652 



CONSERVATION 



The Row in the Interior Department 



It will be observed that Mr. Ballinger in- 

 sists that he is acting strictly within the 

 law. He is doing what has so often been 

 practised by men in power — construing the 

 law to protect the monopolies instead of the 

 people. It is the old trick. Mr. Pinchot 

 is simply following the path which Roose- 

 velt marked out to protect the public against 

 the ring. When Rlr. Ballinger says that he 

 is following the instructions of the Presidem. 

 it will only be another indication that Eph- 

 raim is joined to his idols. The only question 

 is whether we ought to let him alone. — 

 Peoria (111.) Star. 



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 A Fighter of Men 



Forestry and conservation have not engag- 

 ed all of Gifford Pinchot's time and energy. 

 He was the moving spirit in the Committee 

 on Departmental Methods, which was ap- 

 pointed by President Roosevelt to put the 

 Government othces into proper shape for 

 business. In this work, Mr. Pinchot's ideas 

 of doing away with the duplication of efifort 

 in various bureaus, in reducing "red tape,"' 

 and in applying modern business methods 

 to governmental business was adopted, and 

 the result has been a saving of many millions 

 of dollars to the Government. Then, again, 

 President Roosevelt, recognizing the sig 

 nal administrative ability of Mr. Pinchot, 

 made him a member of the Country Life 

 Commission. Again, Mr. Pinchot was the 

 moving spirit in the investigation which took 

 place. Through the inspiration afforded by 

 the work of this commission to-day, in all 

 sections of the countr}', conferences are being 

 held to put into effect many of Mr. Pinchot's 

 recommendations. Above all things, how- 

 ever, Mr. Pinchot works without varying 

 from the policy that it is better for the Na- 

 tion that the small man should make a living 

 than that the big man should become richer 

 still. In following out that polxy, Gifford 

 Pinchot has had to fight tooth and nail 

 organized bands of land grabbers ; he has 

 had to wage bitter contests against corpora- 

 tions bent upon controlling water rights; he 

 has had to war against politicians of power- 

 ful fiber, who were politicians by grace of 

 the land grabbers, and he has had to show 

 up land thieves, big and little. In certain 

 sections of the West he is not popular with 

 politicians. He has as enemies the worst 

 element of real estate men in the Northwest, 

 and his bitter foes are the lumber thieves of 

 Minnesota and North Dakota. A pulilic man 

 should be praised for enemies of that stripe. 



To the politicians who detest the Roose- 

 \'elt "square deal" policies, men such as 

 Gifford Pinchot and Frederick Newell are 

 obviously disliked. Director Newell and 

 Forester Pinchot, whose policies are really 

 their own, but which were exalted by the 



distinguished approval and public commen- 

 dation of President Roosevelt and which 

 were permitted to expand and materialize 

 by reason of the approval of President Roose- 

 velt, have no idea of changing their policies 

 under the new administration. * * '' 

 More and more, in this country, the 

 people are heeded in matters political, bar- 

 ring, possibly, the tariff, and reclamation and 

 forestry are near to the people, and a toying 

 with their rights will not be tolerated. Let 

 the storm come, and the ones to bob up 

 serenely after the hurricane will be the men 

 who stand for the "square deal." — JVilliams- 

 porf (Pa.) Grit. 



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Titanic Struggle over Conservation 



Titanic forces are gathering in the con- 

 troversy with regard to the proper Govern- 

 ment policy of conservation. A struggle has 

 begun which is likely to be as important, 

 before it ends, as any that has entered the 

 politics of the Nation since the Spanish war. 



We are not prepared to say who is right, 

 because we do not know; but we do know 

 that a tremendous principle is at stake, in- 

 volving the welfare of the American people 

 for centuries to come. * * * 



Mr. Pinchot gives an earnest of his sin- 

 ceritv in the present controversy by staking 

 his ofifice upon it. He knew when he at- 

 tacked Mr. Ballinger that the result would 

 probably be the retirement of one or the 

 other to private life, and that he (Pinchot") 

 was burning his political bridges behind him. 

 We like to see a man who does not put the 

 chance of retaining his ofificial job above 

 evervthing else. — Norfolk (Va.) Virgiiiiaii- 

 Pilo't. 



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Mathews on the Water-power Trust 



In his address to the Irrigation Congress, 

 John L. Mathews, representing the Lakes-to- 

 the-Gulf Deep Waterways Association, said, 

 in part : 



"What is the real condition as regards irri- 

 gation in Montana ? 



"There stands the Great Falls Water-power 

 and Townsite Company, owned by the Butte 

 Electric and Power Companv, owned, in 

 turn, by the North American Company, con- 

 trolled, in turn, by the General Electric Com - 

 pan}' — chief constituent member of the 

 Water-power Trust — there it stands, hogging 

 the Missouri. 



"It has filed on all water which passes 

 Great Falls. 



"Above the falls is the arid Prickly Pear 

 Valley and much other land which is suit- 

 able for irrigation. Montana wants to take 

 out water for irrigation on this land. Not 

 one drop can it take without violating the 

 so-called rights of the monopoly. They 

 must have it all. Governor Norris this year 



