Omaha daily bee., 1910-05-11
PILES NAME IS MENTIONED
Brandeis Attempts to Forge New
Link in Ballinger Chain.
FORCES BACK OF APPOINTMENT
Effort to show that Guggenhe i'm \
Are Responsible for BaIIInEer's
Appointment to Land
office.

WsHINGTON, May 10-As a link in the
meet Secretary Ballinger with the so-called
Morgan -Guggenheim interests, Attorney
Brandeis today brought the name of Sen
ator Samuel w. Piles of Washington into
the Ballnger- Pinchot investigation as an
instrument by means of which those inter-
ests, as he seeks to show, brought about
Ballinger's appointment as commissioner
of the land office.
Although the commjttee, by party vote,
sustained senator ssattaerlands protest
against a senator being dragged into" the
investigation, Mr.. Brandeis was permitted
to read a newspaper account of a celebra-
ton of Senator Piles election, held in Sc
attic in January, 1905, at which Piles was
quoted as saying in speech th,-t "Charles
Sweeney brought about my election"
BaIIinger's Appointments.
Sweeney is president of the Federal
Smelling company, subsidiary to the Gug-
genheim syndicate and is one of the Cum
ningham claimants Mr.. Ballinger said he
was present on that occasion as mayor of
Seattle, but did not recall Mr.. Piles speech
Senator Piles urged President Roosevelt
to appoint Mr.. Balinger as commissioner
but the latter today said that he did not
do so by both he and Secretary Garfield.
Mr.. Brandeis had stated he had reason
to believe Mr.. Ballngers appointment as
commissioner of the land office, and later
as secretary of the interior, was a result of
an effort of those influences of the north
west interested TO have someone In the land
office whose ideas regarding the patenting
of lands in Alaska different from
those of Secretary Garfield
Attorney Brandeis sought to obtain a
yes" or mo" answer to the question
whether he thought "clear-listlng' was, in
effect, a declaration that the necessary ex-
animation of claims had been made and
that there was no reason why they should
not be patented.
RetOrt from BalIinger.
In this he was unsuccessful, Secretary
Ballinger debating that the Cunningham
claims had been clear-listed by him on
the strength of records before him and
with the same records as he said before, he
would clear-list them again.
When Mr.. Brandeis asked If he had not
assumed that the necessary examination
had been made, Mr.. Ballnger retorted
hotly: IAN of your efforts throughout this
hearing have been to besmirch my char
acter by trying to show some devilish in
splration back of my actions. The fact
| that l knew some of those claimants had
nothing to do with my action. Those who
have known me in every office 1 have ever
held know 1t would have made no differ
! ence to me whether they were friends or
! strangers"
The committee decced by ap arty vote
| that Mr. Ballinger had answered suf-
| ficienty.
| Attorney Brandes had requested the
| committee to call on President Taft and
! through him on Oscar Lawler, assistant
attorney general for the interior depart
ment for memorandum which Lawler took
to Beverly from Washington last Septem-
ber and on which the presidents letter
| exonerating Bsllinger and dsmissing
CLAWS was supposedly based.
| Mr., Brandeis at the opening of the hear,
ing today asked what disposition had beer
made of his request. Chairman Nelson
replied that it had not been acted on ow
ing to the limited members present wher
| executive sessions were held.
Mr.. Brandes strongly intimated during
his cross-examination OF Mr. Balingei
last Friday that the president had mo-
carefully weighed the CLAWS charges him
self, but had taken action on a memo
randum prepared for him by Mr.. Lawler.