The Durham recorder. [volume] (Durham, N.C.) 1879-19??, 1911-07-28

eAvS SA$s1s - &S~ts ~ 40iV. thue ~ -
been demonstrated By the foregoing
that no public interest has suffered
from its issue, that great good may
, come from It and that no dishonest or
improper motive II needed to explain
II. might. therefore. stop here; but.
rather. for the purpose Of the moral
to be drawn from them than to vim
dictate the order, | propose to consider
the attacks upon the order that hyn-
terra Or rancor has prompted.
Order Was Made Public.
The charge has been made that this
was secret order and that though Il
was made In October, 1910. no one
knew it until April. 1911. This Is ut
terly unfounded. The Statement Of
Mr.. Vernon, the correspondent Of the
Post-Intelligencer Of Seattle, news
paper Of wide circulation among a peo-
pie most interested In Alaska. shows
that ten days before the order was
made news Of the details OF Ryan's
application and the probability OF It's
being granted was given wide public
ity. 1t furthe- appears from the rec
ords of the interior Department that
the evening the order was signed. Oct.
2S. 1910. full notice of the issue Of
the order and its details was furnish
ed by the department to all CORE
spondents in the form Of news bull
letin. Finally the agent OF the Assoc
ciated Press certIfies that at 7:23 p. M.
Oct. %. 1910. there was sent out by
that association to all its newspaper
clients a telegram taken from type
written statement issued by the in
terror department as follows:
| Washington. Oct. z--Approximately L..
800 acres of land in the Chugach National
Forest. Alaska. have been restored by the
president for disposition under sppropri-
\ ate land laws, according 10 information
I made public todas BY the interior depart
ment These lands are situated on the
coast line OF ConfroIla bay. in southern
| Alaska. near the Cunningham claire, and
have been found upon examination 10 be
OF little value for forestry purposes.
1t would ", difficult to prepare an
ADVERTISEMENT more informing to the
public or mora 1ikeiy to attract the at
tention OF M likely to desire acquisi-
ton of land on Controller bay. On the
29th the chief forester sent telegram
making similar announcement to his
district forester at Portland. Ore.
The order has been attacked on the
ground that 1t did not contain a pro-
vision delaying its taking effect for
thirty days after its publication, as
orders restoring land TO settlement by
homesteaders frequently do. An ex-
animation Of the record furnishes an
explanation OF this feature OF the or.
der as made. When In October the
ltuo departments had agreed. witt my
acquiescence. that the order should be
an elimination OF only 30 acre. an
order describing the 800 acres. direct
ing Its restoration 10 settlement and
lcontaiuing st1f p9psl provision post
lponine NJ nst1nN effect thirty days
was prepared 40 ID forestry bureau
and fcrvard1& to the interior depart
ment. Thef& Il wss deemed wiser to
! spread on the fscoRf the order. a spe-
tcfsc decezzas1ou IL Il was uhde' 10
afford terminals fr the Controller
i Railway ard Navisation company. and
as no one .eIss>vss expected TO inter-
vene ana take y apy part OF the elm
mated tract the rettoration was made
Immediate.
Approved By Secretary.
The form thus amended was submit
ted 70 the secretary II agriculture. who
expressed his preference for tlle Inn
mediate restoration order through his
solicitors memorandum on the face
OF the order. as follows:
Mr.. Clements. Assistant Attorney In tho
Interior Dcpsrtment-we think this o. X.
The secretary says Il Il the direct way
and appeals 70 him.
GEORGE P. McABE.
The idea Of the secretary doubtless
was that the short form Of order was
preferable because on IFS face Il was
directly indicative Of the purpose TO
secure an opportunity 10 the railway
company by proper entry 20 settle on
the hand eliminated. and as no one else
was expected 70 intervene no postpone
ment was needed. Accordingly when
the case came for decision 10 the csbi-
net the order was without any post
ponement clause. This was the form
sent me for my signature By the acting
secretary Of the interior department.
When I directed the striking out Of
the reference TO the railway company
and the enlargement Of the area from
go acres 10 1880 acres the form OF
the order In Its provision for imme-
date restoration was not changed
have no doub, that this was the rca.
son why the order issued took the form
II did. Had the posfponement cianse
been suggested would doubtlcssly
have directed II 70 be embodied In the
order. But the event has proven that
} IL was really not important In this
case. for In now nearly nlnc months
only the Controller Railway Navign-
ton company has made any scrip en-
tries on the eliminated tract. and this
although 1900 acres and three miles
Of water front still remain open 10 en-
try and there are several different rail-
way companies In addition 20 the Con-
troller Hallway and Navigation com.
pany that had filed locations for rights
OF way 10 the vicinity IN the last two
years who have had in the last nine
months the fullest notice Of their op-
portunity II they wished to enter on