Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1910-01-13
HE SOUGHT TO AVOID OPEN
WAR AS LONG AS HE COULD
Feels He Would Be Unfaithful to His Trust if
He Submitted congratulated Situation
Most Tense in Many YearsCannon
Is Jolted by the Insurgents.
IGNORED THE SECRETARY.


without further conference with the
secretary and before making a report to
him YOU succeeded In making public by
having 1t read in the Senate a letter
| from YOU stnting that you had sufficient
! ly disciplined Messrs. Price and Shaw by
reprmandng them and that your re-
commentator would be that no furth-
er punishment was required, and this be-
| fore that recommendation was submit
ted to the secretary and me. whose pow
or and duty ii was to determine. upon
Prices admissions as to his completely.
what action should be taken with res
pect to his resignation.
I'm order to understand the full pur-
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 gravamen of
the CLAWS charges was that Secretary
Balinger and the others were all af-
fected by a corrupt wish to patent SO
so called Cunningham claims upon coal
lands in Alaska; that the question
whether these claims were fraudulent or
not remained TO he decided upon the
evidence after both the United States
and the claimants had been heard. that
every patent as an executive act is COM
pletely within the jurisdiction of the
President To direct the Withholding Of 1t
in order that he himself may examine
| the evidence as to the validity OF the
| claim.
CONCLUSION is PLAIN.
These facts understood, the plain
limitations in your letters are, first that
had reached a wrong conclusion as TO
e oaI Cot SC u 4
the officers of the land office. although
you and your subordnates had only seen
the evidence of CLAWS. the accuser and
had never seen or read the evidence Of
those accused or the records that they
disclosed which We're submitted to me;
and second. that under these circum-
stances. without the exploitation by
| Messrs. Shaw and Price In the daily.
weekly and monthly press Of the charges
of CLAWS. the administration. including the
President and the officers of the interior
department and land office, would have
allowed certain fraudulent claims to be
patented on coal lands in Alaska al
though the matter had been specifically
brought to the attention Of he President
by the CLAWS charges. You solicited the
opportunity to make such a declaration
in Congress for the purpose Of offsetting
II possible in the public mind the Presi-
dents decision in the CLAWS case, sup
ported by the opinion OF the attorney
general after full examination by both,
of the evidence adduced by the accuser
and the evidence on behalf of the ac-
cused while the latter evidence YOU and
your subordinates have never seen.
i LETTER AN IMPROPER APPEAL
you did this against the advice Of the
secretary of agriculture. without notify
ing him that you intended to do So and
without comforting with me at all. Your
letter was in effect an Improper appeal
to Congress and the public to excuse in
advance the guilt of your subordinates
before I could act and against my de-
cision In the CLAWS case, before the
whole evidence on which that was based
could be considered.
II should be glad to regard what has
happened only as a personal reflection
SO that could pass 1t over and take no
official cognizance OF It. But other and
higher considerations must govern me-
When the people of the United States
elected me President they placed me in
an office Of the highest dignity and
} charged me with the duty Of maintain
ing that dignity and proper respect for
the office on the part OF my subordin-
ates. Moreover, II were to pass over
this matter in silence, 1t would be most
demoralizlng to the discipline Of the exc
. cutivc branch OF the government.
"Bv your own conduct YOU have des-
troyed your usefulness as n helpful sub
ordinate of the government, ana il thorc-
fore now becomes my duty - direct the
secretary of agriculture to remove YOU
from your office as tho forester.
Very sincerely yours
"W1LL1AM H. TAFT.
Hon. Clifford Pinchot, Forester"
SWIFT LETTER or DISMISSAL.
, Secretary Wilson was swift in car
rying out the decision Of the presi.
dent He addressed to Clifford pinchot
forester; Overton W. Pierce, associ-
ated forester and Albert c. Shaw. as.
sistant law officer of the forestry bu-
reau, letters substantially identical
That to Pinchot reads:
"Sir-By direction of the President
you are hereby removed from your
! Office as forester. You will deliver
t possession Of your Office affairs, be-
longing to the government to Mr. Al.
4 bert r. Potter. assistant forester.
"Respectfully.
JAMES WILSON,
: Secretary of Agricultural
CALIFORNIA WITH PINCHOT
Los Angeles, Cal, Jan. THE Forestr,
. Society Of California to-day sent thi,
telegram to Clifford Pinchot: 1.-The For
estry society of California in unanimous
4 vote assures you Of its absolute conf
n dence in your judgment and sincerity
a Stay with the fight; the people Of Cali
q fornia are with you"
s II the bsby II Cutting Teeth
It Be sure and use that old and well-trie'
o remedy, Mrs. Winslow's Soothing ~
q rup for children teething. 1t soothe
). the child. softens the gums. allays al
y pain, cures wind collie ana Ia the bes
8 remedy for Diarrhoea- Twsnty-fv