The Democratic banner., May 17, 1910, Image 1

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ESTABLISHED 1836
TAFT ATTEMPTS
AN EXPLANATION
In
Regard To His Letter Exonerat
ing Secretary Baiiinger
Admits lie Did' Not
Write Letter
FORMED OWN OPINION
Told Attorney to Dratt Letter
Exonerating Baiiinger.
REVISED AND SIGNED BRIEF
Also Admits, In Letter to Senator
Nelson That He Directed At
i torney General Wickersham
1 to Predate Review of Glavis
i Charges to Correspond With
: Date of Interview.
Washington, May 10. Publicly as
suming ull lcsponslblltty for the
Lawler memorandum In the Ballln-er-Pinchot
case, President Taft also
took upon his shoulders full respon
tblllty for the pre-datlng of the
Wickersham oplnon. The president ad
mits frankly that ho requested As
sistant Attornoy General Lawler of
tne Interior department to write and
prcparo "an opinion as It he wero
president"
The ptosldcnt acknowledges also
that he used tomo sentences of this,
opinion In his letter exonerating' Bab
linger. With equal frankness the
president says that Attornoy General
Wlckorsham's analysis of1 tho evi
dence In the caso was pre-dated un
dor his (tho president's) instructions,
"so as to show that my decision waJ
fortified by his summary of tho evi
dence and his conclusions there
from." Referred to Wickersham.
The presldont makes it clear, how
ever, that ho carefully reviewed all
the documents and evidence In- tho
Ballluger-Plnchot caso and had
reached an absolute decision that Mr.
Bnlllngor was guiltless before ho In
etructed Assistant Attornoy General
Lawlcr of Mr. Balllngcr's office to
prepare a letter to be used as tho
basis of the Taft exoneration. Tho
president declares that ho adopted
this course merely as a means of
saving ttmo for himself, ho being
rushed with work, and that he had
Indicated cjcaily to Lawler what he
wished said In tho letter. Tho Law
lor document, however,' was unsatis
factory to Mr. Taft, and ho finally
dictated li'i own letter, using only a
few sentences of tho Lawler memo-'
randum. The presidents statements
are contained In a longthy letter, to
Chairman Nclnon of the Baiiinger
PInchot Investigation committee It
follows:
"The White House,
"Washington, May 15, 1910.
"My Dear Senator Nelson: In tho
hearings before tho committee to In
vestigate the Interior department and
forestry sorvlco, reference has been
made to ray decision on tho com
plaint and charges of L. R. 'Glavis
filed with mo on tho 18th of August
last against Secretary Balllngor and
certain other ofllclals of the Interior
department. The majority of the
committee have decided that my ac
tion In this regard was not within
tho Jurisdiction of the committee to
Investigate. In spite of his ruling,
references to tho matter have crept
Into tho record. For this reason, I
deem It proper to write you and stato
with what accuracy my momory per
mits what tho facts aro.x
"Glavis' statement and charges
wore left with me by him on AueuBt
18, 1009. I turned them over to tho
attornoy general, who happened to
bo In tho neighborhood, nnd he made
notes upon his reading. Wo both
had peifeon.il Knowledge In respect to
Becretary Balllngcr's attitude to
wnrds the Alaska coal claims, which
was the chief subject of Innuendo
and complaint, for Mr. Baiiinger had
very early in tho ndminlsttatlon con
sulted with us both In regaid to
them.
Discussed Evidence.
"Within two or three days after
tho Ming of the charges, In a meet
ing at which tho secretary of the
treasury, the attornoy general and
the secretary of tho navy were pres
ent, a full discussion of the Glavis
statement was had. It resulted in a
general conclusion Hljut Jealousy be
tween the bureaus of the Interior de
partment and tho forestry bureau
probably explained tho attitude of the
Interior department officials, but that
tho Intimations of bad faith by Glavis
against Mr. Baiiinger requested that
the btntement be submitted to them
.for answer. Accordingly, copies of
tho statement wore sent to Secretary
Baiiinger, to Assistant Secretary
Pelrce, to Commissioner Dennett and
Chief of Field Service Schwartz.
"Mr. Baiiinger was at Seattle, but
upon icceipt or tne charges ha came
to Washington to ptepare his an
swer. On Monday, Sept. 6, Mr. Bai
iinger reached Beverly, accompanied
by Mr. Lawler, the assistant attorney
gcnoial of the department of justice,
assigned to tho interior department.
Mr. Baiiinger sent to my house on
that date the answers of tho various
persons concerned, together with a
voluminous record of exhibits. I -had
a conference with him the evening of
the djy he came, Sept. C, and then
upon the following evening, Sept. 7.
I tallied over the charges with Mr.
