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The Commoner,
VOLUME " 9TNUMBER' 33
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RICH COAL LANDS AT STAKE
THE STORY OF PINCHOT'S FIGHT
The Htorv of Pinchot's Oght is told in a Wash
IngVorSatcVto the New York World as
Washington-Secretary BalllngcrV aids i In
tho general land offlcb now believe that they
can ng he contest botween their chief and
Forester Word Pinchot to an issue , within l two
months. October 15 has been sot as the prob
able date for tho beginning of hW
Sow famous Cunningham case, which IA Vo hrcto
tho nucstion of the ownership of more tnan
fortoLfofral.Irl ffiS &offij
reth
rear power in the work of conservation the
secretary of tho interior Or the chief of the
forest service. , k , .. 'rt
If the hearings planned to begin in Octoher
result in the confirmation of the claimdof Clar-,
onco Cunningham and his as so ciat esto tho own
ership of the Alaska coal lands, Pinchot and
his associates in tho forest service will find,
themselves handicapped in their charges against
tho methods of the interior department. If the
final decision hands over the immense tract to.
tho federal government the officials of the inter-o
ior department Will have proved tho sagacity,
of their openly announced program.
Tho present fight of the month's old feud
between Ballingor and Pinchot is the result of
a marked difference of opinion concerning the
plan of campaign, to be employed, by the govern
ment against the Cunningham interests. Secre-.
tary Ballinger's assistants state that the interior,
department is in a position to cari'y tb,e,case,to
a successful issue for the government., They
predict that the evidence they havp in hand is.
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. v' i..i '"rrn,- intinn AiHninio nnnnr.
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tho interior department for about seven years.
While Mr. Ballingor was commissioner of the
general -land office they were awaiting decision.
Secretary Hitchcock refused to recognize thej
claims of the -coal syndicate, as did Secretary
Garfield. The fact that the claims have been
on file for :So long Is pointed by officials of the
interior 'department aB a refutation of any charge -that
-tho cases are-now-being pushed withomdue
haste. " ' ' ' ' '
Clarence C. Cunningham, the -promoter 'of the
coal land project,' and his associates filed their
Alaskan claims in 1902. Cunningham, a' well;
known Idaho prospector, had taken ti trip to
Alaska on the . lookout for ''something, good."
About thirty miles north of Katalda, 'Close to;
the southern coast of the territory, he dlscov-
ered a very rich coal field. The best part of
tho field was nominally held by thirty-five pros-'
pectors, each of whom had filed a claim to 160
acres under the mineral land laws, the only
procedure with which thoy were acquainted.
Cunningham realized that claims to coal lands'
filed under this law were valueless. However,
the prospectors were paid for their claims1 'and
Cunningham,, with thirty-two associates, filed"
claims to 6,280 acres of the tract under' the
coal land laws. The tract to which these'men
lay claim contains a vein which in some places
is sixty 'feet thiclt. It is estimated 'that the'
thirty-three claims contain about 57,000,000"
tons of the finest grade of steam coal.
Before the- Cunningham claims t were filed,
however, the interior department officials as
sert that the' thirty-three men entered into an
agreement t6 turn their lands over to a corpora
tion as soon as they could secure patents to' the
various tracts. : The' Interior department insists
it ;has absolute evidence'' that this association
wtfs f brined before the claims were filed. This,
it IB 'asserted; -is wviolatlbn of the law. Attor-
or his withdrawal from the Cunningham tract.
An assistant was sent to aid him in his work.
The Interior department officials will make no
statement concerning this incident. Some of
the forestry service officials are willing to say
anonymously that Mr. Bailinger's department is
afraid to take any action against the critical
agent,
The hearings which the interior department
hopes to have started by October 15 will be
held in several cities, , The task of taking depo
sitions Js. expected to be a tedious, one, and it is
probable that tho entire amount of evidence will
not be in the hands ,of Commissioner Dennett
for several months. Then the commissioner's
recommendation will? go to Assistant . Secretary
Pierce, who will have to decide between the
government and, the old clients of his chief.
