Show FOLLOWS COURSE OF FORMER SECRETARY I l I j RICHARD A BALLINGER Secretary of the Interior IT PROMOTES lAND VAlUS Richard A Ballinger Secre Secretary Secretary Secretary tary of Interior Discusses His Action in Cancelling tho Garfield Land Withdrawal DECLARES HIS ORDER WAS WHOLLY Cabinet Officer Says That His Withdrawals Protected Fifty j Per Cent More Power Sites Than Action BLAMES CORRESPONDENTS Washington Nov 7 My cancel cancellation cancellation lation of the Garfield withdrawal of ofa a million and a half acres and the substitution of a withdrawal order withholding from fro 1 settlement L location or entry of acres was wholly not subversive sive of the conservation policy It was the next logical step in the prose prosecution prosecution cution of the policy of conserving the water power on the federal domain and one which Secretary Garfield must have taken had he remained in office The first order was a blanket with withdrawal withdrawal I Issued to meet an emergency and without taking time to ascertain Just i where the power sites were located In prosecution of the policy de do demanded 1 mended that as soon as possible po there thereafter thereafter 1 after these sites sUes be located locate and aDd the lands not needed to protect th m be restored re torAd j to entry This statement was made today by 1 Judge R A Ballinger secretary of the in tenor when asked for an explanation of t f his widely discussed dl revocation of ot the tha Garfield order That the Garfield withdrawal was wa a tentative and emergency order is obvious from some soma at C the facts tots connected with it continued the secretary For Por example l there were a number of instances where land thirty and end miles mUes from tile the streams was withdrawn from settlement under that order Again portions of ot th ti streams were not withdrawn at all aU Take the case of the Owyhee river in Oregon forty fort miles of it was skipped entirely while another thirty miles mUes where the stream Is almost level and no ho water power pow r could be developed was Included Then c again many man thousands of acres which had bad been patented that is had passed completely from the possession of th the government were included You must see therefore that It would be an un unwarranted unwarranted unwarranted warranted reflection on Secretary Gar Garfield Garfield field to assume that he would not have hao done precisely what I did ascertain as soon as practicable where the power sits site s were actually actual located an and ana issue a new order withdrawing them from settlement and ADd restoring to entry antI all aU lands not need needed needed needed ed for that purpose Question la Is I Put Fut Mr Secretary it is asserted that you first revoked the Garfield order about abou t April 7 and did not issue your ur new order until May i 4 and that opportunity was thus afforded to those who would secure possession posses ton of the water sites to do so m in inthe n the interim Is that correct That is only partly correct The with withdrawal withdrawal of more than s a million acres not needed to conserve the power sites raised a storm of protest On investigation I found that these protests wore re warrant warranted ed I found further that by utilizing the geological survey surrey instead of the reclamation reclamation reclamation tion service which had been pd by my predecessor I could secure accurate accurate accurate rate information as to he the location f I Ithe the power newer sites On consultation with U the a legal officers office of my jay department I found that I could make withdrawal orders rPt rot retroactive that Is III that I could issue l ue uti wi 1 Ii orders later which would effect i ally protect any power sites within any entries which might have been bf en made in m inthe inthe the interim The Tho reclamation re servin servie when called on for information as to the tha actual location of power sites sUS reported that they did not possess pos any and recommended recommended mended that th the lands withdrawn i le 9 e opened to entry without the usual notice as the lands land had bad been withdrawn only short time Omission of th notice Is ts op optional optional 1 with the secretary secreta nd not a legal requirement The retroactive provision of ef the subsequent withdrawals withdrawal opera td completely to conserve the sites even dur during durIng ing lag the Interim As AI I have said MId not a single power r site has passed pa sed out nf f the possession of the nt during I this s administration I I As a matter of ot fact the withdrawals ordered by me protected l ed V ii i per p r cent morn mor power r sites than were conserved by tin fin Garfield order This implies understand no critiCism of the Garfield order It merely merly shows show conclusively that the Garfield order was tentative and one which any Continued on Page 2 I IT PROMOTES LAND VALUES Continued from Page 1 friend of the conservation policy polley must have replaced with more intelligent with withdrawals withdrawals withdrawals as soon as he could acquire the data on which to base them I speak of withdrawals because there were a number of them My first withdrawal order was dated May 4 1909 1509 and the last which included in included Included and of ot the lands formerly with withdrawn withdrawn withdrawn drawn June 10 1909 but each of these orders contained the language all exist existing existIng existing ing claims filings and entries are tem tern temporarily temporarily suspended No Filing Made As a matter of fact tact there was not a single filing made on a power site during the interim On the other hand the res restoration restoration restoration to entry of over a million acres of land not needed to protect the power sites allayed widespread discontent and thus avoided unnecessarily making enemies for tor the conservation policy In view of the fact that we are dependent on congress for the legislation needed per permanently permanently to protect the power sites it must be obvious that it is highly Important Important Important tant for this department to handle the matter with tact and make as few f w enemies as possible Since June 10 I have bave made additional withdrawals in en entirely entirely entirely new territory In the light of ot your explanation Mr Secretary it seems extraordinary that your our course should have been so widely misunderstood and so extensively mis misrepresented misrepresented misrepresented represented To what do you ascribe the misunderstanding There were a number of ot factors which contributed to that end some of which 1 am not at liberty to discuss I cannot hold some representatives of the press entirely blameless and candor compels me meto meto I Ito to admit that neither can I so hold my myself myself myself self It is probably inevitable that at atthe atthe atthe the beginning of an administration the new members of the cabinet will tall fall to appreciate the advisability I might even say the importance of making perfectly clear cl ar to the th representatives of the press their purpose In the various steps they may deem it necessary to take To em cm employ employ ploy the vernacular they the are now on the Job and unless you gentlemen of the press take the facts into consideration and deal leniently with them misunderstandings misunderstandings misunderstandings standings are aro bound to occur On the theother theother theother other hand I cannot escape the belief bellef that certain correspondents possibly be because because because cause of ot the papers they represent rather welcome an opportunity to write sensa sensational sensational sensational dispatches many of which Involved grave injustice to administration this Deserves Consideration The executive departments are highly high complex Institutions Involving an im lam immense Immense mense variety of Interests over a vast vastI I area of territory and it seems to me rue that the new cabinet officer endeavoring to I familiarize himself with the policies of his predecessor and the purposes of ot his chief to feel teel out the personnel of his de department department and to master the Innumerable problems of administration Is deserving of the utmost consideration from those correspondents whose whoso business it is to nar narrate narrate narrate rate his progress for tor the benefit of an Interested public publiCo Mr Secretary do your orders of ot with withdrawal withdrawal withdrawal protect power sites within the for forest forest forest est reservations was the next question asKed asie They do not Through the director of the geological survey I offered to in include include clude elude power sites on the forest reserva reservations reservations reservations but the offer was declined on the ground gound round that the forest service would take care of such sites Itself Does the law prohibit entry on OD power sites within forest reservations The law does not prohibit entries on power sites anywhere replied the sacra secre i i tary The only obstacle to entries on onI power sites is the temporary order of ot I withdrawal issued by the secretary Interior pending action by congress The law specifically provides that lands In forest reserves valuable for minerals shall shallI I be subject to location and entry under the general gt mining laws I Are there such mineral lands also valuable I i able as power sites within the forest forestI I reservations I That question I cant answer def definitely defInitely I The maps snaps of the geological sur ear survey earvey vey show numerous streams within the reservations many of f which doubtless develop water power Whether or not there ate ale power sites Bites along these streams which are subject to entry as mineral I claims I do not know |