The citizen. (Frederick City, Md.) 1895-1923, 1911-07-14
THERE IS A GREAT NEED OF
INVESTIGATION OF ALL THE
DEPARTMENTS OF T H E
GOVERNMENT.

The Democratic House Of Represent
atives has appointed committees to in
vestigate all OF the departments of the
government, and make full reports, SO
that the people can see what has been
doue, and how it has been done. These
investigations have only Just com
menced, and already great irregularities
waste, extravaganza and corruption has
been discovered There is an impera-
tive demand for a still wider investiga-
ton into the conduct of public affairs.
Almost daily there is a public disclos-
ure in the public press of graft and cor
rupton in some one of the government
departments
The latest is an attempt of the Gugen.
heimer- Morgan syndicate, to get an
absolute monopoly of all the outlets
from Alarka of coal, so as to control the
transportation, and thereby control the
caal fields Of Alaska.
This monstrous combination of men,
which has control of untold millions OF
dollars made by graft, having failed to
get control of the coal in Alaska under
the scheme known as the Cunningham
Claims, which they they tried to get rati-
fed by the government while the motor
iouS Ballenger was Secretary of the In
terror, sought to accomplish the same
result by getting control Of the outlets
for Alaskan coal. 1t is stated that to do
this Ballenger was written to by Mr..
Ryan, of New York, that he had OBJ
tanned the help Of Mr.. Charles P. Taft,
brother of President Taft, and after that
the President opened the claims around
Controller Bay, upon which the people
could file claims. The letter to Ballenger
was discovered by Miss NJ. F Abbott,
a Boston newspaper writer. There has
been some attempt to deny the statement
by the President and an official of the
Interior Department.
One fact and very important one, too
remains, and which will need explana-
ton, and that is, that the very dav after
the Presidents order TO open up the
land around Controller Bav, the Gugen-
genhemer Morgan combination filed
claims on all of the land that could be
taken up. The committee is now inves-
tigatng the facts. and we hope that the
light will be turned on. 1t is very I'M
fortunate that the brother OF President
Taft has been brought into the lime light
again. because his name was brought
into public notice unfortunately in the
matter of the Panama Canal bonds. That
was the question growing out of the
agreement of the government to pay
forty millions of dollars to the French
holders of the Panama Canal
bonds held in France. 1t was charged
then that there was a syndicate of a few
men, among whom was Mr. c. p Taft,
and also the brother.in law of Mr..
Roosevelt The facts in that charge
have never yet been brought to light.
1t was said that the public documents
concerning that transaction were in such
a condition that nothing could be made
out Of them.
1t was very unfortunate for the people
that forty millions of dollars were paid
over by the government to the French
holders Of these bonds, and no trace Of
who got the money, nor how it went,
can never be found out by the people
of this country whose money was taken
TO pay this forty million of dollars
1t looks like there was graft or
gigantic steal somewhere, from the man.
ner in which the whole thing was COW
cred up and smothered
II may be that some day in the near
future, when the Democratic party comes
into full power that the light will be
turned on and the people will see what
went with that forty million of dollars,
and we venture to say that there will be
seen in that matter that there was per-
petrated upon the people the most STU
pendous piece Of graft that has ever
been uncovered. Turn on the light
In the last week it has come out that
the government has been cheated out of
immense sums of money by corrup-
ton in the Custom House in New York.
1t appears that there was a system by
which some persons brought articles of
great value into this country without
paying any duty. Hundreds Of thous-
ands of dollars due the government were
lost by the corruption OF some. official or