Baiiinger the first evening, and asked
him qupbtlons as suggested them
selves without intimating any conclu
sion, and said that I would examine
tho answers nnd tho record and
1would see him the next day. I sat up
until ii o'clock that night reading the
answers nnd exhibits;, so that at my
next discussion I was advised of the
contents of the entire record and had
made lip my mind that there was
nothing In the charges upon which
Mr. Balllpger or the1 others accused
could be found guilty of either Incom
petency, inefficiency, disjoyalty to the
interests of tho government or dis
honesty. ''Pleads Lack of Time.
"In tho discussion of the second
evening Mr. Lawler, who was present
at my suggestion, discussed the evi
dence at length. I said to Mr. Law
ler that I was very anxious to write
a full stitcment of the case and set
out the reasons for my decision, but
that tlie time for my departure on a
long western trip, occupying two
months, was Just ono week from that
day; that I had some six or seven
set speeches to deliver at tho begin
ning of that journey, and that I could
not give tho time to tho preparation
of such a detailed statement nnd
opinion as I wou'1 like to render In
the matter. I therefore requested
Mr. Lawler to prepare an,oplnlon aa
If ho were presldont.
"During the 8th, 9th and 10th, I
gave such consideration to tho Glavis
record as was consistent with pre
vious engagements, but paid no" at
tention to tho speeches. On ihe 9th
I telegraphed tho attorney general to
como to Beverly that I might consult
with him In regard to tho case. Ho
arrived on Saturday afternoon, Sept.
11, and pursuant to an appointment
mado by telephone he camo to my
house early on Sunday morning,
Sept. 12. Ho then delivered to me
tho draft opinion -prepared by Mr.
Lawler and said that ho had had an
opportunity on coming from Now
York to .read the answer of Mr. Bai
iinger and othors. I then suld to
him that I hod mado up my mind as
to my conclusions and had drafted
part of my opinion, but that I wlshod
him to examine tho full record nnd
bring mo his conclusions beforo I
stated mine. Ho took tho whole rec
ord away,
"During the day I examined the
draft opinion of Mr. Lawler. but its
' Latest , Photograph
Of King George V.
&
One of the luiiil points about being a king Is having your picture taken.
The public demands the Ulng be photographed ever so often. It wants to
Rte If he Is changing. If he looks worried or happier. This picture wns taken
phortly before King (leorgo V. was pi uvluliued. Until after the ottlclal term
of mounting Is over he will uot bo subjected to pu.-.ed photographs.
SO pages ''Id not stato the caso In
the way In whir It I wished It Btated.
It contained references to the evi
dence Which wero useful, but its crit
icism of Sir. PInchot and Mr. Glavis
I dldVnot think It proper or wlso to
adopt. I only used a few paragraphs
from ' It. containing merely 'general
statements.
Wickersham Make Report.
"The attorney general returned In
tho evening with notes of tho exami
nation he had made and reported to
me the "-oncluslona which'vho had
reached, which wero In substantial
accord with my own. We then dfa
cussed the matter at some length;
particularly some " points of law
which wero Involved, nnd took up the
opinion which I had flntBhcd and
made a number of alterations; and
as a result of the discussion I deter
mined the final form which 1 em
ployed and signed tho same on Mon
day, Sept. 13. )
"The conclusions which I reached
wero based upon my reading of the
record and wero fortified by the oral
analysis of the evldonco and tho con
clusions which the attorney genoral
gave mo, using the notes which ho
had made during his reading of the
record. I was -very sorry not to be
able to embody and analyze In mj
II!
Columbus, O., May 1C Miles Poln
dexter, Insurgont, of Washington, In
his speech hero In behalf of the can
didacy of Karl Webber, who is seek
ing to defeat Representative Ed
ward L. Taylor for ronominatlon
In tho Twqlfth district, declared
that "under Cannon In the last six
years the house of representatives
has become no more a really repre
sentative body than tho douma of
Russia, far less than the relchstag of
Germnny" He charged tho speaker's
whole work to have been In favor of
special interests, that Cannon was
against the building of the Panama
canal and tho conservation of natural
resources.
"When old black Joe heard I had
pledged myself to voto against him
for speaker, he safd he would put mo
on the slaughterhouse committee. I
accepted tho appointment nnd havo
been slaughtering all I could."
Urging the nomination of Karl T.
Webber, Polndexter said: "If Taylor
said In Washington ho was nn insur
gent It wtultl causo a ha-ha. I
wouldn't pretmrt to bo a Cannonlte
In Washington city and an Insurgent
In Columbus." '
While Polndo::tor was orating In
Memorial ball, Taylor at a meeting
In tho East Sldo market house was
branding Polndcxter as a "mugwump
and southern Democrat at heart, who
obeys, tho dictates of Champ. Clark.
