The Washington times., 1911-07-10
HUNT IS BEGUNFOR
DICK-DICK" LETTER
House Probers Question Land Commissioner Dennet
About Document That Figures in Big
Alaska Investigation.
Continued from First Page.)

l w
familiar with the decisions. and the
practice; and hsachieved a real triumph
when Commissioner bennett, being ask
ed to explain the detailed procedure of
entering lands under soldiers additional
scrip, the kind used in the Controller
Bay. case, replied:
Il will, with the assistance of Mr..
| Fennell, who is more familiar with that
procedure than l am
Mr.. bennett knows land and land
law, entries, locations, filings. patents,
and all the endless array OF technicali-
ties, as few men have ever known
them; but he deferred to the commit
tees lawyer in completeness of infor-
nation about the subjects in hand. One
result of Judge Fennells work Is prom
Use that the inquiry will be pushed fast
possible.
Fisher Sends Assurance.
Today's developments in the great
mystery case include the assurance OF
| Secretary Fisher, to the President, that
the "DIck to Dick" letter cannot be
found in the department files. The
| President, moreover, Is quoted as CIV
ing the assurance that he can't remem-
Der ever talking with his brother Charlie
about Ryan and the Controller Bay
lands.
These assurances from the White
House and Interior Department were
not unexpected by the members of the
Graham committee. Chairman Graham
said today that it was apparent that
such a letter could easily have been re-
moved from the files Of the office 1t was
manifestly not written for the public
l
to be thrown away.
TT is rather to, be desired" observed
another member Of the committee-a
Democrat, with an eye to political ad-
vantage, of course-that the letter has
disappeared from the files. The case
is so remarkably circumstantial and the
story that Miss Abbott will tell is so
convincing, that II the letter has disap-
peared, it will be a more impressive cir
cumstance than If it had been boldly
left in the file"
Graham's Statement.
The Dick to Dick" letter, however.
is not by any means all the committee
is after. 1t Is going 10 the bottom Of
the whole Controller bay affair. Chair
man Graham said today:
I'm the beginning. 1 was convinced
that the President was merely the vic
tim of confidence in people who hap
pened to be his advisers. and who had
misled him in these matters. AS light
has been shed on these various trans
actions. 1 have been brought to the
feeling that the President himself was
not so much misled as l had at first
supposed. MY present desire Is to go
| entirely to the bottom of this whole
! chain of transactions. The king, Of
| course, cannot be a witness; he can do
no wrong. But we will do the best we
can to learn all the facts"
That the investigation may be very
prolonged. was made apparent today.
| Preliminaries are being organized to
learn all about Ryan and his relations
with the Guggenheims. Charles P.
! Taft and Daniel Guggenheim are under
| consideration as witnesses Arrange
ments were made. through Commits
! papers, etc, before the committee.
Miss Abbott To Testify.
| Miss Abbott, who followed today's
testimony with the keenest interest, will
| probably go on the stand tomorrow, and
| the interest in her story is such that
it is expected the committee will be un-
able to accommodate even a small part
of the gathering. Many women came
to the committee room today, as well
as a large number of members of Con-
gress. 1t is expected that Miss Abbott
will be kept a day or two in the mar
ration of her story.
The committee is looking up Ashmun
Brown, the former secretary to both
Ballinger and Fisher. Brown is the last
| official person known to have been in
custody of the famous letter-if there
was one-after Miss Abbott saw It, He
will be asked, If there is no letter now
in the files. what became Of 1t.
Reminiscent OF the bitterest days of
the Ballinger-Pinchot inquiry was one
development of today. A dispatch from
Seattle-Ballinger' home-in some news
papers of today said that 1t was
charged that Clifford Pinchot's mother
is chief owner of the Pocahontas coal
mines in West Virginia; that these
mines have a contract to sell coal to
the navy on the Pacific; and that If the
Alaska mines were opened, the Poca-
hontas mines would lose this business,
to the great financial injury of the
Pinchot family.
Was Previously Denied.
This is one Of the interesting fables
that the Ballinger people gave quiet
circulation while the former inquiry
was on. At the time, 1t was most
completely and vigorously denied. in
every part. No member of the Pin
chot family has or ever had, accord
ing to the statement Mr Pinchot then
made, dollars interest in the Poca-
hontas mines.
The story was so gauzy that the
Ballinger lawyers did not ask any
questions about 1t during that in
quiry. But Ballinger'ss own vicinage
now restores it to circulation.
When the Graham committee began
its sitttngs today, the first business
was to lay foundation of documen-
tary and official information.
bennett Questioned.
Mr.. bennett was questioned by Mr.
Fennell. He said he had been Com
missioner of the General Land Office
since March 5. 1908. and smiled when
asked If he was familiar with the
Cunningham case.
Yes, sir; am he replied.
DO you recall that in that investi-
cation it was developed that Control
ler Bay was the natural harbor for
outlet and inlet, from and to the
coal fields?"
Mr. bennett said he had no personal
familiarity with the topography. He
described the railroad and coastline
situation. saying that there were sew
! eral right-of-way applications for
| railroad projects from Controller Bay
to the coal fields