The San Francisco call., 1910-02-27

entry he made no reference as to any
rewithdrawaIs
Pinchot read a list of restoratlons
made by Ballinger, but in response TO
questions by members of the commit
tee he said that he knew very little
Of the reasons for the large amount OF
acreage withdrawn except that the
maps did not show definitely the loca-
tion of the streams and the Withdraw
ais were made sufficiently large to be
sure to take in all the power sites
Recommendation FORCED
Attorney Pepper said that he would
prove by officers of the reclamation
service that the. Festorations made by
/ Secretary Ballinger were made without
further investigation of the lands, and
I that the officers were compelled under
written instructions of the secretary to
recommend the restorations.
Pepper called the committees atten-
tion to a number of papers already In
evidence in the senate document deal
ing with the whole case, which show
that while Baninger did not enter of
fee until March 5, 1909, he was on April
l of that year calling upon the rec
lamation service for reasons why GER
tain Withdrawn lands in Montana,
Utan and Oregon should not be restored
to public entry.
The reply from the reclamation serv-
I
I Balhnger had already restored over
100000 acres in Montana
Pinchot said that Ballinger claimed
the restorations were made as the re-
suit of recent Investigations, which
showed the lands were no longer nee
essary TO the interests of the United
States. Pinchot said that he would
prove that as a matter of fact there
had been no recent Investigations OF
any sort
Pinchot was asked to detail an inter-
view he had with President TAFT April
l9. 1909, on the subject of the resora-
tion OF water power sites by Secretary
Ballinger- 1t is claimed by Attorney
Jepper that Secretary Ballinger made
no rewithdrawals of the sites until after
Pinchots interview with the president
Attorney Vertrees objected.
Pepper cited letters in the record
which he claimed tended to show that
Ballinger took no steps toward the
rewithdrawal of power site lands until
after the interview between the wit
ness and the president. Pepper said
that the first rewithdrawal was made
May 4. 1909. whereas the reservations
had been made early in April.
AS FRIEND AND OFFICIAL
Pinchot, when asked if he went to
the president in his official capacity as
forester, replied:
I went to see him as forester as
chairman of the national conservation
commission and as his friend. He had
told me to come to him when matters
of this kind were TO be disposed of.
What was the essential fact about
these restorations?" asked Pepper.
The essential fact of the restoration
of these water power sites was the
reversal of q policy of the greatest
importance, which, If it had not been
checked. would have subjected the sites
to private appropriation"
Pepper desired to defer further
examination until the committee had
passed upon the admissibility of the
converse ton with the president, but
was told by Senator Nelson to proceed
with some other phase. 1t was then
that the incident relating to the cita-
tion of the comptroller's opinion came
up.
WITNESS IN A TANGLE
L. w. Barr. the Seattle timber dealer
who became so tangled up on the
stand yesterday when testifying as to
an agreement he had entered into with
Louis r. CLAWS as to the location of
timber claims following the latter's
dismissal from the service, was re-
called today, before Pinchot took the
stand.
The witness was questioned further
concerning his timber operations. The
questions were directed in the endeavor
TO prove that while CLAWS is charging
BaIlinger with having become counsel
for the Cunningham group after being
land commissioner and giving the
claimants the benefit of knowledge OBJ
tained i'm the government service,
CLAWS himself is now making use of
his knowledge of public lands by en-
tering into an agreement with tim
Der dealer.
Barr said that he had wired his Of
fee in Seattle TO send out the agree
ment between himself and CLAWS.
Andrew Kennedy, the coal expert
who testified yesterday, also was re-
called this morning to answer A few
further questions. Kennedy said that
he had been instructed by CLAWS to
work in harmony with coal expert
sent by the forest service to Alaska,
but that CLAWS had never attempted
to influence him in making any find
ing or report Kennedy said that he
found it Impossible to work wholly in
harmony with the forest expert, who
reported the Cunningham coal lands
worthless as a commercial proposition.
MILLIONS FOR PROFIT
The witness estimated the amount of
coal available in the Cunningham
group at eO.000,000 tons. The Alaska
coal he declared, was as good as any
he had ever seen. The profit to the
mine owners he had estimated at from
"a cents to so cents a ton, net value
TO the owners of from $25,o00,000 to
s45, 600.
Kennedy said that his estimates
were rough ones, for he had not gone
thoroughly into the question of values
in dollars and cents. The Alaska coal
fields were the richest that he had ever
seen.