The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1910-01-08
LETTER FROM TAFT.

Washington, January S.-Gifford
Pinchot's career as Chief Forester of
the Government, is ended. President
Taft ordered his dismissal last night
on account Of the letter he sent to
Senator Dolliyer, of Iowa, which the
latter read to the Senate.
Overton w. Price, Associate Forest
er. and Alexander G. Shaw, assistant
law officer of the Forestry Bureau,
were also dismissed last night. They
were directed by Secretary Wilson to
turn over their offices to Albert F.
Potter, another Associate Forester. In
his letter to Senator Dolliver, Mr..
Pinchot virtually justified the course
Price and Shaw took in furnishing
material for the attack on Secretary
Ballinger. The President alludes to
their culpability in his letter dismiss
ing Pinchot.
Presidents Letter to Pinchot.
President Taft's letter to Forester
Pinchot informing him of his dismiss
al follows:
"The White House,
Washington, Jan. Z, 1910.
''Sir-The secretary Of agriculture
informs me that on the 2Sth of De-
cember, your associate forester, Mr..
Price, went to him and proposed to re-
sign on the ground that he had been
engaged with Mr.. Shaw, assistant law
officer, in Investigating the publica-
tion in various newspapers and maya
zines attacking the good name Of Sec
retary Ballinger and charging the In
terror Department and the land office
with corruption.
"The secretary thereupon wrote a
note to you under date of Dec. 20, ask
ing for your recommendation in the
premises. You did not answer, but on
Jan. you had a conversation with
him, in which you said you wished to
make statement which should be
read in the Senate at the same time
that my message transmitting the rec
ord in the CLAWS case reached there,
and that you thought you could induce
Senator Dolliver to introduce the state
ment for you.
Advised Against Course.
''The secretary advised against
such course, but asked you for a
recommendation as to accepting
Prices resignation, in order that he
might bring the matter to me. to
whom. he told you, it must be ulti-
mately come, because l had consider
Ell the Claws charges and had pass
ed upon them.
Without further conference with
the secretary. and before making a
report to him. you succeeded in MAX
ing public. by having it read in the
Senate a letter from you stating that
YOU had sufficiently disciplined Mes
sers. Price and Shaw by reprimand-
ing them and that your recommends
tion would be that no further punish
ment was required. and this before
that recommendation was submitted
to the secretary and me. whose pow
er and duty it was to determine up
on Prices admissions as to his COM
plicity what action should be taken
with respect to his resignation.
I'm order to understand the full re-
port of your letter in which you ad-
NIT the completely of Price and Shaw
in the publications of the press. it
should be said that the gravemen OF
the CLAWS charges was that Secretary
Ballinger and the others were all at
fected by corrupt wish to patent
thirty-three so>called Cunningham
claims upon local coal lands IN Alas.
ka: that the question whether, these
claims were fraudulent or not remain.
CONTINUED on Page Two.)