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(gentle music)

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[Announcer] There are,
I think, undeniably,

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new winds sweeping across America.

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They are indeed gusty and
changeable, but they are new.

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And they will alter
what happens in Montana

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and whether, for better or worse,

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does depend on Montanans and how they

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or you read those winds.

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(inspiring music)

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(soft music)

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At the turn of the century,

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arsenic poisoning of livestock and crops

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was the cry from the Deer Lodge farmers.

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Total denial of responsibility

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was the response from the accused

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Amalgamated Copper Company.

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As a result, the United
States government stepped in,

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attempting to protect
the rights of the land.

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Toole focuses, in particular,

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on Teddy Roosevelt's role
in overseeing this issue,

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and he points out the recurrence

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of the Treasure State's struggle

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between government and big business.

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During the Bliss case, however,

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a strange thing had happened.

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The Farmers' Association, now
pretty largely in despair,

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had sent a petition to
a very peculiar man,

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not really with much hope

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that anyone would read the petition,

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but this peculiar man did,

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and he happened to be
president of the United States,

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and his name was Theodore Roosevelt,

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and he made a note to himself,

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having read the petition,

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that the next time he came West,

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he would look into this matter.

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And that was to have some
very peculiar results.

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Now, Theodore Roosevelt happened,

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as I think most of you
know, to love the West.

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He also happened to be a conservationist,

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or if you wish, an environmentalist,

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and he happened to appoint

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an extremely strong attorney
general of the United States,

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whose name was Charles Bonaparte,

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a distant relative of Napoleon's.

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The latter, after he had thought

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about the petition for a while,

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he sent to Montana

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to look into the complaints

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of the Deer Lodge Farmers' Association.

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Now, let me make it clear
that Roosevelt's intent

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was not to deal solely
with the Anaconda smelter.

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He had been aware for some time

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that the whole West was
plagued by copper smelters

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and all of the byproduct
coming out of their stacks,

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and this concerned him greatly,

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because he was very
knowledgeable about the West.

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What he thought was that if he could hook

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Standard Oil Company,
the biggest of them all,

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and make them clean up,

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then the rest of the job
of cleaning up smelting

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in the West would be relatively simple,

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and this was obviously
the way to take them on,

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take on Standard Oil.

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Bonaparte came out and
went back to Washington

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and made a report to Roosevelt saying

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that the valley was indeed being poisoned,

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but that they could hang
a lawsuit on the fact

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that so was the national
forest around Anaconda,

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around Deer Lodge, around Butte,

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around Garrison, et cetera.

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This was national forest, and therefore,

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the government had a peg upon
which to hang its lawsuit.

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We have all come, I think, to
think of Theodore Roosevelt

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as being a very impulsive man,

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and I suppose, indeed, he was.

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But in this case, he was not.

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He recognized power when he
saw it, namely, Standard Oil.

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Bonaparte was a very, very bright man,

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but he also knew power when he saw it,

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and he wrote a memo to the
president from which I quote.

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Because of over production,

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all the large copper mining interests

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in the West would be more than willing

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to close down temporarily,

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and Amalgamated, at Butte,
Anaconda, and elsewhere,

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has already prepared
to curtail production.

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If we sue now, they would
doubtless seize upon it

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as a pretext to close
and let the cry go out

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that under the persecution
of the administration,

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thousands of miners had
been thrown out of work.

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And so, Bonaparte's advice
to Roosevelt was, quote,

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let us wait until their stocks are low.

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In the meantime, let us
prepare most thoroughly.

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And that they did.

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They sent experts into the field from what

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was then called the Bureau
of Forestry and Geology.

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They studied the soil,

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they studied the wilting pine needles

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on national forest lands.

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They sampled the air with
surprisingly sophisticated

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ambient air measuring devices.

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And when they returned,

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what they had found
deeply shocked Roosevelt.

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Among other things, he dispatched
the famous Gifford Pinchot

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to oversee the entire operation

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which he was now planning for
Standard Oil and Amalgamated.

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The attorney general was told

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that action against
Amalgamated should be given

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the Department of
Justice's highest priority.

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The attorney general
reported, and I quote,

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"The smelter was placed
in its present location

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"exclusively for the
convenience of its owners.

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"The choice of the site was deliberate

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"and with full knowledge of the damage

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"which would result from the
operation of the smelter."

