Los Angeles herald., 1910-05-16
TAFT SAYS He TOLD
LAWLER To WRITE
BALLINGER LETTER
President Takes Whole Blame of
Manner of Preparing Vindi-
cation for Secretary
ALSO ORDERED BACK DATING
Executives Statement Touches
On All Charges Except
Those of Kerby
ALSO ORDERED BACK DATING
Associated Press1

u n
w Taft in person tonight took a
hand in the situation concerning
the inside" history of the letter of Sep
tember 13, generating Secretary Bal
linger from the charges of L. r. CLAWS
and authorizing the dismissal of CLAWS.
over his own signature he addressed
a long letter to Senator Knute Nelson,
chairman of the Ballinger- -Pinchot in
vestigating committee, setting forth in
minute detail the sequence of events
following his receipt at Beverley on
August IS of the charges of CLAWS.
The, president makes no direct men
ton of the statement of Frederick M.
Kerby, the young stenographer in Sec
retary Ballinger's office, in which the
stenogra pher declare dthe presidents
letter of exoneration was prepared in
Ballingers office by Oscar Lawler, as
sistant attorney general of the interior
department.
Tonight's utterance of Mr.. Taft was
obviously provoked by Kerbys state
ment.
Mr.. Taft declares Lawler did prepare
such letter as Kerby said, but that
he did so at the presidents specific
direction. When he received it he
found, he says, that it was not what he
wanted to issue, and he wrote the letter
himself in the form in which he desired
it, using from LAWYERS draft only one
or two general statements.
The president goes still further, and
takes up the question of the "back dat
ing' of Attorney General Wickersham $
summary of the CLAWS charges, to
which Louis D. Brandeis has drawn at
tention. Mr.. Taft says the attorney
generals letter was in fact back dated
and that this also was done by his
specific direction.
Following is the full text of the presi-
dents letter:
TEXT OF TAFT'S LETTER
THE White House, Washington, May
15, 1910.
my Dear Senator Nelson: In the
hearings before the committee to in
vestigate the interior department and
forest service, reference has been made
to my decision on the complaint and
charges that Mr.. CLAWS filed with me
on the 18th of August last, against
Secretary Ballinger and certain other
officials of the interior department. The
majority of the committee have decid-
ed my motion in this case was not in
the jurisdiction of the committee to
investigate. In spite of this ruling, ref
record. For this reason, l deem it
proper to write you and state the facts
with such accuracy as my memory per-
mits.
"Glavis' statement and charges were
left with me by him on August is, 1909.
1 turned them over to the attorney
general, who happened to be in the
neighborhood, and he made notes upon
his reading. We both had personal
nf IN fa wi
Ballinger's attitude toward the Al
aska coal claims, which was the
chief subject of innuendo and COM
plant, for Mr.. Ballinger had very
early in the administration consulted
us both regarding them.
"Withn two or three days after the
filing of the charges, at a meeting at
which the secretary of the treasury,
the attorney general and the secretary
of the navy were present a full dis
cussion of the CLAWS statement was
had. 1t resulted in a general conclu-
sion that jealousy between the bureaus
of the interior department and the for
estry bureau probably explained the at
titude of the interior department Off
cials but that the intimation of bad
faith by CLAWS against Mr.. Balllnger
and the others required that the state
ment be submitted to them for answer
were sent to Secretary Ballinger, to
Assistant Secretary Pierce, the com
missioner, Mr.. bennett, and to Chief
of Field Service Schwartz.
BALLINGER DELIVERS ANSWER
'.Mr Ballinger was at Seattle, but on
receipt of the charges he came to
Washington to prepare his answer On
Monday, September 6, Mr.. Ballinger
reached Beverley accompanied by Mr.
Lawler, the assistant attorney general
of the department of justice, assigned
to the interior department. Mr.. Bal
linger sent to my house on that day
the answers of the various persons con-
cerned with Voluminous record OF
exhibits. 1 had a conference with him
the evening of the day he came, Sep
tember g. and another on the following
evening. September z.
''I talked over the charges with Mr..
Ballinger the first evening and asked
such questions as suggested them
selves, without intimating any conclu-
sion, and said l would examine the
answers and the record, and would see
him the next day. 1 sat up until =
o'clock that night reading the answers
and exhibits, SO at my next confer
ence 1 was advised of the contents Of
the entire record, and had made up
my mind there was nothing in the
charges upon which Mr.. Ballinger or
the others accused could be found
guilty either of incompetency, inef-
ficiency, disloyalty to the interests or
the government or dishonesty.
"In the discussion of the second even
ing Mr.. L.awler, who was present at
my suggestion, discussed the evidence
at some length / said to Mr.. Lawler
/ was very anxious to write fun
statement of the case and set out the
reasons for my decision, but the time
for my departure on a long western
trip, occupying two months, was just
one week from that day; that l had
six or seven speeches to deliver at the
beginning of that journey and could
not give the time to the preparation OF
such a detailed statement and opinion
as l would like to render in the mat
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