The Marion daily mirror. (Marion, Ohio) 1892-1912, 1910-05-28

"Subordinatlon and loyalty to ones
immediate SUPERIOR he declared,
may become INSTRUMENTATION and
disloyalty to ones ultimate SUPERIOR
the American people. Who was
CLAWS employer? Who was Kerbys
employer? Who paid them? To
whom did they take the oath of 10y
atty in office? Not to Ballinger, but
to the government and people of the
United States. Loyalty may compel
the declaration My country right or
wfong'-but did loyalty imply for
CLAWS and Kerby 'Ballnger right or
wrong? and CLAWS and Kerby, Pin.
chot and Davis Newell, Jones, Spauld-
ing and Bowman--were they really
snakes in the public service?
"The criticisms of Kerby's action in
making public facts about the Law
Ter draft of the letter for the presi-
dent rests either upon strange mis-
apprehension of the facts or a like
misapprehension of ethical ideals.
Kerby refused to remain silent when
I'm his investigation dedicated by the
law to the unrestricted ascertainment
of truth, his superior officers wilfully
suppressed important information
concerning papers persistently called
for, and grossly misrepresented the
facts concerning them The demand
of personal loyalty to Ballinger, as
distinguished from loyalty to the
American people rests upon a miscon-
cep1on of democracy. Ii is a relic
OF the slave status.
ITO bennett, CLAWS indomitable
efforts to prevent the flching of the
peoples vast Alaskan heritage can be
explained only in his having the coal
cases on the BRAIN To bennett II
seemed like 'treachery' when CLAWS
seeks aid from a coordinate branch OF
the government-the forestry-be-
cause he believes the public domain
is in danger of being sacrificed by his
own friends and associates.
"To Secretary Ballinger, CLAWS ap-
peal to the attorney general in the
hope of securing reversal of Pierce's
erroneous decision in characterization
justifying dismissal and to the at
torney general the over-zeal in CLAWS
which induced him to appeal, is but
evidence of 'megalomania.'
"And, alas--so insidious so per-
verting, so potent was the influence
of these men, that, when i'm the simple
and courageous performance of his
duty CLAWS laid before the president
the facts which made him and Gift
ford Pinchot fear all was not well,
CLAWS was met with neglect where
he should have had attention; with
condemnation where he should have
had appreciation as a good and faith
full servant of the people.
This investigation" the attorney
continued, "has been constantly re-
ferred to as struggle for conser-
vation, a struggle against the special
interests. 1t Is that; but 1t is far
more than that. In its essence 1t is
the struggle for democracy, the strug-
gle of the small man against over
whelming influence of the big.--po-
litically as well as financially---the
struggle to establish that every Amer
lean is entitled to equal justice in
the public service as well as i'm the
stationed that he may trample ruth
lessly and unjustly upon even the
American citizen.
1.-THE cause of CLAWS is the cause of |
the common people,
"Glavis-the competent, faithful, |
jealous" was the attorneys tribute |
to the dismissed chief, of the field di-
vision.
"Harples waiting to pounce" was
his description of the Morgan -Gug- |
genheim syndicate and the influential |
"senator-makers" such as Charles
Sweeney, G. ]. Smith and others in
terested in the Alaskan coal mines. |
Brandels scored Ballinger as
strangely unethicar' for the attitude
he took when he came into office as
secretary with regard to the Cunning
ham coal cases. He declared that
under the potent influence of the
claimants when he resigned the com
he forgot the rules OF
professional ethics and forgot the
rules of the interior department over
which he had presided--by which
rules he was debarred from practicing
before 1t for two years"
But when he became secretary after
serving the Cunningham and other
claimants as attorney Brandeis de-
clared "he drew strange ethical dis
tinctions"
HE had felt at liberty to serve the
Cunningham claimants" he contin-
ued, although he had previously rep
resented the government in connec-
tion with them; but on becoming sec.
retary he felt barred from represent
ing the people"
AS to Ballingers protestations that
he had absolutely nothing to do with
the coal cases since becoming secre-
tary, Brandeis declared:
Secretary Ballinger knew all, and
in effect he did all. 1t needed no
writing signed by him to do the act.
1t needed no specific instructions.
Those by whom he was surrounded
were of that category who at the
of authority understand a
law and who would never prove in
subordinate from over-zeal for the
public interests"