The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1910-05-28
THE GARFIELD
POLICIES WERE :
CRITICISED
Vertrees Shows Garfield Was
Prompted by Disappointed
Ambition
saw NO NEED Of POWER SITES
WITHDRAWALS UNTIL SUSPENDED

WITHDRAWALS UNTIL SUSPENDED
When Dropped From the Cabinet He
Found Time to See Wrong Condi.
tlons Which He Did Not Attempt
to Right When in Oflce.
Washington. May 2s.-The argu-
ment of counsel before the Ballinger-
P1nchot investigation committee prob
ably will be concluded today. John
j. vertrees. attorney for Secretary
Ballinger, who began his closing ar
gument for the defense yesterday,
taking up the question Of the secre-
tary's action in regard to the water
power sites, will be concluded by q
discussing Secretary Ballinger's atti-
tude toward the Cunningham claims
In Alaska. He will be followed by
Louis D. Brandeis and George w.
Pepper. attorneys for the "prosecu-
ton" who will present half hour re-
buttals to the arguments of Vertrees.
Mr.. Ballinger will bear to his
grave the scars placed upon him by
reason OF the disappointment and re-
venge Of men, incapable of generous
impulses and sentiments" exclaimed
his defenders during the continuance
OF his summing up argument.
For more than two hours of the
forenoon session of the final public
hearing Of the committee Vertrees ad-
dressed himself to the subject of the
cunningham Alaskan coal claims in
support of the contention that there.
was nothing in Ballinger's connec-
tion with them either as commissioner
OF the land office. as secretary of in
terror or rs private citizen that
justified criticism.
+ Vertrees insisted that it had been
shown that Ballinger had originally
"clear listed" the Cunningham claims
on the recommendation of Chief of
Field Servic eSchwartz and that when
the later, after, his srstirements from
the land Office. he. had drawn up the
Cunningham affidavit, his conduct
was not improver inasmuch :. az he
possessed no Information by reason
of his former position that by any,
possibility could be used TO the preju-
dice Of the government He also de-
MED that there was any ruling in the
department that made 1t improper
for him to represent claimants under
the circumstances.
Sneering at what he said were
termed Garfield policies, which Bal
linger had been charged with over
turning, Attorney Vertrees said he be-
lieved that this controversy. which
has degenerated into something in
famous, originated in an honest diff
fersnce of opinion"
Former Secretary Garfield and
former Forester Pinchot came in for
most severe castigation from Attorney
Vertrees, who did not hesitate to de-
nounce them as disappointed men
who sought revenge upon the new
secretary.
He asserted that Garfield and
Pinchot used the water power sites
question as mere pretext and sham,
and practiced duplicity in the course
they had adopted.
These two officials, Mr.. vertrees
said, regarding themselves as faith
full stewards" believed they had a
right to take whatever action they
saw fit.
Garfield had not seen any necessity
for the withdrawal Of the lands in
connection with power sites during
the many months he had been secre-
tary Of the interior, he said.
But" he, added, when the news
came that the cherished hopes of his
life we're dashed to pieces and he was
not to continue in office. he finds time
to do that which he had not done be-
fore"
A Contrast.
Contrasting the purposes of Secre-
tary Garfield. as one who believed he
had fight to do anything he was not
specifically forbidden to do by law,
with Secretary Ballinger. whom he
pictured as being guided by the law
in his official acts, Mr.. Vertrees en-
tered into a review Of the legal aspect
of the water power sites matters.
Reading from letters of President
Taft respecting the legality Of the
water power site Withdrawals. Mr..
Vertrees undertook to show that Sec
retary Ballinger had merely carried
out the policies of the president. He
said:
Right or wrong. cabinet oflcer
who carries out the policies of his
chief is not to be censured before the
nation. Do not misunderstood me as
merely insisting that you shall deal
with this matter solely because Mr..
Ballinger was carrying out the judg-
ment OF the president. Not that. I
say that his construction Of the law
is correct. and he is fortified and re-
inforced by the opinion Of the law
officers Of the government"
Referring to the "Garfield-Pinchot
group" Mr.. Vertrees declared he was
unbiased In his decisions, because
the president himself said he had pur-
sued an Independent investigation.
"The Cunningham claims are hon
est claims in every respect as honest
as any ever presented against the gov
ernment of the. United States. he said.