Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1910-01-28
sALLINeER-PINcHoTT ROW.
investigation Commenced and the
Charges Specified.

Investigation Commenced and the
Charges Specified.
The direct manner in which the
Ballinger-Pinchot congressional COM
mittee Of inquiry proposes to deal
with the work 1t has undertaken was
evidenced Wednesday in the sum-
moning Of Louis R. CLAWS as the
first witness to give testimony. e.
Mr.. CLAWS is the dismissed field
agent who preferred charges against
Secretary of the Interior Ballinger In
connection with the Cunningham coal
claims in Alaska. He sent the charges
direct to President Taft and the lat
ter after considering them, wrote
long letter to Mr.. Ballinger declaring
that he had been .unjustly attacked
and that Mr.. CLAWS should be imme-
diately separated from the service.
Since his dismissal Mr.. CLAWS has
carried on an unrelenting campaign
against Secretary Ballinger by means
of interviews and signed articles In
various publications.
II was in connection with the pre-
paration of the CLAWS charge against
Secretary Ballinger that Clifford Pin
chot was drawn directly into the con-
troversy. Mr.. Pinchot directed Asso-
ciate Forester Price and Assistant
Law Officer Shaw, Of this bureau to
assist Mr.. CLAWS in framing up the
charRes. These facts, proclaimed by
Mr.. Pinchot in a letter with the let
ter itself, led to the dismissal Of Fin
chot, Price and Shaw from the for
estry service.
Mr.. CLAWS being the man around
whom the greater part Of the tempest
has turned, his appearance on the
witness stand naturally tends to center
interest in the inquiry from the very
start and although the proceedings
were not scheduled to start until 2.30
d. m, a demand for seats in the big
room in the senate office building
where the sessions are to be held, set
in early in the forenoon.
AS one Of the preliminaries incl
dent to the opening Of the investiga.
ton 1t was arranged that subsequent
meetings should be held on Friday
and Saturday.
In his enthusiasm over the actual
beginning of the inquiry and as a re-
suit Of his tendency to argue his view
of the testimony to be adduced, coun-
sci for CLAWS, Louis D. Bradeis, OF
Boston, had some difficulty in reduc-
ing his statement to brief recital
of charges, but finally summed up
his case as follows:
THAT prior to entering the govern
ment service r. A. Ballinger acted as
attorney in drawing up an agreement
in escrow and deeds in the Wilson
Coal Company cases, in Lewis county,
Washington, these cases being alleged
frauds against land laws. Ballinger's
name has not appeared in the court
records Of the case. That Ballinger,
as commissioner of land office in 1907
did not show due diligence in investi-
eating alleged frauds in connection
with the Cunningham coal land
claims in Alaska; that he knew the
circumstances surrounding these
claims and in spite Of this offered to
employ the claimants after leaving
the land office and before becoming
secretary Of the interior; that he or
dered these claims to be "clear listed"
for patent without due investigation
and that they would have been pat
ented If CLAWS and others had not
intervened." 1T Is not one act, but a
series of acts and circumstances" de-
clared Brandeis, adding that it was
for the committee to determine
whether or not the lands were "in
safe hands"