Americus times-recorder. [volume] (Americus, Ga.) 1891-current, 1910-01-07
THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE BAL
LINGER CASE.

The country at large will view with
much satisfaction the steps that have
been so far taken for a thorough in
vestigation of the charges against the
Secretary of the Interior. The persis-
tent attacks upon his official integrity
have created a feeling of uneasiness
that has been confined to no section
and to neither party. The American
public is loath to believe that any man
honored as Sect. Ballinger has been
would so far forget the dictates of
patriotism and honor as to align him
elf, secretly or otherwise, with men in
tent on plundering the people. While
the charges that have been made are
of the most direct character, and APP
parently supported by wealth of evil
dence, and while faith in the integrity
of the cabinet officer has been under
mined, shaken if not destroyed, no
one whose love of country rises above
partisan feeling can do otherwise than
4OpC -blclI liz w III NC dDlC " 1SDG1 tIlG
attacks, prove his innocence of wrong
doing, in spirit or in open deed, and
sustain the long unblemished reputa-
ton American cabinet officers have
held of freedom from the faint of cor
ruption.
A current article gives this resume
of the events that have lead up to the
adoption of the resolution providing
for a committee of twelve members of
Congress to investigate the entire pro-
cedure Of the Interior Department
with reference to the public lands:
The trouble had its beginning in the
failure Of President Taft to retain
James r. Garfield in the cabinet. Cen
tering in the interior department, over
which Mr.. Garfield had presided, were
all the questions having to do with
curbing corporations and individuals
that had boldly exploited the public
domains for years gathering in nat
ural resources and using them for pri-
vate gain. Mr.. Garfield was busy en-
forcing the Roosevelt conservation
policies as they applied to interior de-
partment matters at the time. Mr. Taft
was elected President. Richard A.
Ballinger was named to succeed him,
and then the conservationists began to
look askance.
Following the inauguration of Mr..
Taft, the visits of Mr.. Pinchot to the
White House became few and far be-
tween. 1t had been his habit to see
Colonel Roosevelt almost every day.
He saw President Taft once a month
Mr.. Taft calmly invited him to take up
all departmental matters with Secre-
tary Wilson, his chief, and not to bring
them to the White House In a little
while the headquarters OF & National
Conservation Association, formed dur
ing the latter part of the Roosevelt ad-
Mr.. Pinchot being at it's
head, were moved from the forest bu-
reau to separate Offices up town.
Secretary Ballinger, on taking hold
of his Office, found 3,673,189 acres Of
public land withdrawn on account of
conservation, between Jan. and Feb
II, 1900, or just before the Roosevelt
administration came to an end. Be-
tween March 80 and April 10, 1909,
Mr.. Ballinger restored all this land to
public entry, and the President ap-
proved the act. At this the lid flew off
the kettle, and ever since the kettle
has been at the boiling point. The
Roosevelt admirers took this restora-
ton as evidence of a departure by the
Taft administration from the Roose-
welt policy of conservation, and the
friendly newspapers and other publ
cations began to publish attacks on
Mr. Ballinger. Mr.. Pinchot shared in
these misgiyings, and told various
friends that the conservation policy of
Roosevelt had gone to pot.
1t was in due time carefully explain
ed that the Roosevelt land withdraw
ais above referred to had been made
a vestige of authority in law
The explanation was not satisfactory
Ballinger replied by pointing to a par
agraph in the last annual report of
Mr.. Garfield as secretary of the inter-
Tor. That paragraph stated it as Mr..
Garfield's belief that it was proper for
the President to move in the interest
of the people in certain cases, even
though there was nothing in the law
permitting such movement.
Il am not in sympathy with that
Mr.. Ballinger said. II
will not permanently withdraw land
from entry where there is no authority
Of law for that action"
Then came the charges of collision
between Balinger and the Guggenheim
and other interests.
1t takes wise man to sit still and