COMMITTEE BOLDLY SHIELDS BALLINGER
Committee Boldly Shields Ballinger WHETHER or not Attorney General Wickersham antedated his report on the Glavis charges is to remain an administration secret. Thus, to an extent, is the...
...He denied that he has now or has ever had any interests in Alaska...
...He charged the Cunninghams about $250, which he considered traveling expenses...
...Pinchot believed that the end justified the means and I did not and cannot agree to that," said Smith...
...But after another stormy session the committee voted to stand firm in protection of Wickersham and to call for only a few papers prepared by subordinates in the Interior Department, by which nothing can be proved...
...He declared it was untrue that Glavis had told him that the Love report was worthless because Love was a candidate for marshal of Alaska...
...He said he was going East anyway and was asked "to take it along...
...asked Mr...
...President Roosevelt had urged him to become commissioner of the general land office, he said, and the President, he declared, had said privately that in Ballinger he had obtained a $20,000 man for $5,000...
...In his own case there had been no objection "except the mere naked protest of this man Glavis...
...Ballinger Grows Fretful THE whole of Friday was given over to the direct examination of Secretary Ballinger...
...The investigating committee has put itself on record in favor of suppressing the light, by refusing the request of Attorney Brandeis that Attorney General Wickersham be called upon to establish definitely the date of his report to President Taft...
...He was taken gently over the whole ground of his public services and there was general and uniform denial of the testimony of the opposing side...
...This report bears date of September 11, 1909, two days prior to the date of the letter of President Taft exonerating Ballinger...
...He declared repeatedly that in his opinion both Secretary Garfield and Pinchot had made many mistakes...
...That is the sum and substance of it," agreed Ballinger...
...Ballinger Fumes at Glavis HE DENIED that he had been a party to any escrow agreement in the Watson Allen case and characterized the charge as "another contemptible attempt on the part of this man Glavis to cast aspersions on my character...
...Pinchot, in particular, differed on one fundamental principle, "Mr...
...He did not question their motives, but he and Mr...
...250 Fee "Explained" BALLINGER defended his action in becoming attorney for coal claimants on leaving office and cited others who had done so without question as to the propriety thereof...
...He also declared that the testimony of Glavis that Ballinger had said at Portland that the Cunninghams were in a bad way was a "deliberate He" and that it was "equally false" that he had urged going slow on political contributions from certain parties...
...All through his testimony Ballinger seemed to want to make it appear that Roosevelt had always approved of his actions and declared that the President had accepted his recommendation for the sale of coal lands, instead of leasing, although Garfield and Pinchot had urged otherwise...
...The Secretary went on record in favor of a $30,000,000 bond issue for the completion of reclamation projects and for which the government will have to buy water at a great cost from power companies to whom it has given in perpetuity the control of power sites...
...He was told Glavis had stolen or purloined the Cunningham journal and this fact seemed to worry Cunningham as the journal was damaging and Dennett had said that in view of that fact it might be necessary for the claimants to come in under the law of 1908, but Ballinger declared it absurd that a private memorandum could bind other claimants...
...Coming down to the Cunningham claims, Ballinger declared he had ordered their clearlisting on what he believed was a favorable report on them by Special Agent H. K. Love...
...Vertrees...
...And did Chairman Nelson realize how significant might seem his query, "Wouldn't that be violating confidences between the President and the Attorney General...
...He said he would do so again on a like report...
...But at the mention of still other charges he grew vehement and did not hesitate to accuse Glavis and others with deliberate falsifying, and intent on besmirching his character...
...what has that to do with Ballinger...
...That is because of this Garfield-Pinchot-Glavis gang being after you, is it not...
...particularly messages from the Interior Department, a list of all persons who assisted in the preparation of the report and a statement as to what part each took...
...In fact a construction amounting to admission of the charge can be placed upon the defiant query of Ballinger's attorney Saturday: "Well, what of it, if it were antedated...
...Brandeis that a deliberate attempt to hoodwink the whole American people by means of this report was attempted...
...Special Agent H. T. Jones was early in the day consigned to the class of falsifiers...
...George Otis Smith, Director of the Geological Survey, was on the stand all day Thursday in strong defense of Secretary Ballinger...
...Deception Not Denied NO DENIAL has yet been made by Ballinger or Wickersham that the charge of Mr...
...In the course of his testimony he dismissed with a laugh many of the statements and charges of witnesses who had preceded him and often declared that the details had passed out of his memory...
...Brandeis charged that as a matter of fact the report was not completed until two months after that date and asked the committee to request the original draft and all documents used in preparing it...
...The Secretary complained of the troubles he had had in his department and said, "My hands have been up in the air for months and I haven't been able to bring them down...
...This was the affidavit that Ballinger took to the home of Secretary Garfield in Ohio and showed to the secretary, and which Garfield declaied fraudulent...
...Thus, to an extent, is the congressional investigation of the Ballinger-Pinchot controversy to be made a farce...
...Senators Nelson, Flint, Sutherland and Root, and Representatives McCall, Olmsted and Denby, Republicans, voted to deny the request and Senators Fletcher and Purcell and Representatives James and Graham, Democrats, and Representative Madison, Republican, voted to grant it...
...He denied vehemently "the insidious, malignant charges of the press" that he had turned official information into account in his private practice and said he had no information that was not available to everyone...
...He said he first met Clarence Cunningham in the summer of 1908 and drew an affidavit for him...
...In opening he recited the various public offices he had held and was almost boastful in his claims of his administration of them...
...In executive session, Friday, the committee by a vote of seven to five voted to deny the request, but when Mr...
...Ballinger Makes General Denial SECRETARY BALLINGER occupied the witness stand two days last week under direct examination by his attorney...
...The "supervisory power" under which his predecessor, Secretary Garfield, had withdrawn public lands was ridiculed and attempts were made to discredit Director Newell of the Reclamation Service...
...Brandeis again urged it Saturday morning the committee made a show of yielding to the popular demand and once more considered the question after permitting the attorneys to be heard...
Vol. 2 • May 1910 • No. 18
