Arizona republican., 1911-09-29
Richard A. Ballinger, Form CT Secretary of the Inter for, Bitterly Denounces the Government "Bu- reaucrats."
SECRETARY FISHER
 IS GIVEN A JOLT
Ballinger Says That Be- cause of it's Inhospitable Climate, Aid Should be Civ en in Developing Alaska.

DENVER, Sept 2S-Richard A. Bal finger, former secretary of the interi- or in a speech today at the public lands convention, arrayed himself with those opposed to the further centralization of control of public lands by government bureau, and won long applause from the state rights men, who have a ma jOrity in the convention. Interest in the convention now centers on what President Taft, who speaks Tuesday, will have to say.
 An attack upon the government re- clamatiOn service by Francis G. Tracey. of Carlsbad, N. NJ, was the feature of the afternoon session. Tracey charged the men entrusted with the administration of the recla- nation service have always entirely failed to appreciate the spirit and purpose reclamation"
 "The reclamation act has it's own limitations to deal with. In my esti- nation they have had round men in big square holes and they have utterly failed"
 Quoting the ninth annual report of the reclamation service. Tracy showed the receipts from the reclamation fund, 19O1-19O9 inclusive. have been S5S, ,439. .4OS93. Divided equally among the sixteen states affected by recla- nation. the act would give each state only S4O,OOO a year.
 Delegations from Arizona, California. Nevada, New Mexico. Oklahoma. South Dakota. Utah. Wyoming. and Colorado are present today. Others are expected tomorrow.
 Ballinger's speech was as follows:
 "Is it progress to give unbridled power to bureaucrats?" asked MT. Ballinger. There is a set Of people in this. as there is in every country, who want the government to do ev- erything for them, because they are either too indOlent or incompetent to do for themselves" he continued.
 This is the essence of socialism. Therefore every tendency toward the alteration of our constitutional system which encourages paternalism is de- structive of the essential principles of republican institutions. The bureau cratic theory of government, is de- structive of our representative system.
 By the laxity of discipline, by the encouragement of congress to am bilious chiefs and through the itching for notOriety the bureaucratic idea of government secured a fOOthOld. The bureaucratic idea is founded on the assumption that the bureau, or chief. is better fitted to handle the affairs of the people than they are themselves.
 
 when the power of it's officers is ex- ercised in ruling rather than in serv- ing the public. The advocates of this system say: "The people do not know what is best for them; we. will, there fore, have specialists to direct them or to do for them what the specialists think is the right thing"
 "The public is always ready to im- pute superior ability to executive of ficers. in whose selection they have no part, rather than to their own rep While this is paradOxi- cal, the reason for 1t lies in the fact that they are better acquainted with their representatives than they are with the executive officer. It is no excuse for the public to say that their in congress have de- generated in capacity; if this be true. the people alone are at fault. 1t may be an easy way to repudiate their own civic infidelity in the selection of qualified representatives by abandon ing representation for bureaucracy, but there seems to be no logical connec- tion between this view and the doc trines of initiative, referendum, recall, and other populisitc panaceas. Per haps. on the theory that distance lends entertainment" etc, the bureau head. exploited at government ex- pense. possesses nobler attributes and greater ability than our neighbor who representates us in congress, but of whom we get a closer and more ac- curate view.
 The extent to which bureaucratic ambition may be carried. can perhaps be illustrated best by the scheme. at