Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-06-13

d Specldl against dldVlS, ana
who. in that draft of letter. declared
CLAWS guilty Of faIsehood, of the sup
preston of the truth and of neglect Of
duty. thus Sndemning CLAWS on evil
dence which he had never seen, and, of
course, had no opportunity to meet, on
arguments that he had never heard
and, what is even more, on charges Of
the preferring of which against him he
had no knowledge whatsoever"
Charges Baseless and Silly.
The fifteenth chapter is devoted to
the missing letters" and in this con-
nection the brief says that the Interior
Department. officials unconsciously paid
a high tribute to CLAWS official record,
when in searching for some means to
discredit him they could find nothing
more damaging than the baseless and
silly charge" that he had concealed
twenty-three insignificant letters, which
Special Agent Bowman had brought
to Seattle from Alaska just before
CLAWS dismissal from the service. The
brief expresses the opinion that Claws
successor, Christensen, put the letters
into a box belonging to CLAWS in the
storeroom of the federal building in
Seattle.
What ptiful story it is" COM
ments the brief
The whole machinery of an impor-
Lant government bureau was employed
for months in an effort to injure and
disgrace CLAWS in order to execute
upon him the revenge of his former
superiors without any possibility of ad-
vantage resulting to the government"
Concerning Mr.. Ballinger's defense
the brief says that it consisted chiefly
in explaining away the natural mean
ing Of documents, in pleas OF Ignorance.
in placing responsibility upon subordi
mates. His word alone gives whatever
al m m
In conclusion the brief says:
In this proceeding Mr.. Wickersham
appears no longer as an assistant
judge filing his concurrence after de-
II this proceeding Mr.. Lawler is not
the Judge. but stands in his true light.
prejudiced witness. bitter and vitu-
perative.
Termed Baseless and Groundless.
After making an exhaustive review of
the evidence before the committee, Mr..
Vertrees concludes his brief as follows:
when we consider how baseless and
groundless this accusation against Mr..
Ballinger is and the loud and vehement
cries of those who have urged it on we
recall the language of Fauvety, a jury
man of the days of the reign of terror
in France In writing to one who served
with him, Fauvety says: My colleague is
worth nothing-absolutely nothing. Some
times he wants to save counter-revolu-
tonary priests. He requires proofs, as
in the ordinary tribunals of the old
regime. We sometimes have very heated
discussions.
Mr. Vertrees insists that neither the
official nor professional acts of his client
are open to criticism. and declares that
none of the accusations made against him
has been sustained by presentation of
fact. He says the accusations are the
| result of conspiracy against him and
quotes freely from the evidence before
the committee In an attempt to prove the
existence of a plot involving former Sec
rotary Garfield and former Forester Pin
chot to secure his removal from Office.
First Of ALL it is to be borne In mind
| that Mr.. Balinger neither directly nor
indirectly at any time was interested in
any coal lands in Alaska says Mr.. Yer
trees. He was not counsel for the Cum
ningham claimants and others, as Mr..
CLAWS said. At the time he became Sec
rotary he was counsel for not one OF
them. The only connection he had ever
| had with the Cunningham claimants was
| the preparation of the affidavit in Sep
| TENDER, 1908. He had not been counsel
| heretofore; he was not counsel there
after; he entered the Office of Secretary
without interests of any kind. Indeed
| as expressed by him, he dissolved his
firm, disengaged himself and burned his
| bridges behind him.
| Advised by Field Chief.
| Defending Mr.. Ballinger's "clearisting'
of the Cunningham claims as commits
| sioner of the land Office, Mr. Vertrees
says the action was upon recommends
ton of Chief of Field Division Schwartz,
the official upon whom he relied to be
| advised. IL that order was erroneous, Z"
continues Mr.. Vertrees, clearly the Sec
rotary would be excused, but it was not
| erroneous. 1t was proper and right as
| the record stood He says that Mr.
Ballinger Immediately revoked the order
when CLAWS suggested that the claims
| should not have been clearlisted, and
that the claims had remained in chan
| Gerry" to this day.
Mr.. Vertrees points out that through
1 out the entire time CLAWS had been kept
| in charge and was the one man relied
upon to investigate all Alaskan claims.
He says Ballinger defended CLAWS, as
sorting that the criticisms which ex-Gov.
Moore had passed upon him because Of
1 the delay in patenting the Cunningham
claims was undeserved.
ut must be borne in mind also that
| no question of injury to the government
! Is involved" suggests Mr.. Vertrees. The
patents did not issue and the questions
| of the legality of the claims is now be-
;,y tried FINALLY il should be stated