^OIL SCANDAL REVERTS TO ROOSEVELT-TAFT SPLIT By MARK SULLIVAN. Washington, Feb. I.—To under stand this oil scandal, it is essential to know the background; and that background Is included in the word conservation. Up to somewhere between 1900 and '910, this country had a national pol cy about public lands and the min *rnl, oil and other resources in the public lands. That‘policy was to get he public lands as rapidly as possible out of the hands of the government and Into the hands of private owners who would develop them. It was a policy that arose when our public lands seemed inexhaustible. About the only concern of the gov ernment was to preserve order and equity among the individual pioneers. That the government should have any interest in holding on to the lands for itself was never thought of. Immense quantities of the land were given to the western railroads as subsidies, and everybody thought of that as a wise policy. The great motive was to get the lands settled ' up and the country developed. Free Lands Absorbed. But somewhere about 1900, we be gan to reach the end of free or prac tically free public lands. Most of the really good farm lands had been taken up. It came to us as a dis quieting realization. Almost over night, the public attitude ceased to be one of encouraging individuals and corporations to take up the land, and became one of stern resistance even against claimants of the land under the old policy. In this swift reversal of policy there were many tragedies. Men and corporations who had been proceed ing In good faith under the spirit of the former policy, were suddenly compelled to fight for the rights they thought they had. The first change came in the mat ter of forests. The man who at that time had charge of the national for ests was Gifford Pinchot, now gover nor of Pennsylvania. Pinchot knew forestry and forests as probably no other American. To his expert attention came the observation that rich as we seemed to be in forests, the actual fact was that we were using up our forests faster than they were reproducing themselves. Roosevelt Joins Move. Pinchot took his mood of alarm to Roosevelt. Roosevelt was infected »y it, seized it, and shared it. With his gift for slogans he made ••con servation” a political battle cry. Into every department of his administra tion that had to do with public lands and resources he injected the spirit of a swift about-face policy. The Interior department and the Department of Agriculture became vigilant, not to pass out the govern ments land to claimants, but to safe guard It. Great areas of public land were withdrawn from inquiry. Claim ants who were In process of perfect ing title found those claims sternly scrutinized and resisted. The Department of Justice began to prosecute cases of what formerlv would have been regarded as harm !f--s defects of formalitly, but under gm > he new regime were looked upon Is crimes and prosecuted as such. Hv the time the Roosevelt admin lstratlon was ended, the reversal of policy had been made co'mplete. Cer tainly It had become complete as re gards the great bulk of the voters in the more settled east. In the west, where the remaining lands were, there still continued to be a good deal of the old spirit which re garded rapid development the more desirable policy. Koosevelt-Ta(t Break. When Roosevelt's administration ended, and Taft came Into power, he appointed as his secretary of the In terior a man from the west, Richard Ballinger of Seattle. Ballinger had quite naturally the western point of view about public lands. He depart ed from the Roosevelt policy. He administered the land and resources under his control less In the spirit of 1908 and more in the spirit of 1898. Quickly, sensation and scandal arose. Plnchot, who had continued In charge of the foreats under Taft, complained to Taft about what Bal linger was doing. Taft did not react to Plnchot's alarm as Roosevelt hnd. Plnchot pointed out the clear diver Igence of policy between himself and Ballinger and took a position that either himself or Ballinger must get out of the Taft administration. Taft stood by his secretary of the In terior. Plnchot resigned, and In a manner that caused public uproar. Roosevelt, meantime, had gone on his trip to Africa. When he returned, Plnchot took to him his complaint. Roosevelt sympathized with Plnchot, and out of that situation arose one of the principal causes that made tha breach between Taft and Roosevelt, and led to the split in the republican party in 1912. Charges Against Ballinger. Meantime formal accusation was made against Ballinger that he had improperly alienated public land In Alaska to certain mining corporations. Congress appointed an investigating committee and Ballinger's acts were reviewed. Louis D. Brandels, then a Boston lawyer, became the attorney for some of Ballinger’s