The Warehouse Gang and the Land Office Thieves
A biting satire linking local corruption in Tacoma to the national betrayal of public land trusts under the Taft administration.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Once upon a time there was a mayor who appointed a chief of police called Jim, who ordered a watch on the public warehouse to stop the theft of valuable packages. A roundsman named Dick grumbled, knowing the 'warehouse gang,' but the order was enforced. After an election, the new mayor appointed Dick as chief of police, who immediately withdrew the watch, allowing the gang to return. This local pattern mirrors the national scene: Richard A. Ballinger, commissioner of the land office, has replaced the reformist policies of Garfield. Where Roosevelt and Garfield sought to protect public water and coal rights from land thieves, Ballinger claims the law cannot prevent such actions until after a crime is committed. The heritage of the future—your children's land—is being ceded to great thieves who covet it.
“And the heritage of the future, gentle reader, your heritage and the heritage of your children, is in those public lands.”
This piece uses a local parable to attack the Ballinger-Pinchot controversy, a defining conservation conflict of the early 20th century. It highlights the recurring fear that public assets will be liquidated by officials in the pockets of industry.
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