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And he continued, "Sulfur dioxide

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"is the most destructive
chemical agent known to science,

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"as far as vegetation is concerned.

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"Positions here testify fully
to its deleterious effects

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"upon the human system,
especially those persons suffering

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"from any respiratory ailment."

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The president sent a
note back to Bonaparte.

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Press on, be thorough.

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Do not let them escape.

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I will give this matter my
continuing personal attention.

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Now, I'd like to remind you

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that this is a very powerful
president of the United States,

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a very powerful attorney general,

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and they say press on,

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we will give this the highest priority

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of the Department of Justice.

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On October 21st, 1908, Bonaparte

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brought the Amalgamated file
to the White House personally,

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and in the room was the
senator from Montana,

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Joseph M. Dixon.

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At this time, Dixon was not
violently anti-Anaconda company.

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If you've read parts of
your second textbook,

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you know that he is about

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to become violently anti-Anaconda company,

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but he isn't in 1908.

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And he warned the president,

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of whom he was a very close friend,

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in fact, he was destined

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to handle President Roosevelt's
Bull Moose campaign,

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that such a lawsuit would
mean catastrophe for Montana,

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and he wished that the president
would cease and desist.

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Roosevelt replied to
Dixon that he didn't care,

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that it was his last term anyway,

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that he wanted this company stopped,

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politics or no politics,

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or otherwise he couldn't handle

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and nobody else could handle the poisoning

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of the West on a much broader basis.

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But he said that he would nonetheless meet

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with the representatives of Amalgamated,

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provided representatives

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of the Deer Lodge Farmers'
Association were also there.

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Now, at home, here in Montana,

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all of the company-owned newspapers

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were turning with great venom, of course,

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on the administration, but I suspect

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that the president of the United States

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was not very much worried
about the Montana press.

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On December 5th, 1908,
the meeting took place.

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The company attorney at that meeting

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was John D. Ryan, about whom more later,

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speaking for the farmers
was Nick Bielenberg,

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and other farmers.

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Now, Roosevelt listened to long arguments

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on both sides, and then he replied.

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And he told the Amalgamated Company

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or Standard Oil or Anaconda,

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that this could not go on,

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that the national forest
was being poisoned

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on a very widespread basis,

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that Amalgamated had three options,

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that if they met these options

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or any one of them, the
government would not sue.

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I'm sure that he knew
that two of the options

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would not and could not be met.

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The first option was
move the Washoe smelter,

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move the smelter to Great Falls,

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because if you move the
smelter to Great Falls,

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there isn't any net public domain

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or national forest around there,

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and therefore, we couldn't sue you.

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The second was, move the
smelter back to Butte,

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because so badly damaged has Butte been

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that you can't damage it any more.

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(audience laughing)

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The third alternative, and the
one that he meant, was this.

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He said, "Convert the Washoe smelter's

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"sulfur dioxide fumes," of
which they had a great plenty,

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"into sulfuric acid and
manufacture fertilizer."

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And he pointed out the technical
feasibility of doing this,

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that it had been done before,

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that it was, at that present
time being done in Tennessee,

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that the mixture produced was called then

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and still is, super phosphate,

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and the president said,
"Now, do not say, Mr. Ryan,

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"that this is not technically possible,

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"for if you do not know
how to do it, we do,

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"and we will show you how."

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Ryan said, "But Mr. President,

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"there is no market for
fertilizer in the West."

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The president replied,
"The West needs fertilizer,

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"Mr. Ryan, so I suggest
you create a market."

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Well, the meeting broke up.

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Roosevelt remarked to Bonaparte

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that it looked like
they would have to sue,

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but he was worried.

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And government attorneys
were also worried.

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One of them, the man in charge
of all government attorneys,

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the solicitor general, said,

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"Well, Mr. President, there is
the Montana situation itself.

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"A suit will be filed in a territory

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"which has hitherto been a battleground

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"for the Amalgamated and Heinze interests,

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"where open confessions and sales

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"of political and even judicial influence

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"were lightly looked upon."

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Now again, I want to repeat that Roosevelt

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was not unaware of the
power of Standard Oil,

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and he told the solicitor general,

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and again, notice how compelling
the threat of shutdown is.

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And I quote the president.

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"It seems to me imperative
that there shall be full

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"and careful continuing
investigation of this suit.

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"To follow any other course
would be, it seems to me,

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"to act without regard
to the people of Montana.

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"Yes, to win would satisfy us,

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"but if they close, what
of the people out there?

