The Brookings register. [volume] (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1903-1971, 1922-06-22

have many supporters, and consider
able of a political issue has been made
out OF the controversy. The fact thai
this is one Of the biggest matters that
was contemplated in the readjustment
of government bureaus in connection
with the plan Of the administration
put into effect when the budget sys-
tenn was adopted, appears to have
been lost sight Of. One would sup
pose from the reading of the daily
press reports that nothing was in
volyed except the personal feelings OF
the cabinet officers. 1t is believed
that the president is looking at the
matter wholly from the point Of view
of obtaining the best results in the
manner OF administration irrespective
of the personal feelings of his cabinet
ministers. But congress is not so lib
eral, and the debaters bristle with
charges and counter charges about at
tempts to steal the natural resources
of the country" manipulation and
even graft
Secretary Of the Interior Fall has
been accused by careless politicians
and writer's of being u%nfaithful to his
trust, because of the leases of naval
oil reserves, and an investigation has
been started in the senate. Inasmuch
as it will proceed under the direction
of Senate LaFollette ii is certain that
the worst will out" President Hard
ng has Endorsed the action of Mr.. Fall.
and this has apparently served to
break the force Of the attacks upon
the interior department. Evidently
Secretary Fall is willing to accept
every responsibility that falls to the
head of the interior department. If
the forest service properly belongs
to his department then he insists that
it should be lodged there. Not only
does he demand these things for his
department-but having them, he
wants these put to work"
He believes hat simply because oil
lands belong to the government is no
reason why they should not produce.
This same frame of mind caused him
to make an exhaustive report some
months ago favoring the super-power
proposition that would harness the
waters along the Atlantic coast and
put them to work in producing
For half a century most of the ma
tural of the country have
been successfully kept under lock and
key by men in public life who professe
so much honesty on their own behalf
that they could not permit these re-
sources to be utilized since if they
were the resources were sure to be
stolen by somebody. In consequence
Alaska was not "looted'-it was de-
populated and ruined. Therefore the
great natural waterpowers have beer
undeveloped and the waters are still
singing their sweet songs in competi-
ton with the birds, instead of turning
water wheeles to relieve the coal sit
uation.
Whatever else one may thing of Mr..
Fall there can be no doubt that he
has constructive plans. Apparently
he will insist on a show down.
NSiiPSip " u
gentleman! His best friends admit
that. He fights the vested interests
and the Bolshevists. He fought Taft
and Wilson and now he is fighting
Harding. Strangely enough he lauds
Mr.. Wilson nov that the ex-president
is out of power. But at a critical per-
iod of Mr.. Wilson's career when as
president he had called on an indus
trial conference that promised to set
tie for all times a policy beneficial
to capital and labor, Mr.. Gompers
r~uthlessly threw a monkey-wrench
into the machinery of the conference
and broke up the proceedings. Mr..
Gompers fights every form of sug-
gested control over the affairs of labor
unions by the federal government of
the states, and he has nothing but con
tempt for compulsory arbitration, or
courts to settle labor disputes. He
sees red when injunctions are issued,
or other attempts made to regulate
the labor unions by law. Unless the
unions are left to run themselves. and
incidentally to take the advice of Mr..
Gompers, when he believes that Amer
lean liberty is beginning to crumble. |
The supreme court decisions in the
Coronado and the child labor cases
are particularly offensive to Mr..
Gompers. Having found that they are
also offensive to Senator LaFollette
he has Joined forces with the latter in
attacking the supreme court. Chief
Justice Taft is the particular aversion
Of both these gentlemen, and after tell
ing why they thing he should not be at
the head Of the great tribunal they
wind up by demanding the adoption Of
a constitutional amendment making
notification Of any law by the SUI
preme court non-effective IL congress
re-enacts a measure after it has once
been set aside. BY this remarkable