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Show TAET GETS SCALP OF CHIEFFDRESTER President Summarily Removes Gilford Pinchot From Higli Position. PARTV LEADERS WORRIED OYER' PROBABLE EFFECT Some Believe That Breach Between Be-tween Opposing Factions Will Prove Serious. I WASHINGTON, Jn. 7. GifTord i Pinchot, .chief forester and intimate fricud of Theodore Uooscyelt, tonight was dismissed from the service of tho ITnited States by President Taft for insubordination. Associate l'V)rest.er Overton W. Price and Assistant Law Officer Alexander C. Shaw, Pinchot. !s immediate assistants in tho forestry bureau, followed their chief out of government employ. Thoroughly indignant in-dignant over the action of Mr. lineliot. in inducing Senator Dollivor to read a letter from, him in tho senate yesterday, President Taft today would listen lo 110 advice that the forester's violatiou of executive orders be overlooked pending the inquiry soon to be undcrlakeu by congress. He declared the dignity of the presidential presi-dential nnicc was bein attacked, and he would be unfaithful to his trust if he submitted longer. Political Significance. Air. Taft undoubtedly realizes fully what the dismissal of Forester Pinchot mean? in a political way. He has 1 been convinced for sonic time that the so'-called ' insurgents' ' and other) critics of his administration had en-i listed the service of Mr. Pinchot. ami practically were defying him to dismiss dis-miss Pinchot from " o flice. The latter'? lat-ter'? letter of yesterday, few herej doubl. was written with 1he direct purpose of "putting it squarely up to tho president." The president souuhl to avoid the threatened war as long as. he could, but declared today that; patience had ceased lo be a 1 frtue. Ho picked up the yauge of battle thrown down by Mr. Pinchot through the hand of Senator Sen-ator Dolliver in the senate, and. with the administration supporters, is ready for the coming fray. Outcome Uncertain. Political observers .. in Washington declare that the sit.uafion created- by today. developments is The vrriosr tense in many years. What the outcome out-come will be. 'no one is willing to prophesy. In tho house nf representatives, today to-day Speaker Uannon lost his fust h'ehl to the insurgents, who, combining with the Democrat?., caused to be adopted .an amendment to ihc Bal-linger-Piiichot inquiry, so as to take from the speaker the power to appoint ap-point the house members of the .ioint j-porial committee of investication. ' The marffiu of victory was narrow three votes but the insurgents and Detuocrals alike arc jubilant tonight. The dismissal of Pinchot has lent fuel to the llame of their celebratiou. and they are venturing all manner of predictions pre-dictions as to what will happen. OIoec Vote in House. Three Republicans, not classed as "insurcenls." but who profess their fricudship for Pinchot. voted with the ' insurgents " and Democrats for the amendment, which calls for the selection selec-tion of the house investigators by election from tho floor. Tin1 cabinet was in .special css;on practicallv the entire afternoon, following follow-ing the regular fcssinu of the niornintr. Secretarv Balliuger. cognizant of tho action ihat was about to be taken remained re-mained away from Ihe afleruoou sitting. sit-ting. It Was at the end of this spc- i-in v -..:.,-in 11 Imiirrhf That till! liresidctlt gave out the lel(ei he had wrilten to Air. Piui-hot notifying him that his usefulness use-fulness as a public servant under the present administration was at an end. Wilson Chief Accuser. Secretary 01 Agrieuliure Wilson. Pin-chot's Pin-chot's immediate superior, it appears wrjp odc of the forester's chief accusers. ac-cusers. He told President Taft thai he advised Mr. Pinchot not to send the letter to Senator TJollivcr; that Pinchot Pin-chot had told him he had such a letter in miud. and "could induce Senator Dolliver" to read il on the dav thai President Taft's special message transmitting trans-mitting the altorncv-general s exoneration exonera-tion of Secretary P.allinger was lo be presented to tho' senate. It. was this Morv of Pinchot s apparently ap-parently calculated insubordination that arouf-ed the president to keenest! resent-menl. resent-menl. , ... Mr. Tafl accused Pinchot oj having taken his stand again1 Secretary Balliuger Bal-liuger whftllv upon. Ihe evidence adduced ad-duced bv I,, ft. Olavis and without regard re-gard for the evidence on the other side, on file in the interior department. The letter directing Secret ary Wilsou to dismiss the forester forthwith was carefullv framed in the afternoon .fit-tin" .fit-tin" of Ihe cabinet, and was reviped several times before finally being made public. Tt is the president's own statement state-ment of the case. Pinchot. Still Smiles. Mr. Pinchot received tonight the letter let-ter of Ihe president, aud Secretarv "Wilson's "Wil-son's peremptory note of dismissal; but nothing about his demeanor indicated that he was surprised or distressed bv cither. To an accompaniment of sounds of merriment floating down from above stairs, whore there was a party ot "nests, Mr. Pinchot. came down to meet the reporters, in evening dress and silk hat in hand, smiling aud undismayed. Asked if ho would say anything ior publication, he replied: "It will suit mi'- .pist as well it you will make for mo just thnt simple statement- -T have nothing to say. Mr. Pinchot added (hat he probably will say nothing tomorrow, but he would not sav how long he would maintain main-tain his silence. -. . The dismissal of Ihe principal officer offi-cer of the forest service will in no way defer or divert the congressional investigation. in-vestigation. One of tho subjects eager- UoiUinucd on Page Nine. Wt FT GETS SCALP ri OF CHIEF FORESTER f Continued from Paac One. S5 riebaled tonight, wis, the question Wfc 4'Kor the dismissal will rob tho in-3 in-3 S'ifatipn of much of its public intcr-3? intcr-3? or will make it more sensational u5 before. Friends of tho ailminis-jf ailminis-jf Bi'cn hold to the former view and TajEy nrced it upon Mio president, and ;Eutt officers as an argument against JCfummBry dismissal. 