neyi,Grenrai'-'Wicke'rsha'mMlha;s 'given an" dpintoii' ;
the coming itvves.tigationd to mention specifically to 4hWU8ethe'-vidjAco W regarded by the
umo rif tVio tARtlmnnv their acentS have UUgUP ' uonwiuwiumwwd uu- iu .Btiyusesu -'ursuuieub
uvi. . -..- ", ri.T . v 1- ' 'L "l V lil '
agaliiBt tlio ciairnant 01 ine ( ajubku, uuiu uc..
in thd 'gdvernmenfs case.1 'The Taw" 'passea 'by"
Thus far theft attitude towar'cl thd 'forest service congress in May, 3.9 08, is lopked, uppn as. .a very
. ,- j v .-i, ... ji i i.. ' 1 , . ! stroncr RGfiond Hn nf n.ftn.nlr. This ln-w HmUa
In defensive rather than offensive.
On the other hand, the hints, veiled' as they"
are, that are emanating from Mr. Pincliot's
bureau, are undoubtedly directed at Secretary
Ballingor and his assistants. Every bit. of in
formation obtainable from forest service sources
shows that the responsible men of this bureau'
believe that the interior department is in no'
position to mako good its announced program1
in the Cunningham case. The forest service"
men appear to bo convinced that the interior
department will ruin the government's chances
of securing the Alaska tract - by pursuing its'
present policy of haste, No member of the
bureau, however, up to this time has been bold
enough to prefer any charge that Secretary Bal
lingor is hurrying the Cunningham cases to a
final decision with the design of aiding' his
former clients to secure their claims before the
government can secure sufficient evidence to
win a victory.
The records of Secretary Ballinger's. connec
tion with the Cunningham syndicate are on, file'
in the interior department. There has been no
disposition on the part of either the secretary
of the interior or any of his assistants to deny"
that he was in the service of the land claimants
.during the interval between the close of ()his
term as commissioner of the general land office
and the beginning of his service as a member1,
of President Taft's cabinet.,' So far as can be
discovered, Mr. Ballinger's activity in 'this 'case
was confined to .the preparation of ah affidavit
which was practically a history of ' the forma-,
tlon of the syndicate with a specific description
of the thirtythree ' coal land claims now "in
litigation. , , ',.'','.
This affidavit was 'drawn In the Seattle ' office
of the law firm of which' Mr. Ballinger is a mem
ber. When 'the Cunningham attorney came 'to
Washington as secretary of the interior he found
the case of his former clients confronting him
for decision. He announced that he. would have
no part In the proceedings against the Cunning
ham crPwd, and turned oyer the whole matter to
Assistant secretary Fierce. Tho final decision.
strong second line of attack. This law limits
contiguous holdings of cbal lands" by Individuals
and associates to 2,500 acres and also contains"
a strong anti-combination clause, tfhe Cunning
ham claimants are expected to insist that this
legislation, enacted after the filing o their
claims, can not affect their case. The govern-1
ment, however, has long pursued the policy .Qf'
denying to claimants any status of consideration
until after the issuing of patents for the claim
filed.
Although neither the interior department nor
the forest service will' make a direct statement
concerning the1 identity of the corporatioh which
was to take over the Cunningham holdings,
there are indications that the Guggenhelms'have
evinced a lively ' interest in the coal contracts
north of Katalda. It is asserted that the Gug
genheim people have paid the expenses "of in
spection trips throughout this territory.
Although a fight between Ballinger and Pin
chot was bound to come sooner or later, the
Cunningham case would not have presented, the
opportunity had not President Roosevelt, on the
last day of his term of office; issued an execu
tive order extending the boundaries of the for-
est reserves In southern Alaska. This order
served to place' between 1,000 and 2,000 acrea
of the Cunningham tract within the jurisdiction
of Forester Pinchot. It was in this way that
the interior department and tho forest service
got their lines crossed. rThe. officials ,and agents
of' the' forest service have free' access to ajl the
maps and 'documents off the inferior 'department
which' deal with" the territory urider the, super
visibh of the tierVlce.' Sbme of , the" docunVepita
discovered by the forestry people, since .tfiq b'e
ginnlH'gfof.thii. present Administration, accord
ing to the Avhispered charges made by Mr. Pih
cliot's men," 'led them to believe that' Mr, Bal-
linger was, permitting, too much, haste in" the
disposition of the Cunningham claims' for the
good of the government's interests.