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"We must look carefully before we leap.

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"It is a matter of common sense.

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"We must first find out

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"if we may not destroy
20 times what we save."

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So the attorney general
and the solicitor general

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and the president talked for
a while about compromises,

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and "Would Amalgamated,

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asked Bonaparte, "promise to clean up?"

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Roosevelt replied, and I quote,

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"Well, if experience is to be believed,

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"promises will be made only to be broken."

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Remember, this is the year 1908,

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and that is the president
of the United States,

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referring to the Anaconda Company.

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Promises will be made only to be broken.

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As you all know, they have
never made any promise

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-which they broke, ever.
-(audience laughing)

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It's cheap.

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Roosevelt told 'em now to turn out

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all the government expertise necessary

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to convince Amalgamated that it could

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and that it should get into
the fertilizer business

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and thus make the process
of cleaning up profitable.

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Notice, however, the
growing reluctance to sue?

258
00:14:03,270 --> 00:14:05,060
Meanwhile, of course, Amalgamated,

259
00:14:05,060 --> 00:14:08,222
or Anaconda, was hardly idle.

260
00:14:08,222 --> 00:14:10,440
It had its experts in the field,

261
00:14:10,440 --> 00:14:13,490
all instructed to find it impossible

262
00:14:13,490 --> 00:14:15,620
to go into the fertilizer business.

263
00:14:15,620 --> 00:14:20,360
Attorney General Bonaparte
now begins to get angry.

264
00:14:20,360 --> 00:14:22,100
He urged Roosevelt to file suit

265
00:14:22,100 --> 00:14:24,030
before his term ran out,

266
00:14:24,030 --> 00:14:26,470
and he sent a memo to the president.

267
00:14:26,470 --> 00:14:28,330
The real effect of the government suit

268
00:14:28,330 --> 00:14:30,580
would not be to stop the Anaconda works,

269
00:14:30,580 --> 00:14:32,520
in spite of their threats,

270
00:14:32,520 --> 00:14:34,760
but to compel a corporation whose record

271
00:14:34,760 --> 00:14:36,980
as to its regard for the public interest

272
00:14:36,980 --> 00:14:39,160
and for its own civic duties

273
00:14:39,160 --> 00:14:41,623
is very, very far from satisfactory.

274
00:14:42,980 --> 00:14:46,310
It was now, however,
more evident than ever

275
00:14:46,310 --> 00:14:48,400
that Amalgamated was stalling,

276
00:14:48,400 --> 00:14:50,760
awaiting Roosevelt's and Bonaparte's

277
00:14:50,760 --> 00:14:53,960
and Pinchot's departure from office.

278
00:14:53,960 --> 00:14:57,520
Bonaparte grew still more furious,

279
00:14:57,520 --> 00:15:00,690
and he wrote the president
again, and I quote.

280
00:15:00,690 --> 00:15:03,280
No reliance can be placed upon any effort

281
00:15:03,280 --> 00:15:06,990
at amicable negotiations
with these Anaconda people.

282
00:15:06,990 --> 00:15:09,210
They have stalled on us for months now.

283
00:15:09,210 --> 00:15:10,890
They will controvert every point

284
00:15:10,890 --> 00:15:13,290
and delay as long as possible.

285
00:15:13,290 --> 00:15:15,490
The only point before
you, as the president

286
00:15:15,490 --> 00:15:19,150
of the United States,
is to sue or not to sue.

287
00:15:19,150 --> 00:15:21,840
We have not made a step
in advance for two months,

288
00:15:21,840 --> 00:15:25,133
and that suits the Anaconda
people perfectly well.

289
00:15:26,349 --> 00:15:28,890
A week later, a furious Bonaparte

290
00:15:28,890 --> 00:15:31,870
again sent a memo to the president.

291
00:15:31,870 --> 00:15:34,490
Mr. Kelley and his clients simply believe

292
00:15:34,490 --> 00:15:37,180
that the government shall
not have the temerity

293
00:15:37,180 --> 00:15:40,670
even to bring a suit to get
rid of an admitted evil.

294
00:15:40,670 --> 00:15:44,450
They go beyond that and they
make demands of us, sir.

295
00:15:44,450 --> 00:15:46,470
They, sir, make demands of us,

296
00:15:46,470 --> 00:15:49,980
namely, that we subsidize
and guarantee them a profit

297
00:15:49,980 --> 00:15:53,410
on the fertilizer business
should they go into it.

