
behind this indefensible sacrifice of the
public welfare, 1t is a typical illustra-
tion of certain way to obey the law,
or course. Il is not obedience to the law
at all. but the prostitution of the law.
1t is the method so effectively used by
the special interests against the people
and there Is nothing TO be said In Its
favor.
The whole proceeding is not seen
in its true light until we realize its ef-
feet on nearly 2G0 of the best young
men In the forest service, who were Of
flcially ordered to those schools for IN
struction. These rangers are poor men,
working for from 5000 to 81 300 q year;
and they need their pay. Yet they will
lose not only their pay for the timo
they attended these schools. but the
money already advanced out OF their
own pockets for travelling expenses.
1T is cruel and needless loss. II the
spirit of the forest service and especial
ly of the rangers, were less admirable.
the harm done to the national forests
by the decision so obtained would be
.ncalculable At best 1t viii be nearly
as far-reaching as 1t is needless. and
that is saying a great deal. But the
flne LOYALTY of these rangers to their
work * shown by the fact that about
half of them have stayed on at the
ranger schools at their own expense.
the better to learn their public duties
Inalr OcVOtlO1l III uOiIiB 81 IS WoTtuy Ol
all praise, but do not bclleve the peo-
pie of the United Stntes can afford to
lot that devotion stand unrcpaid by
anything more than the promotion
these men have already earned by the
quality of their work.
1T would be bad enough il this
gratuitous check TO the Improvement
of the public service were nothing more
than q rebuke to the higher offices of
the service who were responsible for
the ranger schools. They were doing
their duty as they saw il. But when
the weight OF Il falls. as 1t does. upon
the men who can least afford to carry
H. who simply obcyod orders. its ruth
less disregard OF ordinary humanity be-
comes Its most striking characteristic.
1T would be hard to find a better or
a moro bitter illustration of the use
OF the law as cover for not doing
what public officer has right to do
and what the public interests demand
that he should do / submit the two
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