accusers, and in that role made the national reputation which, five years later, resulted in his elevation to the supreme court by President Wilson. Taft took the position that the charges against Ballinger had not been sufficiently proved, and kept the latter in his cabinet. A little later on, however, Ballinger resigned, and Taft appointed as hla successor a man whose position on conservation was substantially satisfactory to Roose velt, Plnchot, and the more ardent conservatidnists. Some effort was made to show that Ballinger was guilty of serious per sonal Impropriety. Looked at from the distance of 13 years later, and from the point of view of one who was rather clo'se to the circumstances at the time, it la doubtful if Ballinger's culpability was much greater than a mere failure to see the new light. Oil Leases Became Ticklish. The Ballinger caee, with ell the sensation that attended It. perma nently crystalised the Roosevelt policy of conservation. From then on, the fixed policy of the government was to hold on rigidly to all the resource* It ■till had. Every situation Involving Indlvldu als who had old rights or wanted to acquire new rights to land, oil, min erals or forests within the national domain became one of minute deli cacy. Whoever represented the gov ernment in the transaction was held to strict accountability. Any laxity held the menace of scandal. The Wilson administration contin ued the Roosevelt policy, Franklin K. Lane, who was secretary of the inter ior under Wilson, was a Californian; I but be had spent many years in Washington and was sn admirer of | Roosevelt. His practice about the public lands under his control was perhaps a little less rigid than Roose velt's had been: but on tha whole It was satisfactory to Roosevelt and the conserfatlonists generally. Wilson’s cabinet as a whole was probably as heartily In favor of con servatlon ns Roosevelt had lven. It was another member of Wilson's cabinet, Secretary Josephus Daniels of tbe Navy, who initiated an addi tional aspect of the conservation pol icy, anil It was a recent departure from Daniels’ policy that led to the present scandal. Daniels foresaw that oil was going to succeed coal as fuel for ships. He Initiated the policy that new vessels built for the navy should be equipped for oil burning. At tbe same time, It occurred to him, as a national ne cessity, that the government should have in its ownership abundant stores of oil to meet the future needs of the Navy. He initiated a policy to the effect that all oil-bearing lands in the public domain should be strictly safeguarded from private exploitation, and that they should be turned over to the cus tody of the Navy department. Then came Harding, and Harding appointed Kail as secretary of the in t*nor. At best. It was a baa appoint ment. The chief reason for It was that Fall as a senator had been the friend and companion of Harding. Fall Detested Conservation. Fall came from the big land hold ing business element of New Mexico. All Fall's background and environ ment contributed to make him a man who detested conservation, lie made no secret of it. He far out-Ballingcred Ballinger. He believed in turning the Whisky? Indian Wives? Well, Both Were Plentiful in Frontier Days, but Jim Bridger Never Fell—Not Very Hard—Says Veteran Nebraska Scout By YV. M. MUTIN'. Was Jim Bridger, famous scout and guide, a. drunken squawinan, as pictured in "The Covered Wagon,” or . was he just the average sort of man of his day.and age? Virginia Bridger Hahn, grand daughter of the old scout and plains man, asserts that the memory of her grandfather has been traduced by the Famous Players-Lasky corporation, makers of the famous plcturization of Emerson Hough’s famous novel. She Insists that not less than a million dollars will be required to salve her injured feelings. Jim Bridger is in no particular danger of losing his place in the his tory of American polneerlng. But his granddaughter's suit may serve to spread more information about the famous old scout and guide, whose history Is now made up largely of tradition. He was a peculiar prod uct of a peculiar and picturesque period in the nation's history. Through Comrade's Eyes. Fortunately there are those yet alive who knew Bridger In his palmy days, and allowing for the lapse of time, their recollections of him should be illuminating. One of the surviv ors of Jim Bridger’s time and the scene of his activities lives at Cen tral City, Neb. Henry F. Wallis was associated with Bridger as scout and guide; indeed. Bridger gave Wallis, then a soldier, lessons in scouting and reading Indian signs. "I reckon Jim drank his proper share of whisky in those days." said Wallis a few days ago. "I don't know of anybody around there in the old days who passed up the drinks when they went around. But if Jim ever got too drunk to