TAYLOR-WEBB
MT. VERNON, 0.', TUESDAY, MAY 17,
opinion, but the time did not permit
I therefore directed him to embody
In n written mimmary such analysis
and concluslsn as 'he had given me,
file It with tho recojd and date lt,
prior to tho date of my opinion, so"
as to show that my decision Whs for
tified by his summary .of tho eildence
and its conclusions therefrom.
'Sincerely Yours,
"WILLIAM H. TAFT."
CORRECTS STATEMENT
Kerby Tells What He Meant In His
Original Statement.
Washington, May 16. Stenogra
pher Kerby did some more talking.
He had this to say In reforenco to the
statement Issued at the White House
Saturday )n regard to his charges:
"I have nothing more to add to or
take from my original statement. It
was my express Intention not to say
that Lawler dictated the president's
letter of Sept. 13. I did specifically
say that the draft was prepared for
revision It was typewritten, triple
spaced. It Is only just to myself to
say that the Whlto Houso statement
denies tho thing which I did not
charge. I can not go ovor the sub
ject again In detail except before tho
proper committee or authorities."
FIGHT
He also defended his record, criti
cised tho newspapers and other as
sailants of the Payne tail'f bill, and
predicted his own lenominatlon nnd
election. Constantly ho pointed to
ward Memorial hall In his oxcoilatlon
of Polndexter He said: "If you
think Republicans of tho Polndexter
type aro tho right kind of lenders, 1
don't want the nomination." He
sought to read the Washington con
gressman out of the party.
ROOSEVELT
London, May 10. Mr, Roosevelt
arrlvod here this morning. Ho was
mot at Quecnsborough, where ho
landed from the continent, by tho
Earl of Dundonald, representing King
Geoige, and Henry Whlto, formerly
ambassador to Franco, on behalf of
tho United States. ThoywIH bo nt
tacbedto Mr. Itoosovolt's sulto dur
ing tho funoral ceromonlos. Ambas
sador Reld, members of tho embassy
nnd several prominent Americans
mot Mr. Roosevelt at tho Victoria
station,
HAS HOT FINISH
IN LONDON
1910 No. 39
ESCAPED EEN lir
KIDNAPERS nrnnnTcn ,
Zancsvllle, O., May 10. Hugh
Hare, 14, rushed pnntlngly up to Po
liceman Zlmmer and told him that ho
had escaped from a man whom, ho
said, had kidnaped him from his
homo In Beaver Falls, Pa., April 15.
The lad had run for miles clad only
in overalls and shirt.
B! AUT01ST
Akron, O., May "lC The third
child In six weeks met death In the
street as the ilUlmof nn auto acci
dent. Vorna Dunn, 4, daughter of
Clunles Dunn, manager of a coal
company, was struck by an automo
bile driven by Albert Button, and died
while Button w.is hurrjlng with the
girl lo the City hospital. A charge
of manslaughter was placed against
Button.
-v-
THE STO
A HOAX
Zancsvllle, O., May 16. The wide
spread rumor that two Zanesvillo
high school girls are suffering from
leprosy Is absolutely without founda
tion, and tho report Is due to a jok
ing remnri-. Ono of the girls, Miss
Florence Matbcna, 10. used a patent
preparation on her feet to prevent
perspiration, and when she told her
schoolmates that It caused a sore on
her foot one of them remarked that
she had leprosy. Dr. Matthews, the
attending physician, and Health Offi
cer McCormlck, vouch for this state
ment. THE court:
Portsmouth, O., May 16. County
authorities caused a big sensation
here by defying tho courts when
dherlff Gillen nnd his wife, aided by
Probate Judge Beatty, spirited away
Francos Rockwell, 16, just as she had
been oidered released on habeas cor
pus proceedings by Circuit Judge
Walters of ClrcleUllo. She was re
moved in an automobile from the
Jail to Clifford and' hustled aboard a
Norfolk & Western train off for Del
aware. Beatty, In tho face of strong
sentiment for tho girl, had commit
ted her to the Girls' Industrial home
because, during a recent outing In
tho Kentucky hills, she had posed for
Indecent pictures. Her attorneys put
up. a hard fight for her. Judge Wal
Tors, when advised of the sheriff's
action, notified tho Delaware authori
ties not to admit the girl to tho
home.
FATALLY
Xenia, 0 May 16. Frank Jcnko, a
young farmer, was kicked in tho
head nnd probably fatally Injured by
a horso ho had Just bought. His skull
was fractured.
Train Catches Fire.
Marinette, Wis., May 16. A south
bound froight train In flames ran 40
miles into Mcnomlnco. It caught
from a forest flro along tho right of
way. Tho lire was extinguished by
tho city flro. department. Tho most
disastrous forest Are In tho history
of northern Lincoln county Is raging
In tho vicinity of Dudley and Harrison.
