The Charles Mix new era. (Wagner, Charles Mix County, S.D.) 1???-1911, 1910-01-14

Tint your Recommendation world 81
that no further punishment was re.
Quired. and this before that recon-
mendation was submitted to the sec.
rotary and me, whose power and duty
II Was to determine upon Prices adj
missions as to his completely. and
what action should be taken respect.
Ing his resignation.
In order to understand the full
purport OF your letter In which you
admit completely with Price and
Shaw In publications of the press. II
should be said that the gravamen OF
the CLAWS charges was that Ballinger
and the others were all affected by 2
corrupt wish to patent thirty-three
so-called Cunningham claims upon
coal lands In Alaska: that the oues-
tion whether these claims were frard-
ulent remained to be decided upon ev-
loence after both the United States
and the claimants had been heard:
that every patent a. an executive &C.
II completely within the Jurisdiction
Of the president to direct withhold
Ing o. 1t In order that he may exam
Inc the evidence ~ to validity Of the
claim.
| DEDUCTIONS MADE
These facts understood, the plain
intfmations in your letter are: First,
that ! reached . wrong conclusion as
to the good faith Of Ballinger and the
omcers Of the land ONCE, although you
and your subordinates had only seen
he evidence Of CLAWS, the accuser,
and had e nor read the evI
dence OF those accused, or the records
they disclosed, which were submitted
to me: second. that under these cir
cumstanees, without exploitation by
Shaw and Price In the daily, weekly
and monthly press or the charges OF
CLAWS. the administration. including
the president and officers Of the inter-
Tor department and land ONCE, would
have allowed certain fraud cent
claims to be patented on coal lands In
Alaska, although the matter had been
specifically brought to the attention
Of the president by the CLAWS charges.
You solicited opportunity to make
such declaration In congress for the
purpose Of offsetting, II possible, In
the public mind, the presidents decis-
ion In the CLAWS case, supported by
the opinion Of the attorney general,
after full examination by both. OF the
evidence adduced by the accused. and
the evidence In behalf Of the accused.
while the latter evidence you ami
your s~ubordinates had never seen.
REASONS FOR DISCHARGE
you did this against the advice OF
the secretary Of agriculture, without
notifying him that you intended to do
SO, and without comforting with me at
all. Your letter was in effect an i'm
proper appeal to congress and the
public to excuse in advance the guilt
of your subordinates before | could
act and against my decision in the
CLAWS case before the whole evidence
on which that was based could be
considered.
has happened only as a personal re-
take no of1cial c%ognizance Of 1t. But
other higher considerations must gov
ern 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 maintaining that dignity
and a proper respect for the office on
the part OF my subordfnates. More
over. II / were to pass over this MAJ
ter IN silence, 1t would be most de-
moralizing to the discipline of the ex-
ecutiye branch of the government.
by your own conduct you have de-
stroyed your usefulness as a helpful
Subordinate of the government. 1t
therefore becomes my dty to direct
the secretary of agriculture to remove
you from your Office as The Forester.
Very sincerely yours,
william H. Taft"
DECREE EXECUTED
Washington, Jan. 7-Secretary VIII
son swiftly carried out the decision OF
the president. addressed to Pinchot,
forester; Price, associate forester, and
Shaw, assistant law oficer OF the Tor
estry bureau. Their letters were
substantially identical. That to Pin
chot reads:
sir: BY direction Of the president,
you are hereby removed from 20 r
ONCE as forester. You will deliver
possession of your ONCE, affairs and
belongings to the government. to
Albert F. Potter, assistant forester"
Washington, Jan. Tin his annual
report Forester Pinchot exha9 stively
reviews the work Of that service and
gives detailed results OF investigations
and experiments.
He reports the total stand OF ma
tional forest timber. reported last
year as 1896. 600, 900 600 feet increased
during the year by 0.o00. 200. 900 feet.
This does not include timber In Alas
ka. The total area Of the national
forest reserves IL 1874 sos 1926 acres.
Los Angeles. Jan. THE Forestry
Society OF California sent the follow
ing to Pinch0t:
The society BY unanimous vote. as
suYes you OF Its absolute confidence In
your Judgment and sincerity. Stay
with the night; the people OF Cali
fornia are with you"
Chicago, Jan. The n hundred
and ninety-seven Italians arrested last
night In the police drag mel In search