attend to business it was when I wasn't around. I was with him every day for almost a year, and I never te n heard It Intimated that he was a squawman. Jim Bridger taught about 200 of us soldiers how to read "Injun sign," and trained us as scouts and guides for that country up around Fort Bridger and ^ Fort Phil Kearney. Part of the time he run a trading post but most of his time was taken up with scouting for Unrla Sam and guiding troops or hunting parties. (■uided by Bridger. "I first knew Jim Bridger when he met the Eighteenth United States In fantry at Dobytown, Neb., and acted as guide from there to Fort Phil Kearney. I served in the navy dur ing the entire war, enlisting from Vermont. I was on Farragut's flag Henry K. Wall!*. ship, the Hartford, and a young fel low named George Dewey waa aboard as captain. You may not know it, bu\ George had the lobe of one ear shot oft during a little acrsp w* had while trying to open up the Missis sippi. It happened a short distance below Baton Rouge. "At the close of the war I enlisted in the Eighteenth infantry and went to Fort Leavenworth. In 1S6* the regiment under command of Colonel Carrington went to Omaha by boat, end from there We marched the en tire distance to old Fort Phil Kearney in Wyoming. Bridger met us at Fort Kearney in Nebraska, and acted as our guide the rest of the march. Whisky was about as cheap then as milk is now, and the supply unlimited. About the only thing we enlisted men had to look out Tor waa not to oe found lit up while on duty. The of ficer a weren't alwaya so particular, fcrldger took on hia chare, but be wasn't a drunkard aa we looked at it in those days. Killing Off Indian*. '•We had a few little bru»h»a with the Injuna on that long trip, but nothing worth telling about. They were building the Union Pacific in those day*, and our duty waa to spread out to the north of the road nnd keep the Injun* beck. You know the Sioux had a habit of wintering down in Kanaaa, where they ate up the buffalo meat they gathered most ly during their summering away north in Wyoming, Dakota and Mon tana. Some wise fellow down In Washington figured out that If the buffalo were driven out or killed off the Injuns would get peaceable. So one company of us waa told off to kill buffalo and starve the Injun* Into being quiet. We got a dollar a bead for killing them, ammunition furnished. “The Chugwater in. Wyoming got Its name from the fact that wo drove sc many buffalo over its high banks Into the river canyon, and the way they chugged into the water gave that creek its preeent name. Brldger was not a buffalo hunter, although he went with us occasionally. He was a trapper nnd trader when he wae scouting and guiding." Red Cloud's "Coffee Cooler.” Wallis was In the celebrated wagon box fight, fought about six miles from old Fort Phil Kearney on August 2, 1867. Capt. James Powell, command ing an escort of 32 men, were accom panying a wagon train to Fort Phil Kearney. Nearly 8,000 Sioux und*r Red Cloud attacked the wagon train. Captain Powell hurriedly formed the wagon train Into the smallest possi ble circle piling the wagon boxes one upon another lo make a barricade. The 82 Infantrymen and the wagon drivers not only stood off Red Cloud and his warrior* for about 86 hours, bat finally forced him to retire. Many years afterwards Red Cloud admitted that more than 1.000 of his braves were killed and wounded in that fight. Among those killed was Red Cloud's son. “History writer* of this lale day picture Red Cloud as a great war rior,” said Wallis. "Maybe he was, hut we fellow* on the frontier knew him as a ‘coffee cooler,* and all the veterans of the civil war know the kind of fellows that bore that name. Old Red Cloud was always there with the big talk, but he didn't show up In front when there was any fight ing going on. “One thing that put a crimp in Red Cloud and his braves at the wagon box fight was the fact that Just a short time before we had been equipped with the newfangled breech loader rifles. Old Red Cloud hadn't heard about them, and he thought that after the flrst volley from that little handful of men he’d have easy pickin'*. So right after our flrst vol ley he sent his brave* charging In and they got It proper. Red Cloud had more respect for Uncle Bern's soldiers aftsr that." Evening of Adventurous IJfe. Henry K. Wallis was born In Ver mont In IMS. He enlisted In the navy at the outbreak or the civil war and nerved during Its duration In that branch of the service. At the close of the war he was discharged from the navy and Immediately enlisted In the regular army, assigned to the Eighteenth Infantry and sent to Fort Leavenworth. He served three years In the regulars, and upon his dis charge returned to Vermont, where he married Miss Emarle Miller. He came to Nebraska In J ST1 and took a homestead near Palmer, Merrick