Albuquerque morning journal., 1910-02-27
Arraignment of Secretary
B2'linger is Scathing
tcon,inued From Page /, column y

has endangered. ana 70 the president.
| whom he has deceived
| Mr.. Pinchot accused Secretary Bal
| linger Of having made an explanation
| Of his conduct to the president that
! was essentially false. Tie charged
| him with being a dangerous enemy
| 10 conservation. He charged him
with having made Il statement shown
| BY undisputed documentary evidence
| 10 he absolutely false In three cssen-
| tlal particulars. He charged him
with having %wiHully deceived the
president" and Of being disloyal 70
| the president.
J Mr.. Pinchot's first hours on the wit
ness stand were as repletc with SEN
sation as had been promised ana the
suffocating crowd IN the hearing
lroom hung intentlv upon every word
that fen from his lips. A trifle nerv-
Gus at first, Mr Pinchot soon became
accustomed 10 his surroundings and
maintained a confident poise there
after,
His recital had not progressed FAR.
! however, when there came an objec-
tion from AIR. Ballmgers attorney as
to the witness repeating conversa-
lions with President Taft. II was
commended that the relation Of these
conversations would put the president
! i'm an attitude where he would either
nave to remain silent or else appear
| before the committee as witness,
which. it was declareu would be un-
desirable.
I The question was argued some time
ana in his statement OF the matter
from the attorney for Mr.. Pinchot he
admitted that Mr.. Taft, In a letter
written subsequent to the converse =
ion, had declared his recollection of
what transpired at the interview diff
| fcred in some particulars from that OF
| MIR. Pinchot. The matter was put
over for consideration by the commit
| tee, and il is expected "a decision viii
be announced when the next session
| is held Tuesday morning.
Mr.. pinchot followed up tho Nlgor-
Gus attack made upon Secretary Bal
| linger an his onening statement hy de-
ciaring ne fuiiy believed in Special
Agent CLAWS and was convinced that
all CLAWS had said was true. lie char
acierized CLAWS as a faithful public
| servant and declared the facts which
he presented proved that nv Bat
| inger had been unfaithful TO bis trust
as the guardian of public property Of
enormous value"
The conservation movement begun
under President Rooscvelt's admins
tration and was progressing splendid
~ up to the time President TAFT and
Secretary Hallinger took office. de-
! tlNlNN MI. IlItDbt. nc tNtIEtN ttiAt
in less than month thereafter, Sec
rctary Eallinger practically had
broken the backbone OF the central
idea Of the conservation movement lN
restoring previously withdrawn water
power sites to the public domain and
laying them open to private appro-
priation and lnonopolislic control
MI Pinchot declared when the res
taratons were made MT Pallingcr
rr4. no hA kNp1tll rf-lNit III
draw the power sites and that as a
matter Of fact he did not re-wilhdraw
any OF them until after Mr.. pinchot
had gone TO the president and had
made a vigorous protest.
The rcstorations by Mr.. Ballineer
were made without any investigation
of the subject whatever, said Mr. PIN
chot, and he charged the secretary
with having delberatelytordc the
Officers Of the reclamation service,
against their will to recommend that
some OF the restorations should be
made. Mr. Pinchot declared Director
Newell Of the reclamation service
would be called as one of the wit
ncsses to prove his charges against
Secretary Ballinger. The former Sec
retary Of the interior, James II. Car
field, il was announced, would also
be one OF Mr.. Pnchot's hackers.
One OF the most dramatic incidents
of the day was left for the last han
hour Of the session, when Mr.. Pinchot
declared there was no such decision
by the comptroller OF the treasury as
had been cited By President Taft IN
his letter OF September 13, 1909, to
Secretary Ballinger, dismssing the
CLAWS charges and authorizing the re-
moval % claws.
The president had contended that
Mr. Ballinger had acted under a de-
cision of the comptroller which per
mittcd Of no appeal. when he had
anrogated a cooperative agreement
with the agricultural depart
ment whereby the forest service was
given control Of the forest reserves on
Indian lands
Mr. Pinchot admitted there was an
opinion by the comptroller which for
badc the detail of a clerk from the
forest service to the Indian office, but
contended It had nothing whatever to
do with the work of the forest SER
vice in the field
Mr. Pinchot's implication that Pres
ident TAFT either had been misled or
utterly mistaken brought out a rapid |
fire Of questions from Senators Root. !
Sutherland and other members of the |
committee. They read into the rec
ords various decisions of the comp |
trollcr which they cOntendcd had - |
bearing on the matter, but Mr.. Pin
chot would not withdraw from his |
position that there was absolutely /
nothing in the decision which Presi- |
dent Taft must have referred To- |
which. in any way. warranted the |
abrogation Of the cooperative agree /
ment by Secretary Rallinger. He de- |
clared in fact that q previous opinion |
speciiiVa,iS heid tnat the agreement /
was lawful
This feature was temporarily passed |
oyer but Ii WIS evident from state |
ments made by members of the com
mittec they would take it up more
fully before Mr.. Pinchot was excused. |
Indications were, when adjournment |
was taken. that the former forester |
would be on the stand some time to /
CONS.
one of the minor charges made by /
Mr.. Pinchot was to the effect that Mr.
Ballinger, as commissioner of the |
land office IN 1909, protested against |
the cree tion Of the Chugach forest re-
serve in Alaska. The reserve was
created over his protest. however. and |
includes most of the Cunningham
coal claims.
The forenoon session was devoted. |
in part, to a further examination of
w. w. Barry of Seattle as to the
agreement now IN effect between him
aud L. II. CLAWS as 10 obtaining tim
Der lands in Washington. Rarr said
CLAWS was able to give him informa-
ton as TO the location Of available
la nd which he bu1 ncNnr hagu abla tD ]