298
00:15:53,410 --> 00:15:56,440
Mr. Roosevelt replied as follows, however.

299
00:15:56,440 --> 00:16:00,150
I would sue, indeed, again and again,

300
00:16:00,150 --> 00:16:03,310
but less than a fortnight
of my term remains,

301
00:16:03,310 --> 00:16:05,830
and inasmuch as the suit
would have to be carried on

302
00:16:05,830 --> 00:16:09,240
under my successor, it
does not seem to me wise

303
00:16:09,240 --> 00:16:11,263
to begin it at this time.

304
00:16:12,100 --> 00:16:16,373
And so, we come to President
William Howard Taft,

305
00:16:17,270 --> 00:16:20,467
and to the dismay of
the Amalgamated Company

306
00:16:20,467 --> 00:16:24,440
and the utter fury of the
captive Montana press,

307
00:16:24,440 --> 00:16:27,210
Taft and his new attorney general,

308
00:16:27,210 --> 00:16:30,350
a man by the name of George Wickersham,

309
00:16:30,350 --> 00:16:34,050
pursued the Anaconda case as if

310
00:16:34,050 --> 00:16:36,860
no one had ever dropped the ball.

311
00:16:36,860 --> 00:16:41,420
The pressure, of course, to
stop this case was enormous,

312
00:16:41,420 --> 00:16:43,100
most of it coming from Congress.

313
00:16:43,100 --> 00:16:45,423
Remember now, this is Standard Oil.

314
00:16:46,560 --> 00:16:49,760
Taft actually sent again economic teams

315
00:16:49,760 --> 00:16:53,300
all over the West, to sample
the market for fertilizer.

316
00:16:53,300 --> 00:16:57,170
These economists found the
potential for fertilizer,

317
00:16:57,170 --> 00:17:00,380
with a little education, simply enormous,

318
00:17:00,380 --> 00:17:03,280
and that's a quote from Wickersham.

319
00:17:03,280 --> 00:17:05,760
But one economist wrote back to Wickersham

320
00:17:05,760 --> 00:17:07,140
a very interesting note.

321
00:17:07,140 --> 00:17:09,090
In the first place, he said,

322
00:17:09,090 --> 00:17:11,220
he was being followed by, quote,

323
00:17:11,220 --> 00:17:13,990
a thin, black-mustached chap

324
00:17:13,990 --> 00:17:16,280
who was most interested in my movements.

325
00:17:16,280 --> 00:17:17,890
And he wrote further.

326
00:17:17,890 --> 00:17:20,970
The farther my examination extends,

327
00:17:20,970 --> 00:17:25,603
the more tracks of an
Amalgamated cloven hoof I find.

328
00:17:26,960 --> 00:17:31,960
Wickersham sent an
interesting memo to his staff.

329
00:17:32,780 --> 00:17:35,810
I quote, hereafter, any negotiations,

330
00:17:35,810 --> 00:17:39,410
promises, or proposals will
be conducted in writing.

331
00:17:39,410 --> 00:17:41,410
Every verbal statement heretofore made

332
00:17:41,410 --> 00:17:42,850
by this company's representatives

333
00:17:42,850 --> 00:17:46,240
invariably resulted in misunderstanding,

334
00:17:46,240 --> 00:17:49,620
or I should more properly say, in lies.

335
00:17:49,620 --> 00:17:52,640
When performance was called for,

336
00:17:52,640 --> 00:17:54,363
they have never performed.

337
00:17:55,490 --> 00:17:58,477
Wickersham, however, was
still determined to sue.

338
00:17:58,477 --> 00:18:01,677
"Negotiations," he said, "are
useless with this company.

339
00:18:01,677 --> 00:18:04,217
"They will fake things, they will lie,

340
00:18:04,217 --> 00:18:05,797
"and they will play for time."

341
00:18:07,040 --> 00:18:10,030
And Wickersham still
had a cause of action,

342
00:18:10,030 --> 00:18:12,300
because he could still sue for damages

343
00:18:12,300 --> 00:18:15,730
to the national forest,
and he was determined

344
00:18:15,730 --> 00:18:19,070
to do so, and he did so.

345
00:18:19,070 --> 00:18:23,550
On March 16th, 1910, a suit in equity

346
00:18:23,550 --> 00:18:26,110
was filed in the Circuit Court of Appeals

347
00:18:26,110 --> 00:18:27,807
in Helena, Montana.