county He lived upon that home stead for more than 40 years, moving from there to Central City, where he now resides. He has two daughters. Mr. and Mrs Wallis occupy a cosy home In Central City, surrounded by many evidences of their pioneering days. Although 80 years old, Mr. Wallis has all the energy of a man of 60, reads without glasses and says he Is still able to do as good a day's work as any man two thirds his age He is a giant in physique. Were Squaws About. "I reckon they had to sort o’ fix Bridger up to fit the picture," was his parting remark. "He didn't drink any more whisky than the rest of us did when we could get it, and we didn't have much trouble on that score. Most of the post traders In those days had Injun squaws working around their posts. White women were almighty scarce, and men never did like cookin’ and scrubbin’ and washin'. Maybe Bridger did have a squaw or two around his place, but nobody ever thought of them as his wives. That's all put In, I reckon, to make the picture more exciting. He was a mighty fine man, and ha was good to us young fellows. We thought a lot of Jim Bridger, and whatever he said went with us and with every body else in those parts. This coun try owes a lot to men like him. “Now. If they had told those stories about Buffalo Bill—well, Cody is dead, too." The only picture Mr. Wallis had of himself was an old print taken just before he enlisted in the navy. The suggestion was mad# that a photographer would be sent out to hts house if he would consent to sit for a photograph. "No use sending a photographer out here; I’ll go to the gallery with you," he aaid. And he did. He donned hla over shoes and overcoat and plowed hla way through the snow and slush for ID or II blocks, talking all the way and forcing hie younger companion to hit up a lively pace to keep along side. public lands over to private inter?*'* for rapid exploitation. NPt only did he believe in that a* ■ aspects the lands under his depart, ment. He wanted to get control of th* public lands In the control of Secre tary Wallace of the Department of Agriculture. Wallace was a strict conservationist of the true Roosevelt school. Also, Wallace was a good fighter. He struck back at Fall, and insisted on retain, ing control of the forests. Gradually, Harding turned away from Fall. One of the w-ays In which the anti conservationists tried to influence Harding to alienate the public re sources into private hands was by cit ing to him constantly tht case of Alaska. They told him the proper development of that territory was be ing held back by the fact that so much of the land is still in the hand* of the government. Harding's Alaskan Trip. But when Harding visited Alaska he turned strongly against those who had been urging him to open up Alaska to private ownership. Hs came back a good conservationist. During Harding's visit to Alaska, he gave expression to marked Irritation against Fall. There was no serious alienation c< important national resources during the Harding administration. Even the leases about which the present scan dais have arisen were not a complete alienation of the land. The theory was that the oil In the government land was being drained off underground by wells sunk on the adjoining land of private owners, and that it would be a wise policy for the government to have Sinclair, Doheny and others drill well* on the govern ment land on a basis of sharing the oil between the government and the companies. Expert geologists denied that the government oil was being drained by th# well# on th# adjoining property. Fall Made Secret Hesae. That technical question Is now over, shadowed by th* fact that Fall made one of the leases in secrecy without opportunity for public bidding, and as to both of tha leases was the bene ficiary of money and other material consideration from the lessees. The Fall case now makes It set-tain that the principle of conaervadon will never again be Invaded. No future president will ever ap point a secretary of the interior who falls to subscribe loyally to the F.oose velt theory about conservation. There will be difficult questions in th# prac tical carrying out of this policy. A conservation which means merely complete withdrawal from use will not be serviceable. The oil and miner als on the public lands will be ex tracted somehow. There are some who claim that th# government must do Its own oil drilling and refining and mining. Thors are difficulties about that. But when any other method of development is considered there will be danger of rituatlons like the Fall case arising. The truth In that nothing wrong need have corns up If Fall had let th# eontmcta through public bidding, and not secretly to bidders frcen whom he re ceived personal favors. f WELLS SAYS EUROPE’S GREED MAY KINDLE COMMUNISM By H. G. WELLS. Author of the Outline of History. London. Feb. 9.