The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1910-06-18
WASHINGTON LETTER Summary of Case Against and for Secretary Bal
 finger
 Government Gases Before Supreme Court - "Asso- citation of Unwelcome Guests" at White House More Than Usual Num- Der of Home-Seekers.

l Washington, June 1s.-After many l months of public discussion and fifty days of formal sessions. the Congress sional committee. appointed to investl- gate the charges brought against Sec retary of the Interior Ballinger. at last is ready to begin work on it's opinions. There will be two reports and perhaps | three. The majority of the committee is exepcted, beyond doubt. to declare the charges unsubstantiated. The minority will not accept that report. The division probably will be on party lines. with the exception that Repre- sentative Madison, of Kansas. Re- publican insurgent, may return an opinion dissenting from the majority. It is estimated that the investigation has cost about $45, 900.
 The whole inquiry was to determine whether Ballinger was fit for ms ]oD. Briefly summarized the contentious which the prosecution presented as tending to show Ballinger's unfitness, are as follows:
 That his association with Special h. terests and friendship with Alaskan claimants biased him in the coal cases.
 That he attempted to hasten the Cunningham coal claims through to patent, both as Commissioner or the Land Office and as Secretary-in the latter position acting through his sub ordinates while avoiding the appear ance of acting himself.
 That he came into secretaryship with the express intention of overturn1ng the Roosevelt-Garfield policy of with drawing water power sites.
 That he restored vast areas of val uable power sites and when forced to undo his work by President Taft. re- withdrew the lands, but afforded 1n- adequate protection to the sites.
 That he undermined the efficiency or the Reclamation Service, sought to re- place it's director, F. H. Newell, and wanted to run the service on poll tical basis.
 That his hatred for Clifford Pinchot and the Forest Service led him to ab- rogate cooperative agreements between that divison and the Indian reserva- tion
 That he terminated the Garfield CO., operative irrigation certificates plan unjuStly and upon a m1ScOncept1On or it's purpose and thus worked hardship on settlers under government lrrga- tion projects.
 That he countenanced a scheme of one of the Reclamation Service em- ployes whereby the employe was to re- ceive money from the Hartman rail- roads for featuring in favor of irrga- tion projects along their lines.
 That he acted as legal adviser for several of it's Alaska coal claimants after his resignation as commissioner, 1908 in violation of the statute which prohibits a government official rom prosecuting claims against the Depart ment within two years after quitting the service.
 Out of these accusations have grown additional charges, since the inception of the inquiry, in general. as fOlloWs:
 That Ballinger and Oscar Lawler, as- sstant attorney general for the ln- -r~- fnr ic10 N and deceive President Taft as to the truth of the Glavfs charges
 That President Taft should have sent to Congress, in response to a request for all papers, the so-called "LaWler draft
 That Attorney General Wickersham deliberately ante-dated this ''sum- mary" of the Glavis charges to lend color to the statement that the Presl- dent had a legal opinion before him when he wrote the letter exoneratlns Ballinger.
 That the President really never read the date on the Glavis charges. prepar- ed by Ballinger and his associates. and that he had Lawler write the draft or a letter ''as if he were President"
 That Lawler, who admits having written a draft, was personally biased as to Cslavis and regarded him as personal enemy
 That Ballinger was guilty of false statements on the witness stand Tn re- gard to the Lawler draft.
 That George w. Perkins. of J. P. Morgan & Company, one of the part ners in the organ-Guggenniem Syn dicate in Alaska was on terms of in timacy with Ballinger.
 That Ballinger and his Subord1nates deliberately attempted 10 suppress ma. terial evidence and made false state ments when asked concerning certain documents.
 As against these charges, the de fense'' claims the following points:
 That Ballinger had absolutely TO in terest in Alaska. and owed nothing to his friends who were interested there
 That the Cunningham coal cases were valid claims against the govern ment. and should have been patented, there being no fraud. and that Ballln- ger acted with the utmost circunspec- tion in handling them; while Secretary being careful to order Assistant Sec retary Pierce to supervise the eases and refusing to have anything to do with them, because of his former legal services, while a private citizen, to Clarence Cunningham.
 That he came into Secretaryship with the purpose of restoring the reign of law, and not of man."