Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-01-29

Continued from First Page)
quiries as to the Interpretation of the
Alaska coal lands act OF May %, 19Os,
said:
II submit this inquiry in no spirit OF
criticism of the regulations, except that
l feel that we need every ounce of pow
er to prevent Alaska frauds which will,
by comparison. make past frauds appear
as petit larceny.
1--WE have pending about 800 coal en-
tries; every man on the coast who knows
anything knows the Guggenheilns do and
will control the coal situation unless
at once forestalled; the act of May -,
1908, limits it's consolidation benefits to
entries already made (Guggenheim and
two or three other corporattons). and SO
shuts out future competition. Exhlblts
show coal in from twenty to eighty foot
width blankets of clear coal The 50O
entries have, say, 10000 acres. At 10
cents ton on twenty-foot vein the roy
atty alone is s16O.OOO,0OO.
Suppose in five or ten pears Guggen-
helm shall have acquired control of these
lands? Will it be charged to Secretary
Garfield and Commission IT Dennett?'
Senator Nelson said he was chairman OF
the public lands committee when the act
of May % referred to was passed.
Secretary Garfield recommended that
act" he said Secretary Ballinger had
nothing whatever to do with 1t.
I'VE have no fault to find with the act,
said Attorney Brandeis.
II don't want you to convey the impress
sion that it was passed for the benefit OF
the Guggenheims or anybody else" re-
marked Senator Nelson.
Construction Of the Law.
"As TO the act itself and as to why it
was passed we find no fault" said Bran
deis, "but it was the construction given
the law. which but for the Intervention Of
Mr.. CLAWS would have benefited those
people Mr.. CLAWS contested the con-
struction Of Assistant Secretary Pierce
and had it overruled by Attorney General
Wickersham."
CLAWS Disheartened.
CLAWS declared he was SO disheartened
by the ruling given by Assistant Sec
rotary Pierce, which he regarded as IA
voring the claimants in the coal cases,
that he thought of resigning from the
service and giving all the facts in the
case to the press. He went to Henry NJ
Hoyt, now the attorney general of Porto
Rico, and q cousin of Counselor nenry
NJ Hoyt of the Department of State.
He told Hoyt that the Pierce decision
rendered futile any further attempt to
invalidate the Cunningham and other
Alaska claims. He told MIR. Hoyt also
that Mr.. Ballinger had declined to act
in the matter. turning the entire sub
ject over to Mr.. Pierce.
Il told Mr.. Hoyt my purpose to re-
sign and give out the facts" said CLAWS
He said he thought it would make an
awful scandal on Mr.. Tafts administra-
ton, which had hardly begun, and he
did not think 1t the best way. We dis
cussed the best method of bringing about
a change in the opinion Of Mr. Pierce.
which we thought bad one.
He said he was a personal friend of
Horace Taft, a brother of the President,
and he thought he would go to see him
and get him to tell the President about
lit. After further talking on the matter,
however, he decided not to do that, Mr..
Hoyt thinking that the best way was to
go to the Department OF Justice. Sew
eral days later. about May %, 1909 l saw
Attorney General Wickersham, who was
on his way to a cabinet meeting, and he
said he had considered the matter as 1T
had been presented to him by Mr.. Hoyt
and that lie intended to speak to Mr.. Bal
lnger about it at the cabinet meeting.
lie would ask Mr.. Ballinger to refer the
matter to him.