348
00:18:27,807 --> 00:18:30,640
The suit asked for an injunction

349
00:18:30,640 --> 00:18:33,463
to stop the smelter until it cleaned up.

350
00:18:34,980 --> 00:18:37,840
Of course, the uproar in the
Montana press was enormous,

351
00:18:37,840 --> 00:18:41,090
and so was, I might add,
the uproar in Congress,

352
00:18:41,090 --> 00:18:43,790
damages to the national forest.

353
00:18:43,790 --> 00:18:46,880
Government scientists had
swarmed over this entire area

354
00:18:46,880 --> 00:18:50,000
more than once, no cost had been spared,

355
00:18:50,000 --> 00:18:53,650
they had massive evidence
of poisoned earth and grass

356
00:18:53,650 --> 00:18:56,600
and trees, over many
hundreds of square miles

357
00:18:56,600 --> 00:18:58,320
of national forest.

358
00:18:58,320 --> 00:19:01,100
They had, as I say, surprisingly effective

359
00:19:01,100 --> 00:19:04,580
ambient air samples, and all demonstrated

360
00:19:04,580 --> 00:19:07,070
a poisoning of massive proportion

361
00:19:07,070 --> 00:19:11,330
and monstrous density
on the national forest.

362
00:19:11,330 --> 00:19:15,270
As the case proceeded,
Cornelius F. Kelley began

363
00:19:15,270 --> 00:19:17,733
to bend and to talk settlement.

364
00:19:18,865 --> 00:19:23,320
Wickersham wrote to him, are
you talking about a contract,

365
00:19:23,320 --> 00:19:25,370
a written, immutable contract

366
00:19:25,370 --> 00:19:27,770
that you will clean up
and that we will see

367
00:19:27,770 --> 00:19:30,760
that you do, or close you down?

368
00:19:30,760 --> 00:19:34,010
To which Kelley replied, yes.

369
00:19:34,010 --> 00:19:36,143
And so, an agreement was signed.

370
00:19:37,150 --> 00:19:38,880
What did it specify?

371
00:19:38,880 --> 00:19:41,040
It's a very, very interesting agreement.

372
00:19:41,040 --> 00:19:43,360
It was as tight as a drum.

373
00:19:43,360 --> 00:19:46,030
There was simply no way now out

374
00:19:46,030 --> 00:19:49,293
of cleaning up by Anaconda, apparently.

375
00:19:50,200 --> 00:19:53,447
In return for this agreement, Kelley said,

376
00:19:53,447 --> 00:19:57,297
"Okay, Mr. Attorney General,
but now will you drop the suit

377
00:19:57,297 --> 00:20:00,260
"involving the poisoning
of the national forest?"

378
00:20:00,260 --> 00:20:04,367
To which Wickersham replied,
"No way will I do that.

379
00:20:04,367 --> 00:20:07,267
"I'm going to hold that
lawsuit over your heads

380
00:20:07,267 --> 00:20:10,817
"like the sword of Damocles
until I am satisfied

381
00:20:10,817 --> 00:20:14,370
"that you have indeed cleaned up."

382
00:20:14,370 --> 00:20:16,913
The agreement, in essence, did this.

383
00:20:18,680 --> 00:20:21,310
A perpetual board was to be appointed,

384
00:20:21,310 --> 00:20:23,323
of experts, mining engineers,

385
00:20:24,470 --> 00:20:26,800
to preside over the cleaning up

386
00:20:26,800 --> 00:20:29,500
of the fumes of this one smelter.

387
00:20:29,500 --> 00:20:32,080
This board, appointed by the president

388
00:20:32,080 --> 00:20:33,740
and confirmed by the Senate,

389
00:20:33,740 --> 00:20:36,250
have the right to shut the smelter down

390
00:20:36,250 --> 00:20:38,805
without further recourse to anyone

391
00:20:38,805 --> 00:20:42,413
if it did not feel that sufficient
progress was being made.

392
00:20:43,350 --> 00:20:45,000
The board consisted, as I say,

393
00:20:45,000 --> 00:20:47,610
of three outside scientific experts

394
00:20:47,610 --> 00:20:49,550
to be appointed by the government.

395
00:20:49,550 --> 00:20:51,810
Vacancies on the board to be filled

396
00:20:51,810 --> 00:20:55,330
by presidential appointment
and confirmation of the Senate.

