The San Francisco call., 1910-01-08
TAFT DISMISSES
CHIEF FORESTER
Pinchot Removed From Service
for InsubOrdination; POlit-
ical Situation Tense
Continued from PAGE .


in the senate a letter from you
stating that you had sufficiently
disciplined Messrs. Price and Shaw
by reprimanding them. and that
your recommendation would be that
no further punishment was re-
quired. and this before that recon-
mendation was submitted to the
secretary and me, whose power
and duty il was TO determine, upon
Prices admissions as TO his COM
plicity. what action should be
taken with respect to his resis-
nation.
In order to understand the full
purport of your letter in which
and Shaw in the publication in the
press, IL should be said that the
substance OF the CLAWS charges
was that Secretary Ballinger and
the others We're all affected by
corrupt wish to patent SO so called
Cunningham claims upon coal lands
in Alaska that the question
whether these claims were fraudu-
lent or not remained 10 be decided
upon the evidence after both the
United states and the claimants
had been heard; that every patent.
as an executive act. is completely
within the Jurisdiction Of the
president to direct the Withholding
of it in order that ne himself may
examine the evidence as 10 the
Reflects on Taft
These facts understood. the
plain intimatiOns in your letter are.
first, that 1 had reached a wrong
conclusion as to the good faith of
Secretary Ballinger and the officers
of the land office, although you and
your SubOrdinates 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
were submitted to me; and. second.
that, under these circumstances,
without the exploitation by MeSSrs.
Shaw and Price in the daily, weekly
and monthly press of the charges
of CLAWS, the administration. in
Guiding the president and the Offi-
GERS OF the interior department and
land office, would have allowed GER
tain fraudulent claims to be pat
ented on coal lands in Alaska. al
though the matter had been spe-
cifieally brought to the attention of
the president by the CLAWS charges.
You solicited the opportunity 10
make such declaration in con-
gress for the purpose of offsetting,
if possible. in the public mind. the
presidents decision in the CLAWS
case, supported by the opinion OF
the attorney general. after a full
examination by both, of the evil
uenCe dOOucSu Dy lne dcCuSeI anu
the evidence on behalf OF the ac-
cused. while the latter evidence
you and your subordinates had
never seen.
You did this against the advice
of the secretary of agriculture
without notifying him that you In
tended to do so, and without con-
ferring with me at all.
Appeal Improper
Your letter was in effect an i'm
proper appeal TO congress and 10
the public to excuse in advance
the guilt of your subordinates be-
fore / could act and against my
decision in the CLAWS case before
the whole evidence on which that
was based could be considered.
/ should be glad to regard what
has happened only as a personal
reflection. so that / could pass 10
over and take no official cOgnizance
of il. But other and higher con-
siderations must govern me. When
the people OF the United States
elected me president they placed
me in an Office of the highest dig
nifty and charged me with the
duty OF maintaining that dignity
and proper respect for the ONCE
on the part of my SUBJ .dinates-
Moreover. If | were TO pass over
this matter in silence il would be
most demoralizing to the discipline
of the executive branch of the
government
By your own conduct you have
destroyed your usefulness sas
helpful subordinate of the govern
ment. and IL. therefore. now be-
comes nv duty TO direct the secre-
from your Office as forester.
Very sincerely yours.
WILLIAM II. TAFT.
Hon. Clifford Pinchot. forecaster-