'It "is '-known that one of the .agents 'of the
general land office recently has been converted
to this belief either by his associates in th'
GOVERNOR PARDEE'S TREASON
Governor Pardee is guilty of treasonhigh
treason. He has dared to criticise "the govern
ment," because lie has criticised Secretary of
the Interior Ballinger. Worse than that, ho has
Bpoken for the" common people and against, tho
interests, which is even a worse form of treason
than criticising the administration.
California was well represented at the national
irrigation congress by Governor Pardee. He
stands with. Pinchot and with the men of true
prpgress. He stands against Ballinger and the
corporations and special privilege seekers. No
-wonder the Southern, Pacific political machine
cheated him out of-n renomination for governor.,
Careful of the interests of the interests, Bal
linger has reversed the common-sense policy
or principle of reserving public lands for the
people.. These lands, said Governor Pardee,
have. again been thrown open to "land grabbers,
and each tract has a water-power site.
"I , do, not oppose private enterprise in -the
development of these sites," Dr. Pardee said,
"but I do oppose giving away immense rights
to private corporations, which In a few years
will hold the same political .control over clt'les
and states that railroads nowi.hold ;as. a. ..result
ofjtho rnagn.ifieent gifts,', madei'them when.. they
werjajngforhelpixtocpnstnict V W.e."know
the corruption i which, has resulted ,fromi rlilw 1
roa'4 epntrplf ,vShall wowdiandpuitiitQilavnew
form of ; Corn.OTa.teppw'er our .institutions 2" n
Not only California but all the states were
well represented by Governor Pardee at Spo
kane. President, Taft would do well to dismiss
Ballinger and appoint George C. Pardee as sec
retary of the Interior. The' people should be
represented in that office. San Francisco Star.
'1. '
UNDER WHICH FLAG?
which will he rendered by the interior denart- forest service or a& n. tfriiH hf'tiln JnvoaH.ro
ment, n accordance with thej evidence" presented' tlons. This 'agent : sent a letteiOttf Commissioner
rsuea
did
service
J ""f"1".j V r,V .V'1WIV. U. """"S1,1', llLMlCDlIJl USUJUOL iub uvui'se ,pu
omce, rauBi -ue iianuea aown Dy Mr. fierce. in tlie interior' department; His criticism
xu vjuuuiubiuiiu uiuuu imvo ueun oQiore noi result euner in nis removal rrom the
Chief Forester Giff ord Pinchot has declared
war on the. public-land policy of Secretary of tho
Interior Ballinger, who is . evidently acting for
the land grabbers, the monopolists seeking to
control the water power sites. The big land
grabbers, the water-power grabbers are against
Pinchot, who asserted at Spokane last Tuesday
that tbe Ballinger . policy is merely playing into
the hands of the interests, Pinchot took a stand
unequivocally for the preservation of the public
rights.
To the extent that Pinchot is a politician, lie
is one in the best and the original sense of
that term one who recognizes that politics is
the science of government. Ballinger appears
to be a "mere politician" that Is, a man who
dabbles in public affairs for the promotion of
private ends. President 'Taft is responsible for
Ballinger. Possibly he did not discover that
wonderful man, hut accepted hihi on the cre
dentials of persons interested in having a rep
resentative, or at least a1 friend, in the depart
ment of the" interior; a friend' who would stand
with 'and for the land grabbers and .the water
power grabbers. r( '."..
Pinchot ' is a hold-pye'r from, the Rposevelt
administration. He is hated by the grafters of
special privileges, by' the wate.r-power, pirates. .
We'accfep't and endbrse.r without reservation tho
statement of Senator Chamberlain,, of Oregon,
that "It would be. a public misfortune to de
prive the government of the services of either
F. R.' Newell,' chief engineer of the irrigation
w6rk, or Giffdrd Pinchot, 'chief forester."
We' believe Senator Chamberlain is correct
when he 'says that "the interests are plotting
to haVe" Pinchot "ousted';" that in his speech at
Spokane "in which he, told how ,the interests
werp" trying to gobble up the' water ,' rights, he
tbld'the truth'!"' and tyiat "the interests, are not
only trying to grab these' water rights, but, by
thunder',' they're actually '".getting the'm.' .It a
to the grabbing and getting of these' water rights
II
Wg - V'.--tjlwAi
