The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1910-03-18
WASHINGTON LETTER.


The Ballinger-P inchot investigation 10
exciting more interest at the national
capital than is>legislation in either house
of Congress- Mr. Pinchot has completed
his testimony and James R. Garfield,
who was Secretary of the Interior, hold
ing the cabinet portfolio now held by Mr..
Ballinger, during President Roosevelt's
administration, has been in the witness
chair. Mr.. Garfield has given the Senate
committee some enlightening informa-
ton relating to the involved history OF
this question. In the statements of Sec
rotary Balliuger's connection with the
Alaskan coal cases as a lawyer, Mr.. Car
Geld charged that. he had known of the
Guggenheim deal and reiterated his
opinion that the express authority Of the
law was not always necessary to enable
the executive to act in the interest of the
people.
so
There was long controversy concern
ing Mr.. Gar6eld's withdrawal Of water
power sites while he was Secretary of the
Interior, and the Senate committee press
ed more closely for justification of bis
right to place q charge on their use by
measuring the water resources which
were impounded. 1t, was plainly the
sense of the Senate committee that such
waters were controlled not by the federal
government, but BY the states. Mr.. Gar
field replied that the states owned the
waters and the government the lands
surrounding them, and that each party
could impose such restrictions as were
deemed necessary. The witness strongly
Justified his large Withdrawals of lands
and said that his statement to President
Taft that Mr.. Ballinger had sought to
return them to entry without attracting
too much public attention was based on
an assertion of Reclamation Engineer
Davis. Mr.. Davis, chief engineer Of the
Reclamation Service, succeeded Mr.. Gar.
field on the witness stand, and said be
preferred not to testify unless directed to
do so by the committee. Senator Nelson,
the chairman of the committee, did NOT
hesitate TO advise him to testify. n
~
In this connection it is significant that
although Mr.. Ballinger, Secretary Of the
Interior, is to attend the Minnesota Con-
servation Congress to be held at St. Paul
this week. he will not be invited to attend
the banquet to be given by the ST. Paul.
Roosevelt Club on March Io, in honor of
Clifford Pinchot, former chief Forester.
This is a significant straw indicating the
Htrend of public opinion and public feel.
ing. Secretary Ballinger lie nndoing'
much that has been done by his prede.
cessors, both ex-Secretary Garfield and
ex-Secretary Hitchcock: A large part Of
the lands along the GrAnde River in
Colorado and Utah Withdrawn by Gar
field, will be restored to entry BY Bal.
finger Also, coal land in New Mexico
withdrawn by Hitchcock and Garfield
will be restored to entry.
SIS
There seems to be determination on
the part of Congress to provide large
sum of money for. the construction of
federal buildings in Washington. Rep
resentative Martin Of South Dakota.
member of the Public Buildings Com.
mittee of the House, has called upon the
Secretary of the Treasury for. a state
ment of the amount of rent paid by the
government in Washington. The pro-
gram is to erect number of public build.
ings within the next few years. It is
expected that q bill providing for bond
issue to cover the cost of construction Of
the buildings, about fifty million dollars,
will be presented. It will no doubt be
economical for the government to build
its own Offices, inasmuch as the rented
property used is quite inadequate for
government purposes and the amount
paid in rents is three or four times as
much in relation to the value of the prop
erty as the amount that the government
can secure by issue of 2 per cent bonds.
So
Z MIS-. ]. Murphy of New York. repre-
senting John D. Rockefeller, appeared
before the Senate committee on the Dis,
trict of Columbia Friday morning to ex-
plain the plans for the incorporation OF
the Rockefeller Foundation in the bill
recently introduced in the Senate. His
explanation threw much additional light
on the PLAN, which he said had advanced