397
00:20:55,330 --> 00:20:57,470
The board was to report directly

398
00:20:57,470 --> 00:20:59,670
to the attorney general
of the United States,

399
00:20:59,670 --> 00:21:03,720
who was empowered to
close the smelter down

400
00:21:03,720 --> 00:21:05,770
unless progress were made.

401
00:21:05,770 --> 00:21:08,700
The Anaconda Company agreed
to follow all recommendations

402
00:21:08,700 --> 00:21:11,650
of this board, and that if it did not,

403
00:21:11,650 --> 00:21:13,740
by a simple majority vote,

404
00:21:13,740 --> 00:21:16,330
the board would close the smelter.

405
00:21:16,330 --> 00:21:19,270
The damage suit was merely
to be held in abeyance,

406
00:21:19,270 --> 00:21:22,433
to be resumed if the board so recommended.

407
00:21:23,600 --> 00:21:25,700
The three commissioners first appointed

408
00:21:25,700 --> 00:21:28,200
were very prominent mining executives.

409
00:21:28,200 --> 00:21:31,000
I don't think their names matter much,

410
00:21:31,000 --> 00:21:35,340
John Hays Hammond, Louis D.
Ricketts, and J. A. Holmes.

411
00:21:35,340 --> 00:21:38,200
Hammond was a lawyer, and
Holmes was the director

412
00:21:38,200 --> 00:21:41,300
of the US Bureau of Mines.

413
00:21:41,300 --> 00:21:43,260
The commission was given adequate funds

414
00:21:43,260 --> 00:21:46,860
to hire whatever additional
expertise it needed,

415
00:21:46,860 --> 00:21:48,510
and so now it is perfectly clear

416
00:21:48,510 --> 00:21:50,520
that the government has won,

417
00:21:50,520 --> 00:21:53,520
that Anaconda is really tied up tight,

418
00:21:53,520 --> 00:21:58,253
and of course, the problem is
about to be solved, isn't it?

419
00:21:59,240 --> 00:22:03,310
Well, Anaconda immediately
began to argue with the board.

420
00:22:03,310 --> 00:22:07,660
It did try various devices,
including corn cobs again.

421
00:22:07,660 --> 00:22:08,800
None worked.

422
00:22:08,800 --> 00:22:12,680
There was furious activity,
but nothing changed.

423
00:22:12,680 --> 00:22:16,130
The board then hired six
independent engineers

424
00:22:16,130 --> 00:22:18,060
to come out here to help.

425
00:22:18,060 --> 00:22:21,430
They came, they helped,
and they went home.

426
00:22:21,430 --> 00:22:25,880
There was now, it was
apparent, enormous pressure

427
00:22:25,880 --> 00:22:29,053
on these three men from all sides.

428
00:22:30,170 --> 00:22:32,410
Hammond reported to the attorney general

429
00:22:32,410 --> 00:22:34,300
that things were very difficult,

430
00:22:34,300 --> 00:22:37,240
that they were moving
very slowly, but quote,

431
00:22:37,240 --> 00:22:40,310
we have the hope of the
ultimate elimination

432
00:22:40,310 --> 00:22:42,460
of sulfur dioxide.

433
00:22:42,460 --> 00:22:44,973
But he added, it seems not unlikely

434
00:22:44,973 --> 00:22:46,870
that some time may elapse

435
00:22:46,870 --> 00:22:49,040
before any thoroughly practicable results

436
00:22:49,040 --> 00:22:52,110
can be obtained from this work.

437
00:22:52,110 --> 00:22:57,070
Later, in a report, the
board said, and I quote,

438
00:22:57,070 --> 00:22:59,000
because the mineral industry is one

439
00:22:59,000 --> 00:23:01,950
of the great basic
industries of this country,

440
00:23:01,950 --> 00:23:04,970
it is entitled to full consideration,

441
00:23:04,970 --> 00:23:06,890
and this company should
be accorded freedom

442
00:23:06,890 --> 00:23:08,980
to work out the smoke problem

443
00:23:08,980 --> 00:23:11,520
to the benefit of all concerned.

