Staunton spectator and vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1896-1916, 1910-03-18
THAT ALASKA COAL PILE.
DO THE PEOPLE OWN 1T, OR DOES THE
MONEYED INTERESTS?

MONEYED INTERESTS?
This is big question, the question
whether there is the needful honesty
and capacity in the present govern
ment of this country to save the treas
ures of Alaska and vast treasures elss-
where of land, water, forests, and min
erals to the use of this people of the
country. The laws that govern these
concerns are scandalOusly out of date
Everybody agrees to that, Mr.. Ball
niger is one of those who best know it,
and he has published his demand for
better laws. Mr. Pinchot knows 1t,
and with splendid zeal has struggled to
protect the peoples interests for the
time being nnder the laws as they are
and with such powers as the govern
ment now possesses. The conservation
issue, he says, is moral issue. Our
natural resources are to be conserved,
but for whose benefit For the benefit
of the many or the use and profit of the
few? There is no question before US,
says Mr.. Pinchot, that begins to be so
important, or will be so hard to strad-
die, as the great question between spe-
cial interest and equal opportunity.
There is no doubt on which side of
that question Mr.. Pinchot is fighting.
We could never see any doubt on which
side of it Mr.. CLAWS was fighting.
There is no doubt on which side of it
an enormous majority of the voters of
the United States will line up if ever
the merits of the question take hold of
their minds. There is no doubt which
side Mr.. Roosevelt was on, and Mr..
Garfield, but where stands Mr.. Taft?
Where stands Mr.. Ballinger? Where
stand Aldrich and Cannon? And
where will Congress stand when all
the interests have buttonholed and
whispered and bargained and logrolled
and cajoled and appealed? Since Con-
gress must pass new land laws, it will
do we'll to get at the bill introduced
late last month by Mr.. Mondell to
separate surface lands from mineral
deposits in our public lands and mean
while it is to applaud whoever aims
searchlight at Alaska and its coal pile
and its mines. We don't want these
properties grabbed while proper laws
are making. The only temporary
way to save them is to make a noise
about it. The laws must save them
for us in the long run-proper laws
enforced by proper men.
And there is where Mr.. Taft and Mr..
Ballinger may come in. They are law
yers, and believe in doing things legal
ly. Of Mr.. Taft's rectitude of inten-
ton there is no question. Of Mr.. Bal
linger as much cannot be said. For
some reason he has come to be the hope
of the predacious and at outs with the
most effectual workers on the peoples
side He is clearly under suspicion,
but he has asked Congress to inspect
him. It may turn out that it is moth
ing worse than scrupulosity as to meth
cd that makes him get on so ill with
folks who are Jealous to save the peo-
ple's inheritance, though he seems able
to get along with claimants who want
to GUST the heirs. If he is good, we all
want to know it. The value of the
Alaska coal pile is as great as the value
of last years crop, or twice, or thrice
the prospective cost of the Panama Ca
nal.
When Mr.. Taft's administration be-
gan the people still owned that coal
There will be another election in two
years and ten months, and much dis
cussion before it. A lot of Congress
are to be elected next fall. Before Doth
these elections there will be inquir, s
whether the people still own tn
Alaska coal pile, and if not, why not.