—So Lenin is dead He died on the eve of recognition of the soviet, government by the west •M'n powers. For most practical pur poses the work of Lenin was over be fore 1920. His death now or a little Inter would make only the smallest difference In the deetinlea of Russia. For the communist party which still controls Russia has this in common with the Catholic church, that it la sustained by a system of dogmas, dls elplines, experiences and traditions so much stronger than any single in dividual that Individuals, though they may serve it more or less effectively, cannot control or deflect It. Russia, under communist rule Is at the opposite pole tot such a phase of affairs as would evoke Caesarlsm. it is over the western Latin democracies subjected to the adventures and rav age! of uncontrolled rich men, that dictators arise. Leotn was never in reality such a dictator as Mussolini. He Impressed one as being In the grip of forces quits bsyond his control, albeit they were forces hs hsd him self helped to develop and organize. Communlam and Fascism. Communism Is deflnlts, directive, compelling: fascism Is a dramatic, empty, vague, violent thing, a young ass to be ridden anywhere by q bold competent rider. A ecore of Lenina might die and communism would go on as though nothing had changed. Without Mussolini. the fasclstl might do anything, fall into th# tor rent, get lost, destroy society, vanish. I saw Lenin In 1920 In the krem lin. He was an eitraordlnary fragile little thin* with email hands clasped together upon a corner of his desk, little feet that dangled from his chair far off the ground. He wse very bald. I learn now with astonishment that I was the older man. He put his amusing Mongoloid face a little on one side as we talked, with something of the wary expression of a fencer. When be found out I didn't want to score points for or against com munism. but to learn what they pro posed to do next, he dropped any appearance of controversy and laid hia views and plans before me very frankly. Hie schemes for the reorganization of Russia seemed to me to tie right minded, honestly conceived: but art less. He had a scheme for the elec trification of Russia that atruck my usually quite imaginative ndnd as hopelessly Impractical. It ignored distances: Russia is a country con slating mostly of distances. I suppose no gambler who stakes his all upon a single throw and wins «as ever as astonished as the bol sheviks when they came into power in 1917. They went Into Russia like good revolutionists to make trouble and die. They found themselve* presently In scarcely disputed posses sion of a completely exhausted coun try. Kven In 1920 they seemed a lit tie Incredulous to find themselves still there. So far from seizing Russia there was nothing to oppose them but brigands hopelessly Incapable of mili tary adventures: so far from ruining, the ruin was already complete. In this chaos the bolsheviks grasped power according to all accepted revo lutionary examples. There was not so much an organized resistance to their seizure as a lawless disregard. Revolutionists Must Shoot. They had to shoot. All revolutions have to shoot. But It Is usually con reded that the bolsheviks shot too much. It la not that they wees blood thirsty men, but Inexperienced. And they were equally Inexperienced and unprepared In the task of govern ment. They served Russia well In defending her from without; but they rebuilt within slowly, experimentally, wastefully. Still, they are on their feet now. It is from the red rsot of the com munist theory that the new Russian order will grow. It is destined to be a great system of t'nlted States in the old world, stretching from the Baltic To the Pacific. _ It la Important to grasp tne net that the former Russian political and social order was bankrupt, collapsed of Its own accord, because It Is the lesson that private adventurers of the west are most loath to learn. Com munism not often devours healthy states; It la rather the scavenger of the rotten. Ton cannot say communism la either strong or spieading rapidly aa an aggressive doctrine In Europe. And yet It may atlll coma to prevail over great part* of Europe. Europe 1$ sick and set against Its own curs. The decay of the monetary system, without which private capitalism 1* a totally unworkable ayatsm, spreads in a European community saturated with Ideas of and eager for private gain. Tha European system is not being CHAMPIONS OF A FEW LOST CAUSES By 0. 