The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1911-08-02

tnat no pubic interest has suffered
from its Issue. that great good may
come from Il and that no dishonest or
improper motive is needed to eyplain
IL | might. therefore. stop here; bur.
rather. Tor the purpose of the moral
to be drawn from them than to vim
dloAte the order. propose to consider
the attacks upon the order that hys
terla CT rancor has prompted
Cruer Was Made Public.
The charge has been made that this
was secret order and that though It
was made IL October. 1910, no one
knew it until April, 1911. This Is ut
terly unfonnded. The statement of
Mr. Vernon. the correspondent of the
Post lntelligencer OF Seattle. a news.
paper OF wide circulation among ppo-
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 further appears from the rec
0rds of the interior department that
the evening the order was signed. Oct.
~. l9lO. 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 a news bnl
letln. Finally the agent of the Ass0
ciated Press certifies that ut 7:25 y. m..
Oct. 2S. 1910. there WAS sent out by
that association to all its newspaper
clients telegram taken from q type.
written statement issued by the in
terror department as follows:
washington. Oct. 2S.-Appro ximately H.
sCO acres Of land in the Chugach National
FOREST. Alaska. nave been restored by the
president for disposition under appropri-
a'e land laws. according to informa ton
made public today by the interior depart
ment. These lands are situated on the
coast line of Controller bay~in southern
Alaska. near the Cunningham claims. and
have been found upon examination to be
or little value for forestry purposes
1t would he difficult to prepare an
advertisement more informing to the
public or more likely to attract the at
tention Of all likely to desire acquisi-
tion Of land on Controller bay. On the
Goth 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 q 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
two departments had agreed, with my
acQuiescence that the order should be
an elimination Of only 800 acres an
order describing the 320 acres. direct
Ing Its restoration to settlement and
containing the usual provision post
ponng its taking effect thirty days
was prepared in the forestry bureau
and forwarded TO the interior depart-
ment. There II was deemed wiser TO
spread on The face Of the order a Spe-
cific declaration that it was made to
afford terminals for the Controller
Railway and Navigation company. and
as no one else was expected to inter.
vene and take up any part of the elm.
mated tract the restoration was made
immediate
Approved by Secretary.
The form thus amended was submit.
ted to the secretary of agriculture. who
expressed his preference for the i'm
mediate restoration order through his
solicitors memorandum on the face
OF the order. as follows
Mr.. Clements. Assistant Attorney In the
Interior Department-We think this O. *
The secretary says 1t is the direct way
and appeals to him
GEORGE p. MCABE.
The idea of the secretary doubtless
was that the short T. III OF order was
preferable because ON its face II was
directly Indicative of the purpose to
secure an opportunity TO the railway
company by proper entry TO settle on
the land eliminated. and as no one else
was expected to intervene no postpone
ment was needed. Accordingly when
the case came for decision in the cabi.
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 | directed the striking out of
the reference to the railway company
and the enlargement Of the area from
800 acres to 1880 acres the form of
the order in its provision for imme.
diate restoration was not changed. |
have no doubt that this was the rea-
son why the order issued took the form
1t did. Had the postponement clause
been suggested ! would doubtlessly
have directed 1t to be embodied I'm the
order But the event has proven that
1t was really not important in this
case. for in now nearly nine months
only the Controller Railway Naviga-
tion company has made any scrip en-.
tries on the eliminated tract. and this
although 1000 acres and three miles
OF water front still remain open TO en-
Hrxv Il