LOCKING THE STABLE AFTER THE HORSE IS GONE

...The omission of the customary thirty days' notice to the public that the land would be open to entry gave Ryan what he wanted...

...But Mr...

...This is abundantly proved not only by the general history of commercial consolidation, but in particular by what the Morgan-Guggenheim syndicate has already done in destroying or absorbing possible competitors...

...But whether the President is right or whether the map is right, and whoever Ryan and his associates will be shown to represent, it is true, and will remain true, that the lands about Controller Bay should never have been let go...

...In the meantime, contrary to the general impression, the very fact that these lands were in a national forest made them fully and promptly available under lease for every proper use, yet held them subject to government supervision and control...

...As with the coast lands, the title to the harbor lands, which are the key to the coal lands, should have been held, in any event until Congress could act...

...So long as these terminal lands remained in government ownership, no one could monopolize the harbors...

...The President denies that in granting Ryan's request for the opening of Controller Bay by the executive order of October 28, there was any element of secrecy, and quotes a press dispatch of the some date announcing his action...

...The map, which is a part of the President's message, supported as it is by the testimony of Mr...

...It leaves the root of the matter wholly untouched...

...Taft in opening the lands around Controller Bay without notice to the public, has given the interests behind Ryan an opportunity to acquire the key to the channel of Controller Bay before the public knew what was going on...

...But in any case it is unfortunate that the friends of conservation, in their efforts to bring about the development of Alaska for the benefit of the people, are continually obliged to expend their strength against the men who ought to be the protectors of the people's property...

...The moment any of them passed into private hands the danger of monopoly began...

...Locking the Stable After the Horse is Gone The Meaning of Taft's Controller Bay Order By GIFFORD PINCHOT THE PRESIDENT'S DEFENSE of his course in the Controller Bay affair shows how hard it is to make a good excuse for a bad mistake...

...Graves, of the coast and geodetic survey, before the congressional committee now investigating this question, appears to show that the mile and a half of harbor front taken up by Ryan, together with the tracts which the government retains and on which it prohibits private entry, does effectually control the valuable portion of the channel...

...Roosevelt that these terminal lands ought to have been kept in the public hands...

...It was like locking the stable after the horse was gone...

...It is possible that the protests already made may yet save the situation...

...No amount of newspaper notice to the country after the executive order was signed could in any respect interfere with the pre-arranged work of Ryan's agents or enable any rival to enter a foot of land in Controller Bay except what was not wanted by the people whom Ryan represented...

...Now it is no longer safe...

...If the order had been wholly secret the effect could not have been different...

...The facts developed by this investigation constituted a solemn warning and a call upon the executive for special watchfulness in protecting public property in Alaska...

...The so-called Ballinger-Pinchot investigation opened the eyes of the public to the extensive and successful efforts which are being made to monopolize the resources of Alaska...

...The President is right when he says that what Alaska needs is development, but no legitimate development of the harbor front on Controller Bay has been and can be proposed that could not proceed as well and as rapidly under suitable lease on government land as on private land...

...Taft does not mention that on the day he signed the order and notified the press in Washington, Ryan's surveying party was ready in Alaska, and that on November 1, or four days after the order was made, and before the government officials in Alaska had been notified of the order, they had begun a survey of the Ryan claims on Controller Bay...

...In spite of all explanations, the fact remains that Mr...

...The public will agree with Col...

...It cut off all chance for any competitor to locate on the terminal lands until after Ryan had made his selection...

...It looks to me like unnecessary duplication of work when we must first fight the policeman before we can get a chance to stop the looting...

...The fact remains, and the public will not forget that before the executive order of October 28, Controller Bay was both available for development and safe against monopoly...

...In view of the need for a firm and careful policy thus emphasized, it was the President's duty to hold the terminal lands around Controller Bay in government ownership...