Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1910-05-20
Taft,s Sorry Blunder.

| Attorney General WlckerSham and
Mr.. Taft have placed themselves in a
very bad light before the public by
permitting the formers summary in
the CLAWS case to bear a false date. 1t
is useless to deny that the deception
| was intended. AS the New York World
says, the deception was deliberate and
intended as the act itself proves; and
the Philadelphia North American says
the exposure is shameful and humili-
ating one of duplicity and false state
ment explicitly and by implication.
And the saddening feature is the
smirched men are not only the two
unfit cabinet officers whom the Ameri-
can people have had previous reason
to distrust, but the facts degrade the
president, in whose good faith and high
conception of duty all heretofore have
had full confidence, despite his many
mistakes.
To understand the gravity of the
case, some history must be recalled. 1t
is thus recalled by the Philadelphia
North American, republican news
paper:
cit was Sept Is, 1909. that the pres
ident wrote from his summer home the
letter to Secretary Ballinger acquit-
ting him completely of all charges, and
ordering the discharge Of Mr.. CLAWS
from the government service. This
onclusion Mr.. Taft said he had reach
ed after study of the records and re-
port thereon by Attorney General
Wickersham.
On Dec. 81, 1903, the senate passed
resolution requesting the president
to transmit to congress any reports,
statements, papers or documents upon
which he acted in reaching his con-
clusions.'
"On Jan. 6, 1910. in compliance with
this resolution, the president trans
mitted large number of documents,
filling more than 800 printed pages;
the last of these was a summary by
Attorney General Wickersham, dated
Sept. IL, 1909, two days before the
presidents action in his letter to Bal
linger.
1T was not humanity possible for
any man, within the week at his dis
posal after the CLAWS charges were
laid before him, to examine in detail
the mass of testimony bearing upon
Ballinger's connection with the at
tempted grab of millions of the public
wealth by the Guggenheims and their
allies.
"Mr. Taft's declaration over his own
signature, that I have examined the
whole record most carefully and have
ahnd dn6nifn nlncirV,
accepted as having been based upon
Mr.. Wickersham's lengthy and ex-
haustive opinion.
But last Thursday, after prolonged
and persistent evasion, the attorney
general of the United States was
whipped into the open and forced to
admit that the report which the pres
ident transmitted to congress as one
upon which he acted in reaching his
was not in evidence when
the president exalted Ballinger and
discharged first CLAWS and then Pin
chot.
THE attorney general of the United
States admits that he falsified a date
upon a public document prepared
many weeks after it was purported to
have been placed in the presidents
hands.
"And not one word, unfortunately, |
has been uttered to prevent the in |
evitable conclusion that Mr.. Taft knew
the cheat of that antedated report |
when he gave it to congress and the
people Of the United States.
But worse remains to be disclosed. |
The false report was included in the |
papers sent to congress, which the |
president declared In his letter of
transmissal included any reports,
statements, papers or documents upon
which he acted in reaching his con-
clusions.' But the most important OF
all the documents was omitted
'Diligent effort has been made to
obtain what was purported to be a
prepared by Oscar Law
Ter, assistant attorney general for the
Interior department, and placed in the
presidents hands on Sept. II, 1909.
Previous requests for the same
document had been responded to by
The attorney general with denials that