Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-01-02
OPPOSE COURT TRIAL
Pinchot Wants the Cunning
ham Claims Cancelled.
BRIEF GIVEN TO PRESIDENT
Antagonize the Proposition of Sec
rotary Ballinger.
CHARGE ILLEGAL COLLISION
Assert That the Whole of the Case
Against the Claimants Has
Not Been Presented.

| NO resort to court or a rehearing
of the case is necessary to secure justice
and protect the peoples property Gift
| ford Pinchot, former forester of the United
States, and his brother Amos Pinchot, de-
clare in a brief just submitted to Pres
dent Taft They urge the executive to
cancel Immediately without further hear
ing the so-called Cunningham Alaskan
/ coal claims.
| At the same time Secretary Ballinger
! has just forwarded to the Senate and
House committees on public. lands a
draft of the proposed legislation trans
| ferring to the District of Columbia Court
of Appeals the question of adjudicating
the claims. He proposes that the court
try the cases de novo-that is to say, it
may disregard the case made by the
general land office and take new evidence
if it deems such course necessary. The
Attorney General is designated to repre-
sent the government. The Judgment of
the court would be final
Case Against the Claimants.
1.-The case against the claimants, con-
tinue the Pinchots in their brief, lis al
ready conclusive. We believe the duty of
the executive in regard to the claims is
obvious and immediate. The claims
should be cancelled by the President
forthwith
The recommendation of Secretary Bal
linger that the cases be referred to the
District Court of Appeals is opposed
lowing to the wide discussion and popu-
lar interest they have provoked, largely
owing to their alleged value and method
of attempted acquisition
NO transfer of the Cunningham cases
tn
ent record would relieve the executive
department of responsibility for failure
to have the case against the claimants
fully presented by attorneys of expert
ence and ability and for emitting to pro-
duce all the evidence of fraud available,
declares the brief after charging that
Gin spite of the clearness of the existing
proof we believe it to be our public duty
to point out that the whole of the case
against the claimants has not been pre-
Sented.
The charge also is made by the Pinchots
that certain evidence of conspiracy was
suppressed by agents of the land office,
that available evidence in existing docu
ments was not produced and that the
governments case was "inadequately
presented by counsel.
Illegal Collision Charged.
THE evidence in this case goes much
farther than to establish the fraud of at
tempting by subterfuge to acquire from
the government more coal land than the
law allows" says the brief. 1T shows
that from the beginning the claimants
acted with the definite and sustained in |
tention of defeating the primary purpose |
and essential spirit of the law-the spirit |
and purpose to prevent monopoly and Sc
cure competitive development of the ma
tons resources The law under which |
patents for these claims are asked is de- |
fective in that it contains no provision |
to prevent combination after titles are |
secured This fact makes it even more |
imperative to enforce strictly the pro-
visions forbdding agreements to combine
made before patents are issued. Only +.
thus can monopoly be prevented.