2jF Party Split Predicted. I 'friends of Pinchot. on the other hand, Ht for weeks been declaring that the il mfcot "would not dare to dismiss a lifiot": that, it "would cause a tf (neb between Taft and Kooscvclt,'1 T j that it would cause a split in'lthc Koblican parti", as has not been scon ft friends of the nrcsidcuL said iomght (i the actual dismissal of Piuchot tld add nothing to the cmbarrass- t of the iulininist.raf.ion. inasmuch ill the ammunition of Pinchot and I jfirtitans had already been directed $ ptist Secretary linllingcr, aud r wph him, against, the president. S iJsfora possible breach between Mr. p ( and cx-Piesidcnl Kooscvolt, that Jjjett is much debated, but anv dis-i dis-i gion of that is entirely speculative. i t the subject of a party split: all i ipblicnns here regard the situation (ictcdingly serious. ';' Lead to Moro Trouble, f Pjily leaders? in the senate and t fit declare that tho controversy and I inmniary action of the president, a ro r to lead to many harsh wordain tcss. and to much bitterness of ! mz throughout the country. Thoy j t, however, that the president could L irith dignity, have taken any other ri tifc; that Pinchot "had defied tho j jibing," and that there was nothing 4 for the lightning to do. '. teaator Dixon of Montana, one of j few senntors who would bc quoted Kill, said; ! 'J'lam sorry I hat Mr. Pinchot. who is j innu friend of minet wrote the let- i.that resulted in this action. The y it undoubtedly will prejudice his i IttMjn congress, but the episode will i j iffect tho investigation by con-i con-i e. which will be just as thorough f if this action had not been taken." 3 fctator Nelson of Minnesota, who is 3 finnan of tho investigating commit-1 commit-1 i, indicated tochn that no action with P itreucc to Mr. Pinchot would a fleet 1 ! Jfopc or thoroughness of tho in-I in-I in-, J "Jolt" for "Uncle Joo." j Speaker Cannon received his "jolt" ! T in tbc bouse of representatives I tic vol c on the amendment offered 'feprcscntativo Norris of Nebraska. pw?ent leader, aud the vote was Ml) 115, five voting "present " IWpiicxpcetedlv was the ictory ac-Wiihcd ac-Wiihcd that the insurgents and thcir Democratic allies could scnrcelv believe their ears when tho speaker announced the vote. For an instant almost complete com-plete silence roigned; then the storm broke, and for nlmosL a full minute the noise in the chamber was deafening. After that, the Democrats, jubilant that they had helped to pierce the hitherto impervious armor of the speaker, seemed willing to abandon their fight againt the resolution itself, which all afternoon after-noon had appeared too broad to suit them, and all of them voted for it on a viva voce vote. Administrationists Confused. Organization leaders made no attempt to conceal their confusion. There owns a hurried conference at Representative Dalzcll's desk-, and for a time the insurgents in-surgents feared that their triumph was to bo short-lived, as three of twenty-six twenty-six Republicans who voted on the amendment never have been classed with their 'number and they suspected that at least one might have voted in the affirmative that he might move to reconsider should the amendment carry. 13ut no such move was made, ft developed de-veloped that the three regulars who voted for the amendment, were all staunch friends of Chief Forester Pinchot. Pin-chot. They were Representatives Ames of Massachusetts and Fish and Parsons of 2s.cv York. The insurgent ranks had only one deserter, Stcencrson of Minnesota. Strangely enough. Fitzgerald of New York was the only Democrat to cast his vole with the' Republican regulars, although he led the minority fight on the joint resolution. Pinchot 's Friends to the Fore. Republican leaders attributed their defeat to a large number of absentees, but the tide of battle was really turned by Mr. Pinchot s three friends. Nearly the entire day was devoted by the house to the consideration of the joint resolution which was taken up after tho reading of the president's interstate in-terstate commerce and anti-trust message mes-sage had been concluded. The Democrats Demo-crats made their fight, on an attempt to narrow the proposed investigation to the general land office, contending that, as no such charges as had been made against Secretary Ballinger had been pronounced against Forester Pinchot, there was no reason for dragging tho latter into the inquiry. The resolution, as it goes to the senate, sen-ate, provides for an investigating committee com-mittee of twelve members, six to bo appointed by the president of the senate sen-ate and six to be elected by the house Tho President's Letter. President Tuft's letter to Forester Pinchot informing him of his dismissal follows: The "White House. "Washington. Jan. 