KILLED
111
DEFYING
mi lil II
' - Jl sJLWA H Hi Ji WAlLP B IJi j
Court And Unofficial
At Variance
Program For King's Funeral-Body Will Be Removed
From tauRklngbam Place To Westminister Hall To
morrow, Where It WillJJe In State-Diplomas And
Members Of Royal Household View Remains Today
By Invitation QuestioD OfJrecedenceUnsettIed
London, May 10. In the throne
room of Buckingham palace a solemn
vigil Is being continuously maintain
ed around the coffin of King Edward,
and it will be kept up until tho re
moval to Westminster tomorrow for
the public 1 Ing-ln-state. Picked men
from the king's company of tho Gren
adier guards stand motionless, with
arms reveised, around the bier.
Members of the royal family from
time to time enter the throne room
to pray beside the body. The qneen
mother 1s a frequent performer of
these silent orisons. The silent,
statue-like soldiers alone witness her
grief on those occasions. While tho
official reports from the palace unite
in stating that she Is bearing up un
der her bereaiement as well as can
be expected In the circumstances, un
official reports coming from prlvato
sources carry the Intimation that sbP
Is not as well as she should bo in
order to face the strain, necessarily
painful to her, of the many ceremo
nies of the week. The foreign dlplo
ma'llsts and members of the royal
household were admitted to tho
throne room today, they having re
ceived special invitations.
Official Arrangements Announced.
The official arrangements for the
removal of the body to Westminster
hall were- made public. King George,
with his two eldest sons, will walk
In the precession Immediately behind
the gun carriage on which the coffin
will be borne. The foreign royalties
now here, as well as the male mem
bers of the British family, will also
Washington, May 16. Strictly
speaking, Senator Burton of Ohio
may not be n woman-hater, but pre
ceding a recent function here tho so
ciety editor of a Washington paper
determined to describe the gowns of
all tho senators' wives present.
"Mr. Senator," she said, as she ac
costed tno Ohio statesman, "will yon
be kind enough to tell mo what sort
of a gown Mrs. Burton will wear?"
Taking his eyeglasses from his
pocket and putting them cnrefully
upon his nose, the senator fixed the
girl with a glance that froze her to.
the spot and frigidly replied: "Mad
NO WEDDING DELLS
FOR SENATOR BURTON
CALIFORNIA TOWNS
FEEL EARTH
Los Angeles, Cal., May 10. This
city nnd surrounding territory wore
visited . by a series of earthqutko
shocks that alarmed many persons,
but did Httlo damnge beyond break
ing dishes, destroying house orna
ments nnd cracking walls of tho
lighter houses. Pasadena FUffered
tho heaviest damago so far as report
ed. Several buildings wore cracked,
and on Mount Wilson, where tho Car-
TWO CENTS
Accounts Are
follow on fool. Qneen Mary, th
queen mother nnd the other women
of tho royal family and their suites
Will drive in carriages.
Tho orders for tho funeral proces
sion on May 20 have not yet been
issued, and until they are officially
published the solution of the prob
lem of the prcrrdence of the foreign
delegates will not bo known. Besides
the preoodence of rank there is the
precedence of kinship to be consid
ered. The poblllon in the procession
of the representatives of the two
great republics, Franco and the Unit
ed States, Is a matter of some spec
ulation. CAR STRIKE
STILL ON
EaBt Liverpool, O., May 16. Al
though tho Newell Street Railway
company has agreed to pay the now
wage bcale the men demand. It re
fuses to sign an agreement wherein
the closed shop-is- specified. This re
sulted In a general strike on the road
and no care weie operated. An arbi
tratlon clause 13 In the franchise un.
der Which the rompany operates
here. The line extends from this
city tu Newel), W. Va. About 23
men are out.
am, tliere Is no Mrs. Burton, and if L
have anything to say about it there
never will he."
Kills Daughter and Self.
SyraqiiBP, N. Y., May 16. After
murdering her 15-year-old daughter
Hazel B., Mis. Emma Chapman, 47
wifo of Chief of Police Charles F.
Chapman of Baldivlnsvllle, committed
suicide. The dual tragedy, was en
acted In the Chapman home at Bald
wlnsvlllc. Until two weeks ago Mra.
Chapman was. wider the care of a
specialist af a Syracuse hospital, al
most hopelesly .Insane.
neglo obseivntory lb located, '.he tre
mors alarmed ninny travelers who
Lbad climbed tho peak to view tho
Tails From Boat.
Manchester, 0 May. 16. Harrison
Pool, 24, and married" tripped over
a coll of rope on the steamer Glen
dale nt Manchester and was drowned.
His body was uot recovered.
PRICE
SHOCKS
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