The Morning examiner. [volume] (Ogden, Utah) 1904-1910, 1910-02-27
Mr.. P|NCH0T, ON WITNESS Stand
CONDEMNS R, ACHILLES BALL|NGER
OEPOSED CHIEF FORESTER TELLS HIS
STORY Of THE ALASKA LAND DEALS

Icy devised and inaugurated by the
last administration, OF protesting
against monopolistIc control Of the
water power sites owned by the peo.
pie
II shall show you that Secretary
Balllnger entered his office with the
clear determination TO make short
work OF that policy; that he reversed
It SO far as he was allowed to do so ;
that he restored the power sites to
entry without the remotest Idea OF re-
withdrawing them. and, that finally,
when | charged him last autumn to
the President with being an enemy
of the policy of conservation, he
clapped the climax by giving TO the
President himself an explanation of
Ills conduct that was essentially false
"The second has to do with my con
nectloD as a government officer with
the Cunningham coal cases and with
the CLAWS charges I shall show you
how the forest service became In
volyed in these cases and how CLAWS
submitted his facts to me. I believed
then, as l believe now, that he told
the truth. I am convinced now, as /
was when he came to me, that CLAWS
was a faithful public servant, and that
the facts which he presented prove
that Mr.. Ballinger had been rSfaith-
full to his trust as q servant Of the
people. and as the guardian of public
property OF enormous value.
Il shall show that, since / learned
the facts you have heard from CLAWS
and ntnoTQ WbITh 7 90 To,
before you, / have acted steadily in
the light OF them, as II was my duty
both as public officer and as a citi-
zen to do. shall show you that, in
pursuance of that duty. / laid before
the President, both my word OF mouth
ard In letter OF Nov 4. a statement
of my conviction that Secretary Bal
linger has been q dangerous enemy to
conservation.
Il shall show you that this letter
was submitted by toe President to Mr..
BallinSer and that. as part of his re-
ply, he laid before the President a
statement concerning the Cunningham
coal cases. which statement Is shown
by undisDuted documentary evidence
10 be absolutely false In three essen
tial particulars. IL Will then appear
that Mr., Ballinger wilfully deceived
the President and was disloyal to him.
The third principal matter Is con-
ccrned with the attitude OF this gov
ernment In law and administrative
practice toward the conservation Of
the national resources belonging to
the people.
Il desire to show you that the story
OF CLAWS courageous and successful
fight to protect the property of the
people, which ended In his dismissal
without a hearing, Is but a single
chapter In the history of the public
lands, | shall show you that under
our present law and practice the more
difficult task falls on those who would
protect the public property and not on
those who would despoil 1t, and that
under the present system the betrayal
into monopolistic control OF what be.
longs 10 all OF us Is made easy, and,
often III practice. Inevitable.
"The imperative duty before this
country Is not merely to get rid of an
unfaithful public servant. A far more
important duty Is 10 bring about a
fundamental change In the law and
the practice toward conservation, to
prevent for the future what has been
in the past the most inevitable sacri-
flee Of the public welfare and TO make
possible here the utilization OF the
natural resources and the natural ad-
vantagcs for the benefit of all the
people instead of merely for the profit
of a few.
when this story has been told, and
the witnesses whom / shall ask you
to call have been heard, you will real
lie that the interests OF the country
are not safe in Mr. Ballinger's hands,
and that the public demands of this
committee q verdict in harmony with
the general conviction that the secre-
tary of the interior has been unfaith-
full. both TO the public whose property
he has endangered, and to the Presl.
dent. whom he has deceived"
u. w. Barr, the Seattle timber deal
er, 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.
The witness was questioned further
concerning his timber operations. The
questions were directed in the endeav-
OF TO prove that, while CLAWS is charg-
ing Mr.. Ballinger with having become
counsel for the Cunningham group
after being land commissioner and
giving the claimants the benefit of
knowledge obtained In the govern
ment service. CLAWS himself Is now
making use of the knowledge OF public
lands by entering Into an agreemeptb
with timber dealer Mr. Barr said
he had ordered his office In Seattle to
send out the agreement between him
self and CLAWS.
4Aenuedy sad he had been in
structed by CLAWS to work In harmony
with a coal expert sent by the forest
service to Alaska. but that CLAWS had
never attempted 10 influence him In
making his report OF ending.
Kennedy said 1t was impossible to
work in harmony with the forest ex-
pert who reported the Cunningham
coal lands worthless as commercial
proposition.