The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1910-01-30
lntimations That Secretary BalIinser
and Commissioner bennett Were
Engaged in Some Crook
ed Proceedings.
WROTE FUNNY" LETTER
When GaIvis Made Report Of His sus-
picIons and Returned Home,
Discharge Followed
Soon After.

LGate City Leased Wire Service.]
WASHINGTON, D. c., Jan. 90
Today's session of the joint congress
sional committee probing into the
Ballinger- Pinchot controversy bristled
with sensations.
Il saw F. j. Heney at Seattle last
summer" said Claws when | had
told him Of my suspicious and fear.
he advised me to wait and see Com
missioner bennett. About July 20
bennett arrived in Seattle.
'Then / knew stenographer named
Spaulding in Seattle and When Den
nett wanted man of this kind, s,'g-
gested him. After Spaulding had
worked for bennett a while, he t,ld
me that he (Dennett) wrote funny
letters regarding certain cosl COM
panies. say grave things in this
and asked Spaulding to get me copies
of these letters. This ne did later,
making copies from the stenographic
notes.
The witness was asked whether he
knew that Ballinger had anted as at
torney for other persons IN me
Alaskan coal cases hes'6es cc. tain of
the Cunningham group already testi-
| fed to.
About July /, 1909" CLAWS re-
piled, II secured an affidavit from
Harry White, of lbs Angeles, former
ly mayor of Seattle, cs to some other
men that Ballinger had represented
in the Gi4en group of coal claims.
Also there was one congressman in
this group. He did this after the
passage of the Alaskan coal lands
laws of May 2, 1905"
who was the congressman de-
manded Senator Fletcher.
Mr.. Kinkaid of Nebraska" re.
sponded Claws.
"On August s. think it was, met
Mr.. Pinchot in Seattle. with Mr..
Pinchot and former Gov. Pardee, of
California, went over and explained
the whole situation. Mr.. Pinchot
thought, after had finished that /
should present such a serious matter
to the president. The next night |
left Tor the east.
"Then, before leaving, thought
that Mr.. Shaw (referring to A. w.
Shaw, former assistant law clerk of
the forestry service and one of the
officials Of that bureau discharged
with Pinchot) might have additional
information and it was as a result OF
this that Mr.. Pinchot said he would
have Shaw meet me in Chicago.
Il met Shaw and he explained the
difficulty encountered in Washington
in getting some of the records in the
cases. He said at first they refused
to show any of the Cunningham pa
pers. The next day Shaw went with
ME over my report. He suggested
some changes. | did make some
changes in the form of it, then went
: to Beverly, Mass. | met the president
!, and presented my report. While
was in Boston, Secretary Carpenter
: advised lie over the telephone thai
the president had sent a copy of my
report to Secretary Ballinger and sait
for me to go back to Seattle. This
did Then. two weeks later, or there
abouts, was dimissed.'
CLAWS said that bennett had stat
ed that no admissions had been made
to him by the Cunningham claimant.
! of the proposed agreement to con
solidate. CLAWS said, however. tha
examination of some of the claimant
4 had tended to arouse his suspicious
, 1T was then that ] first began t,
5 think bennett crooked, he said.
did you think that Balilnger an,
, bennett we're in league to secur
fraud in coal lands?" asked Repre-
sentative DENLY.
Well" answered CLAWS, slowly
81 had some evidence to lead me t
believe that Mr.. bennett needed th
support of all the influential peopl
to be re-appointed commissioner c
/ the land office, and, on that ground,
e thought perhaps he might go furthe
l. than he lnight originally. Judge Ba
!, linger-I don't lrnow--its pretty har
d to judge just what he was going t
< get out of it-or whether he was g,
IS ing to get anything out of it,
If A long discussion ensued as to th
2 legality and propriety of Ballinger
d connection with one of the Cunning
If ham groups of claimants during tn
v period between his resignation a
S commissioner and his appointment a
$. secretary Of the interior.