0. McIntyre Thers are so many things to re form and so little time when one has an urge to become an amateur re former. In New York, for instance. I scarcely know where to begin. Something I feel should be done ^ about the passing of collapsible drink ing cups across ths row In theaters. It does mors to unstarch the re splendent whit* vest than to quench thirsts. , „ If you are In the middle of the row the cup begins to show signs of weakness three seats away and just when It reaches you, and In true Ohesterfleldian style you attempt to hand It to the lady next. It happens. The cup caves in. And there you ire perhaps without rubbers. Either you get It In the vest or she gets It In the lap. It seems to tne they ought to put mors starch in the cups or usa and old fashioned dipper. I would rather have the dip per. germs snd all. than a cold show -r in public. My campaign for the old-fashioned lpp*r went awry. I talked It over ith a theatrical manager. I know was artistic because he had In «n*e burning In his office. He hmight the dipper would he abso itHy a cru^l einawh at art* niftc loftps Hecreta. There is another nuisance In the heater over which my feeble mental y refuses to click. I refer to the heater-talker. You know, the bright oung man or woman who has seen he play before speaks right out— tipping off all the things that utter Iv spoil the evening. When you are wondering Just how ths hero, who Is such a laggard In love but a dastnrd In battle. Is going to save the Jewels the theuter-talker behind you spills ths Information that old Jpsvsb. ths faithful body servant with watery eyes. Is really 4? Ihe thief and has them bid in the pleats of Ms English trousers or somsthlng. At the time you thought Jsaves was such a rare old thing. Priceless old bean, as it were. Men who are constantly talking about golf at lunch glva nfi a fast ing somewhat akin to a peevish wild rat with an Ingrown nail, toil near all about the carryings-on at the 17th hole. How Bill holed out a enappy six and how good old Felix McFerry, the pro, pHtted him on the bank. You would think Bill had scaled a high mountain peak or met the Dolly nistere. As a matter of fact whet he did wae slap a defenseless little white pill. Golf la only a hlf pill following a little pill, after all. Then there la the fellow who talks about “stance," “niblick," aloehes.'’ "putts” and “four par-hole." If you are a golf athalst, at I happen to be, you see red. I am fond of par* cheat, but I don’t go talking about It and bragging around. Of course, you can’t gag a golfer. But there ought to be some league or other for the euppreealon of golf talk at lunrh. They Don’t Want Tour Money. Another Irritating thing In our har ried life le the don’t-carleh store clerk. You enter and perhaps want to buy a platon rod for your wrist watch or something. Just a* he nears you he happens to remember something to say to Fred, who la putting boxes on a shelf. You stand waiting. He tells Frsrf he thinks the Bambino la through. Fred stops hia putting up of boxes to ssy rather churlishly: “Whadda y mean through? If he’s through I'm a blue-eared fox”—or something snappy Finally the conversation dies down and the clerk movee over to you: "Can I do something for you?” he Inquires. “Show me platon roda for wrist watches," you demand. "Hecond floor, third alala, right, next to gum shoes," he Informs you and so you follow the directions. When you arrive there Is another olerk who la ahowlng a fellow clerk a trick with a piece of string. You Idle for awhile and Anally goaded beyond desperation cry: ”1 want to see piston roda for wrist wetcheel The string trick le abandoned and one clerk etarta toward you, but he remembers ha hasn’t told Agnes, (he cashier, the one about the cowboy and the goidftab to he telle that ona. Finally you hunt up tha floor mans 'Th"(?006« 1 WMADDA v'mpah ) *T*r*o ii»ed »ucce«»fully for 47 >ear*. It ha* been on the market thirty Year* and is today the largest selling liquid laaative in the world. Thouaands of families have it in their mod icine cheat ready when anymomhershowaaigna of dyapepaia. constipa tion torpid li'er, sour stomach. biliousness ■ coated tongue, offensive breath, headache* and such ailments that indicate deranged stomach and bowel*. Many serious dis eases are prevented by this timely aid. Formula Plainly Stated Have do hesitancy giving Dr. Caldwell's Syrup Pepsin to any one young or old. It is a mild, gentle laxative free from nar cotics. It will not cramp or gnpe. The formula is on the package, a compound of Egyptian senna with pepsin and simple aromatics. K bottle can be had at anv drug store and aicrage* |cs* than a cent a dose. Economical for fam ilies end fully guaranteed. You will find it a great improvement in taste and action O'w castor oil. or “candy cathartic*" made from coal tar that cause akin disease*, calomel that loosens the teeth, salts in water or powder that concentrate the Mood and dry the sk.m. •»«I(Tm ful '• Tr» ll Trm» lafkn r^Mn." sir WhUiiim At., Mmiii^II*. tlltnm* I m MAt4 mmd v+mid UW t+ frw* s*W M« hr I t fV*wi* l« **40*' «Mt. aw m /»*• l-wt W*4». .4«4r*M f V#**# ..... ....« •%♦... 4... . ... N*l WA.«r+ tKftft €M»* ft** tr**l K*