7, 1010. Sir The secretary of agriculture informs in-forms mc that. or. the I'Sth of December Decem-ber your associate forester, Mr. Price, went to him and proposed lo resign, on tho ground that he had been engaged with Mr. Shaw, assistant law officer. In Instigating the publication in various newspapers and magazines attacking the good name of Secretary Ballinger and charging the interior department and the land ofllce wllli corruption. The sccrc- 'ary thereupon wrote a note to you. un-aM un-aM date of December 20, asking for your recommendation in the premises. You did not answer, but on January 4 you had a conversation with him. In which you said you wished to make a statement state-ment which should he read In the scn-jito scn-jito nt tho same time that my messago transmitting the record in the Glavls case reached there, and that you thought you could induce Senator Dolllver to introduce in-troduce the statement for yon. Tho secretary advised against such a course; but asked you for a recommendation recommend-ation hh to accepting Price's resignation. In order that he might bring the matter to me, lo whom, he told you. it must ultimately come, because I had considered consid-ered tho Glavls charges and had passed upon them. Was Letter That Hurt. Without further conference with the secretary, and before making a report to him. you succeeded In making public. p having it read In tho senate, a letter let-ter from you stating that you had sufficiently suf-ficiently disciplined Messrs. Price and Hllaw by reprimanding them, and that your recommendation would he that no rurlher punishment was required, and this heforo that recommendation was submitted to .tho secretary and mo, whose power and duty It was to determine deter-mine upon Price's admissions as to his complicity -what action should be Liken with respect to his resignation, In order to understand the full purport pur-port of your letter. In which you admit the complicity or Price and Shaw in the publications In tho press, it should be Said tbaL the irravrimen nt tlir. CZInx.le charges was that Secretary Ballinger and the others were all affected by a corrupt wish to patent thirty-thrco so-called so-called Cunningham claims upon coal lands In Alaska: that the question of whether these claims were fraudulent or not remained to be decided upon the evidence after both the United States and the claimants had been heard: that every patent, as an executive act, In completely within the Jurisdiction of the president to direct the. withholding of It In order that, he himself may examine the evidence as to the validity of the claim. Conclusions Reached. These facts understood, the plain intimations inti-mations in your letter are. first, that I hud reached a wrong conclusion as to Ihc good faith of Secretary Ballinger and the officers of tho land office, although al-though you and your subordinates had only seen the evidence of Glavls, the accuser, ac-cuser, and had never seen or read the evidence of those accused or the records that they dlscIoHCd. which were submitted submit-ted to mc: and, second, that you. under these circumstances, without the exploitation ex-ploitation by Messrs. Shaw and Price in the dally, weekly and monthly press of the charges of Glavls, the administration, including the president and the officers of tho Interior department and land office, of-fice, would have allowed certain fraudulent fraudu-lent claims to bc patented on coal lands in Alaska, although the matter had been specifically brought to the attention of the president by tho Glavls charges. Severe Arraignment. You solicited tho opportunity to make such a declaration in congress for the purpose of offsetting, if possible, in the public mind, the president's decision in the Glavls case, supported by the opinion of the attorney-general, after a full examination ex-amination by both, of the evidence adduced ad-duced by the accuser and tho evidence on behalf of the nccustd. while the latter lat-ter evidence you and your subordinates had never seen. You did this against the advice of the secretary of agriculture without notifying notify-ing him that you Intended to do so, and without conferring with mo at all. Your letter was, In effect, an Improper appeal to congress and the public to excuse ex-cuse in advance the guilt of your subordinates sub-ordinates before I could act and against my decision in the Glavls case, before the whole evidence on which that was based, could bo considered. Not Personal Matter. I should bo glad to regard what has happened only as a personal reflection, so that I could pass it over and take no oftlcial cognizance of it. But other and higher considerations must govern mc. When the people of the United States elected mc president, they placed inc in an office of the highest dignity and charged mc with the duty of maintaining maintain-ing that dignity and proper respect for the office on the part pf my subordinates. subordi-nates. Moreover. If I were to pass over tliis matter in silence, it would bc most demoralizing to the discipline of the executive ex-ecutive branch of the government. By your own conduct you have destroyed de-stroyed your usefulness as a helpful subordinate sub-ordinate of the government, and it, therefore, now becomes my duty lo direct di-rect the secretary of agriculture to remove re-move you from your office as forester. Very sincerely yours. WILLIAM II. TAFT. lion. Gilford Pinchot. Forester. |