Arizona republican., 1910-05-06
THE SNAKE
 WAS CLAWS That Mi. Ba|inger Meant in
 a Certain Interview DIRECT EXAMINATION ENDS
The Wrangle Between the Secretary and Glavis' Counsel Was Well Under Way When Inquiry Ad- journed for the Day.

Washington. May 5.-Secrelary Bal finger concluded his direct testimony at the Bsliinger- Pinchot hearing this afternoon with the statement that his every official act had been with the sole idea of fulfilling his trust.
 T defy anyone to put his finger on anything l have done while in the pub he service which was not in line with my duty and in accordance with my trust" said he.
 It was brought out in the inquiry relative to the reclamation service that many states had not had their equit- able share of these projects.
 Senator Flint of California asked v-ho was responsible for this condi- ten. and the witness admitted that probably former Secretary Hitchcock. under whose administration most or the existing projects were initiated, was responsible and not Director New ell of the reclamation service. Arthur r Davis was at that time chief en- gineer of the service.
 Mr Flint wanted to know if it was not q fact that many projects have been initiated without regard to their feasibility, but in order tn give vari- ous states their proportion of the money they had paid intothe reclama- lion fund through the sale of public lands
 Mir Ballinger was not able to give n direct answer. but in reply 10 Attor- ney Tetrees said he had not been able to get officials of the reclamation serv- ice to express any doubt as to the feasi- hility~of the projects.
 Tt was not a fair or truthful state ment." said Mir Balinger in referring to a sentence in former Secretary Gar fields letter to President Taft last No- vember which read: He tBallinger) directed the reclamation service to pre- pare lists for restoring she withdrawn lands. but to do So slowly in order not to attract public attention"
 MT. Ballinger said that while he had no desire to reflect on the previous administration. which had withdrawn lands unlawfully. he believed he had issued no such order and all lands actually had been restored within three weeks.
 Counsel for l.. R. Glavis. one of the Rallinger accusers. took up the cross examination of the witness. Within five minutes the expected clash between them had occurred, and on his very first question MT Brandeis had to ap- peal to the committee to request" MT. Ballinger to answer it. The question involved Postmaster Hitchcock 'as the official pie distributor of the adminis- tration.'
 A wrsngle between Mfr Brandels and members of the committee ensued and the result was a record vote bN which the committee to , decided that Mr Ballinger need not answer more fully.
 Mir. Ballinger admitted the now fam ous Associated Press interview. in which he asserted, after his return to Washington subsequently, to the pubii- cation of the Glayis charges. That he proposed to kill some snakes" He also admitted he had reference to Glavis, who. he had made up his mind. ought to be killed as a snake"
 Attorney Brandeis was hardly well launched into the cross-examination before the committee adjourned. but in the hair and a half he questioned the secretary, he succeeded in arousing the latter's anger several times.