The situation in regard to sonic of the rulings of the Interior Department during Secretary Hitchcock's administration may be parenthetically explained by the statement that it was utterly impossible for one man to keep in constant touch with the multitudinous duties of the Deparment. Mr. Hitchcock was obliged to repose a certain amount of confidence in those around him. He was forced from necessity to rely upon the good judgment and integrity of his advisers, and in this he was often deceived. One of those most trusted in this respect was Willis Vandevanter, now a Federal judge in Colorado, but for a long time head of the legal staff of the Interior Department, and the Secretary left much of that branch of duty to his consideration. He prepared most of the important decisions of the Department affecting momentous questions, so that the duties of the Secretary in this connection were merely perfunctory. There is no doubt that had Secretary Hitchcock been in a position to analyze carefully every question coming before him, some of the decisions emanating from the Department during his term would never have been rendered, as no one has ever questioned his honesty of purpose, and his whole official career indicates that he is a man of irreproachable character.
As to Mr. Vandevanter, his connection with the Interior Department is best told in an Associated Press dispatch from Salt Lake, dated December 27, 1906. detailing the proceedings of the Interstate Commerce Commission in its investigation of the methods of acquiring coal lands by the Rio Grande Railroad and its allied companies, the Utah Fuel Co.. and the Pleasant Valley Coal Co.
"During the hearing here today, a glimpse of the real power behind the throne was given, when it was stated by Government Land Agents that they had been compelled to see Senator Francis E. Warren, of Wyoming, regarding official business of the Land Department. Senator Warren is charged with having ruled the General Land Office for a number of years. It was his influence and that of Senator C. D. Clarke, of Wyoming, which secured the appointment, during President McKinley's administration, of Willis Vandevanter to be Assistant Attorney-General for the Interior Department. Vandevanter was the legal conscience of the Land Department, and had been attorney for the companies charged with stealing the land."
Coincident with the beginning of the Garfield administration arose a demand from somewhere that a Western man should fill the position of Commissioner of the General Land Office. This office has been a hotbed of intrigue for almost a generation, and it is sad to relate that some of the greatest scandals have affected Western Commissioners, so just why there should have been any extraordinary call for a Westerner under the circumstances surpassess comprehension, unless the explantion is found in subsequent events.
For some reason or other, the sentiment in favor of a Western representative in the General Land Office seemed to center around R. A. Ballinger, the former mayor of Seattle, Wash., a city where the Northern Pacific and other Hill lines controls about everything worth having in a political sense. It has been asserted, in fact, that the law firm of which Mr. Ballinger is a member, has occasionally represented the Hill lines in local litigation, and as Mr. Ballinger himself was "an old college chum" of Secretary Garfield at Harvard, it was but natural that he should be favorably considered. Of course, at first it required a great amount of coaxing to get him to accept the position. He had a worthy precedent in this respect, because it is a matter of record that Caesar thrice refused the crown of Rome, if Shakespeare is of value as a historian, and it is believed that Mr. Ballinger was equally modest—but he got there, just the same.
He finally consented to accept the place upon condition that as soon as he had succeeded in getting the American government—including the General Land Office—in smooth running order, he should be permitted to retire to Seattle—presumably upon his laurels. In the meantime, what has happened? Only this, that during Ballinger's short term of office the Northern Pacific lieu selections have been patented by the wholesale.
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