Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1910-05-30
Majority Members Said to Favor
Clearing the Secretary.
PINCHOT AND CLAWS BLAMED
Insurgents and Democrats Take Diff
ferent View Of Situation.
HOT ROAST FOR THE SECRETARY
Resignation from the official Family
OF President Taft is Said
TO be One of the Possi-
bilitics,

WASHINGTON, May 2e.-(Speciaal Tele-
gram.)-The report OF the congressional
committee appointed to investigate the Bal
linger-Pinchot controversy WILL in all like
lihood. be published about the middle OF
July. There may be two reports. one signed
by Senator Nelson OF Minnesota. chairman
Of the joint committee, and the majority
members, and the other by the insurgents
and democrats on the committee,
1t is generally believed that Secretary
Ballinger, of the Department OF the In
terror, will be entirely exonerated OF wrong
doing and Clifford Pinchot, Louis r. CLAWS
and others among the members will be
criticised for what the committee may
term their misguided zeal" Nevertheless
the opinion prevails that Secretary Bal
linger's resignation will be in the hands
of President Taft before November
1t is reported that Secretary Ballinger
has already intimated to his friends that
he thought of resigning. but he declare
he would never resign under fire,
DaIlinger Has Two Motives.
Secretary Ballinger is guided In this
course by two motives. First the charges
made in the Pinchot controversy; and, sec
ond, the counter accusations which are
daily growing out of the senatorial lnvesti-
cation into the Alaskan situation.
Secretary BalllEger's statement to the
public, which is expected to announce his
! reported resignation will doubtless be a
masterpiece in prose. For weeks and weeks
he has been nursing his wrath against his
political foes without the opportunity 10
unstop the safety valve, as 1t were The
explanatory statement of his resignation
%,
give him the opportunity he has long de-
i sired
While 1t is already established that the re-
por: of the investigating committee will be
pu...shed before the fall elections, Il has
| beenaa matter Of general gossip that-secre-
tary Ballinger would step down and out
before the campaign terminated.
! Tie mem ers of the committee feared that
it would be harmful to republican chances
in the congressional elections IL the report
were kept under cover until after Novem-
ber. There are some who believe that equal
| harm will accrue by generating Secretary
Ballinger. The public has but a slight ink
ling of the great mass of testimony given
at the series of hearings. The newspapers
selected only portions of wide interest,
which were published
May BE Three Reports.
/ Just what Representative OIae James Of
| Kentucky and his dsmocr-1 associates
will have to say over the verd ct Is a mat
ter of great deal of s2scuia ion. 1t was
said that there might be three reports-one
majority report and two minority reports,
the two latter being head by Representa-
tive James and the democrats and the o her
! by Representative Mad!soa ard the in
surgents on the committee.
d, T1at
onerated. he will come in for some warm
criticism from the insurgents and demo-
Gratis for his alleged lmproprelies and un-
diplomatic actions while in office.
1t is not believed that more than passing
mention will be made Of the part President
Tafts name played in the evidence
The records OF the case will have been
completed by June 10 and the review of
the testimony and arguments Will then be
commenced.
Secretary Balllnger today reiterated a
| statement he had made before relative to
his proposed resignation, and said
| II have not talked with President Taft
about resigning, nor has the president meu
tiored the subject to me. l feel that
have been cleared by the testimony given
before the joint committee ana await tho
verdict confidently and with q clear con-
science"
Damage Suits In sight,
| 1t is believed that the wake of the Bal,
linger- -Pinchot investigation will be marI;od
by an unprecedented number of damntso
suits for libel, slander and defamation OF
character Three have either been cntcrod
or promised to be entered. They are:
Secretary BalllnEer against Golfers
! Weekly.
Christopher /. Connolly n lawyer of
Montara and New York, against Assistant
United States Attorney General Osear
Lawler for 5000 ard damages
James b. Connolly OF Boston against Mr.
Lawler for $4,000 damages.
Mr.. Lawler on the witness stand referred
to "Mr Connolly as desplcable scound
rel who would stoop to any depth Of deEre-
dation. one Of Mr.. LAWYERS utterances on
he witness stand was: "A man named
Connolly stood on the deck Of the sinking
Republic and struggled over the bodies OF
the women and children to got to the life
boats first" Christopher Connolly took
that to refer TO him. lie says he was In
Los Angeles at the time OF the sinking
of the Republic.
James b. Connolly who admits he was
on the Republic, denies he trampled women
and children.
Both men are magazine writer's and Mr.
Lawler thinks they gave his side the worst
OF 1t In their stories OF the Balinger-