The Washington herald., 1910-05-29

tlon OF the charges made against Mr.
Ballinger In connection with the Cum
ningham claims.
Stlrs Question of Veracity.
You gentlemen Of the committed" D."
said Mr.. Vertrees, cannot make a re-
port against Secretary Ballinger unless
IL Is based upon the assumption that the
men who really handled these claims
and came here and assumed the respon-
sibility, did not tell the truth. And you
know they did tell the truth. and that
the truth is an absolute vindication Of
their chief"
Mr.. Vertrees traced the Cunningham
claim cases step by step, and declared
that the Guggenheim option was in real
ity not an option. because II had not been
ratified by all the claimants
With reference to the charge that there
was improperly In Mr.. Ballingers acting
as attorney for the Cunningham claim
ants. Mr.. Vertrees said that Mr. Balm
ger had nc information secured by him
when he was Land Commissioner that
he could have used to the detriment OF
the government. that he violated no rule
or law, and that the investigation had
nothing to do with Mr.. Ballinger as a
private citizen.
! Former Secretary Garfield he cha rac-
! terized as a $50 horse under a 500 sad
die when he was made Secretary of the
Interior. PinchOt. he said. reminded him
Of very small 'possum up a very large
! tree. And former Assistant Attorney
General Henry NJ. Hoyt he described as
"a man who sees bug under every
chip"
Letter from LnwIer Read.
Before Mr.. Vertrees resumed his argu-
ment, a letter was read from Oscar Law
/ Ter. Assistant Attorney General for the
! Interior Department. retracting and apol-
| ogizing for statements made by him on
/ the witness stand rejecting on c. =.
/ Connolly, the magazine writer. Mr.. Con-
nelly yesterday filed a libel suit for
! S20.O00 against Mr.. Lawler. and James ..
Connolly, another writer. whose name has
been drawn into the affair has also in
| structed his attorneys TO bring a similar
action
Mr. Lawler In his letter stated that he
| had learned that he had been misin-
| formed as TO what he had said about Mr
! Connolly. and he desired TO undo any
wrong he may have have done
In concluding his argument. Mr.. Yer
trees took up the alleged conspiracy
against Secretary Ballingcr. first paying
his respects 20 Clifford Pinchot He cited
! from the record the testimony Of George
Otis Smith that Pinchot had threatened
to expose the Geological Survey. unless
Smith would accede to his demands. a
man who will make such a threat" said
the attorney, "will do anything"
He charged that Pinchot and Garfield
had decided 10 get Ballinger. and they
had tried 10 seduce George Otis Smith.
H. H. Schwartz. F. H. Newell. and E. T.
Perkins into the conspiracy. Newell was
the only one 10 Join the cabal. Later. F.
NJ Kerby the stenographer. was Sc
duced. Garfield and Pinchot pressed
the button and Brandeis did the rest"
said Mr.. Vertrees.
He Excludes Memorandum.
Mr.. Vertrees said that the LawIer mem
orandum and the method OF its prepara-
tion had nothing 10 do with Mr.. Bal
fingers official conduct The only pur-
pose in bringing the document into the
case. said Mr.. Vertrees, was to reflect
on the President.
MIR. Vertrees said Mr.. Pepper had had
nothing to do with the production OF the
Lawler memorandum. 1t was Brandeis.
the representative OF this man CLAWS.
who did that"
As a parting rord Nrr Va-,roor s,;a.
Whatever your report may be- 7 realize
you cannot save Mr.. Ballinger from the
injury that has been done him, but
know the report must be in accordance
with the evidence and the facts. which
show his official career 10 be without a
spot or stain"
Replies 10 Vertrees.
Mr.. Pepper said that Mr. Vertrees had
announced that he purposed making an
argument. and not speech, but in fact
he had given the committee, first. a dis
sertation on the ethics Of Journalism;
second, a criticism OF Roosevelt and the
Roosevelt policies: third. an attempt to
ridicule conservation of the PinchOt
brand; fourth. declaration that even
il Mr. Ballinger was guilty OF an i'm
propriety in acting as counsel for the
Cunningham claimants. it was not
matter that concerned the investigation
at hand: fifth. an assertion that tho
Cunningham claims were as honest as
any ever presented to the government,
and last. weird picture Of a stormcloud
OF conspiracy.
''They must have been poor conspIra-
tors" said Mr.. Pepper. If they tried TO
take in George Otis Smith. who has
shown by his testimony here that he was
trying to play in with both sides" He
expressed the hope that the committee
would show itself worthy Of the conf
dence Of the people.
BrnndeIs Arrnigns BnlIinger.
Mr.. Brandeis first corrected what he
termed miscitations OF the evidence made
by Mr. Vertrees. and then took up the
Cunningham claim cases. charging that
Mr.. Ballinger in preparing the Cunning
ham affidavit had been guilty Of subor-
nation OF perjury because he must have
known that the affidavit stated that
which was not true Mr.. Ballinger could
not escape responsibility for what had
been done regarding those cases by de-
claring that he had turned them over
to subordinates, said Mr.. Brandels, be-
cause II he did leave those cases to others
1t showed that he had been unfaithful to
a great public trust
I'm examining witnesses offered by the
defense" said Mr.. Brandeis, 4 devoted
my attention largely to Mr.. Ballinger.
because l wanted you TO see this man we
have for Secretary Of the Interior.
wanted you to hear his self-vaunting, his
evasions and denials, his quibbling. his
manifest untruths, and half-truths, be-
cause believed It would help you TO de-