Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1910-02-08

The present investigation of the Bal
linger-Pinchot controversy is but one of
hundreds of inquiries of great and small
import that have been made by the gov
eminent through its legislative and ex-
ecutive branches in the past 100 years.
Millions of pages of testimony have been
accumulated and embalmed in the rec
ords of the congress, the executive de-
partments and the courts, and millions of
dollars have been spent in the asking Of
questions and the gathering of facts.
Usually 1t is congress itself that pro-
vides for Investigations and probes, but
often the departments do it on their own
initiative.
At the present time there are at least
five important Investigations being con-
Quoted by the government. The Balling-
er-Pinchot controversy is being threshed
out, the monetary commission has not
finished it's work, the Brownsville court
of inquiry is still asking questions, and
the meat trust is being probed. In ad
dition to these the immigration commits
sion still has work to do. AS a rule all
governmental Investigations come high,
but none are so expensive as the COM
missions created by congress. The i'm
migration commission already has spent
more than 100000 in probing the immi
grafton question, and 1t wants still more
money. The monetary commission also
is spending money by the hundreds of
thousands of dollars, and the Industrial
commission was no more careful of
Uncle Sans pocketbook when it made its
investigations into Industrial conditions.
Usually these commissions are little
more than pleasure junkets The MEM
I.asr nIN, L. 4xv1A aN11
nearly all of them are on the rolls at
the capitol These commissions plan to
go abroad just about vacation time, and
the senator or representative who is
member manages to find a place for his
secretary, who is thus enabled to draw
two salaries from Uncle Sam, and have
his expenses paid while making a trip to
Europe. Whether these commissions
really are worth what they cost is
question ebout which there has been
much discussion.
The senate Brownsville inquiry repre-
sents about the most fruitless effort to
get at the truth that has ever resulted
from a governmental investigation. 1t
cost several hundred thousand dollars
to conduct the hearings, and little more
was known OF the matter when the SEN
ate got through than before ii began.
The testimony fills books which would
occupy whole shelf IN a sectional book
case, witnesses having been brought
from the four corners of the country.
The Standard Oil probe made by the
department of commerce and labor, and
the beef trust investigation by the same
department, are about the most impor-
tant Investigations ever made under a
cabinet officer. 1t will be recalled that
In the beef trust investigation Commits
sioner Garfield asserted that the packers
made profit of only SO cents each on
the cattle they butchered. Few investi-
cations have been received with more
incredulity. Nobody believed that Gar
field had reached the bottom of his sub
ject. The Standard Oil investigation
was the one that resulted in the Kenne-
saw Mountain Lands verdict of $29, 900, 900
against the Rockefeller combination.
The house and the senate have some
times been hoist by their own petard
when asking for information from the