The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1910-05-28
oome Heated Arguments i'm the Ballinger Casei
BALLINGER AND
PRESS ROASTED
Continued from Page One.

eailed prosecution - Atiornov pr.
LIS counsel for Il. b. CLAWS. declared
I'M th II has been conclusively estabI;shed
st suae secretary hallinger is not a man
&c 80 th hnealously devoted to the Interests
VI She common people. so vipilant and
resolute in resisting tho insidons ag,,ras ,.mu
s,on snsa, ol special interests, that he may he
surely depended on 60 carry forn,op1
1ine broad policy of conservation of mr
natural resources. - '"'
Shows No Mercy.
:,. mat he is subject to far sevcror
Gp,ltlcism we firmly believc.,' added Mr.
Mr.. Brandeis spoke for about two
in noers' rescrvlng half an hour for clos,
dressed the committee on behalf Of NTr M
losinnger. He referred to Mr.. CLAWS
a.: as the ideal public servant and IN
1iuord Plnchot as ssman of character
SO hlgn as to be even above the susni.
cipn OF self seekingn
G. ne vigorously defended the action of
Stenographer. Frederick M. Kerby in
OF the interior department. bearing on
the preparation of the Lawler memoran-
| num and said "to criticiso Kerby for
tnls net involves a total Instrumentation
OF the nature of our government; .
ne secretary of the interior. tho
trustee Tor the people of the public do
main, should have the ability to stand
up against every one and should he ;ar t.;a;'
iant, declared Mr.. Brandeis. "Wonld
anyone think of clubbing our present
secretary 'Stonewall BalIinper9s In
stead OF being unswerving, he Yields to
pressure, yields to it not ONLY in acts,
nut also IN statement, be it written Or
spoken. '''A -
Scope of the Investigation.
This investigation has been referred
10 as struggle for conservation, n
struggle against the special interests.
~ is that, but 1T is far more. It's cs
sence, the struggle for democracy, the
struggle for the small man against the
overTpowering influence of the big; polit.
ically as well as financially. The strua-
gle TO establish that every American is
entitled to equal Justice-in the public
service as well as in the courts-thnt no
ofhcIal is so highly stationed he may
trample ruthlesslv and unJustly upon
even the humblest American citizen
me cause OF CLAWS is the cause of the
common people and more especially the
cause OF thousands of government off.
clals -
Mr.. Brandeis gave a chronological
resume OF the Alaska coal land situation
from the time the Cunningham claims
were. first filed upon in 1906. He laid
particular stress upon the contention
that Mr.. Ballinger as commissioner of
the land Office. was fully acquainted
with the situation and speciallv direct
ed the procedure in the land Office
whereby the claims were scrutinlzed
He declared that of 46I Alaska coal
claimants whose addresses were secured
by special agents in their Investigation,
800 appeared to be residents of the Pa.
cifc coast and l64 lived in Seattle, Bal
linger's home city.
Among those claimants were the
men of greatest influence in the state,
financially and politically, and among
these were friends and associates Of Mr..
Ballinger, said the attorney. "While
these Pacific coast claimants remained
undisturbed by further inquiries into
the validity of their claims, most of the
others, those residing in Illinois and
Michigan. were, on September "a. 1907,
directed TO be thoroughly investigated.
Was it a coincidence that the investiga-
tions Of Special Agent Jones in the sum
mer Of 1907 into the Cunningham claims
stopped shortly after Ballinger returned
to Seattle. shortly after the agreement
between the Morgan Guggepheim Alas
ka syndicate and the Cunningham claim
ants, which rendered an early issue of
the patents important? Was il coin
cidence that an active inquiry was un-
dertaken into the claims of residents Of
Illinois and Michigan?'
Grave Charges Made.
Proceeding to the clear listing Of the
Cunningham claims in 1907. Mr.. Bran
deis said the suspension of the order
after CLAWS protest was evidently done
by Ballinger with the idea that ultl.
mately the patents should be granted
when "this uncomfortable obstacle
presented by Claws Intervention should
be overcome. When the Gale BILL which
Brandeis said Ballinger had drafted to
overcome that obstacle, failed, and the
law of May 2S, 1905, was enacted, Law
yer Ballington was appealed to for aid,
not only by Clarence Cunningham. but
by Ballinger' s influential friend, {. j.
Smith, the senate maker. -
He said Balliuger then drew the Gun
ningham affidavit, containing sworn
statements obviously IN irrcconcilable
conflict with the terms of the then cx-
listing agreement of the Morgan Gug-
genhcim syndicate of July 90, 1907"
He referred to Ballinger's trip east;
to see "his old friend. Garfield. and
his friend and protege bennett, on
behalf of the Cunningham claimants,
"Why did Ballinger do thatg' he
asked
s.IIe says that these were not strict !
Iy legal services. If they were not, so
much the worse. Was this, then, an
attempt to capitalize his friendship with
Garfield and with bennett? To capll- |
talizc an influence necessarily attend,
ing his recent incumbency in office?
TO capitalize the knowledge he had ac-
ouircd when filling the important Of
flee Of land commissioner?
"Hc says he was very unwilling 10
undertake this land office, work and
that he rather unexpectedly received
only reimbursemcnts Of his travelling
cynenses. II this be so. so much the
worse II against his Will and without
expectation of compensation, he under
took This service for such men as Charles
j. smith, Charles Sweeney, Horace 9.
Henry and Ex-Governor Moore, then IL
met have been because their will was
law W to him. Under their potent tin, Infln; ~
professional ethics as he forgot INC
InIns Of the land department over when /
he has presided and by ,y,sE wh1 bs he Setro Ess
mont Da,1tu from practicing before it."
" "Js such a man safe trustee for the
people IS proportyq" he demanded