444
00:23:11,520 --> 00:23:13,320
You do remember, do you not now

445
00:23:13,320 --> 00:23:16,090
that a count above 4,000 citizens of Butte

446
00:23:16,090 --> 00:23:19,063
had dropped dead from this sort of thing,

447
00:23:20,040 --> 00:23:22,120
but that does not mean, however,

448
00:23:22,120 --> 00:23:24,090
that the company should not be accorded

449
00:23:24,090 --> 00:23:26,670
the freedom to work out the smoke problem

450
00:23:26,670 --> 00:23:29,220
to the benefit of all concerned, does it?

451
00:23:29,220 --> 00:23:30,980
Of course not.

452
00:23:30,980 --> 00:23:33,410
Members of the board
died, they were replaced.

453
00:23:33,410 --> 00:23:34,610
Time went by.

454
00:23:34,610 --> 00:23:36,480
Reports were made.

455
00:23:36,480 --> 00:23:40,910
A last report was made in 1920.

456
00:23:40,910 --> 00:23:44,210
It ran to 119 pages.

457
00:23:44,210 --> 00:23:46,060
It was a remarkable document,

458
00:23:46,060 --> 00:23:48,420
and it took that many pages to explain

459
00:23:48,420 --> 00:23:51,290
why the Anaconda Company had never done

460
00:23:51,290 --> 00:23:54,630
what it had sullenly covenanted to do

461
00:23:54,630 --> 00:23:57,110
and why the board had never shut it down.

462
00:23:57,110 --> 00:24:01,460
In 119 pages, the reason,
economic hardship,

463
00:24:01,460 --> 00:24:04,160
due to a shutdown in Montana.

464
00:24:04,160 --> 00:24:08,110
But still, you know,
there was the old threat

465
00:24:08,110 --> 00:24:10,070
of the damage suit, and the damage

466
00:24:10,070 --> 00:24:13,510
to the national forest, and
the sword that Wickersham

467
00:24:13,510 --> 00:24:15,520
had suspended over the company's head.

468
00:24:15,520 --> 00:24:18,550
So let's go back now to Wickersham.

469
00:24:18,550 --> 00:24:21,840
Just before he left office, Wickersham,

470
00:24:21,840 --> 00:24:24,350
disgusted and disgruntled,

471
00:24:24,350 --> 00:24:26,763
decided to reinstitute the suit.

472
00:24:27,650 --> 00:24:29,840
He'd already lost faith in the board.

473
00:24:29,840 --> 00:24:31,400
He thought they were pusillanimous,

474
00:24:31,400 --> 00:24:33,390
they had collapsed under pressure.

475
00:24:33,390 --> 00:24:36,160
He believed and stated that
they had knuckled under

476
00:24:36,160 --> 00:24:37,503
and that it was hopeless.

477
00:24:38,430 --> 00:24:41,900
But you know, when he went
to reinstitute that suit,

478
00:24:41,900 --> 00:24:45,750
he found that a strange
thing had happened.

479
00:24:45,750 --> 00:24:49,103
All of the national forest
which had been damaged,

480
00:24:50,050 --> 00:24:52,730
all of the national forest encompassed

481
00:24:52,730 --> 00:24:56,650
by the original lawsuit now belonged

482
00:24:56,650 --> 00:24:57,850
to the Anaconda Company.

483
00:24:59,060 --> 00:25:01,821
That's right, belonged
to the Anaconda Company.

484
00:25:01,821 --> 00:25:03,261
What had happened?

485
00:25:03,261 --> 00:25:05,570
Well, the company, unbeknownst, of course,

486
00:25:05,570 --> 00:25:09,730
to the Department of Justice,
had negotiated a trade

487
00:25:09,730 --> 00:25:11,970
with the United States Forest Service,

488
00:25:11,970 --> 00:25:15,800
for an equal acreage in
the Blackfoot Valley.

489
00:25:15,800 --> 00:25:17,930
The Forest Service was delighted

490
00:25:17,930 --> 00:25:20,050
because there were trees there.

491
00:25:20,050 --> 00:25:24,150
There were no trees over in
the poisoned area near Butte.

492
00:25:24,150 --> 00:25:27,810
There is, so far as I can ascertain,

493
00:25:27,810 --> 00:25:31,970
no evidence of collusion
between the Forest Service

494
00:25:31,970 --> 00:25:34,070
and the company at all.

495
00:25:34,070 --> 00:25:36,170
It's just that that is what happened.

496
00:25:36,170 --> 00:25:39,573
It was a very clever move
by the Anaconda Company.

497
00:25:41,530 --> 00:25:44,848
Wickersham, of course, was fit to be tied.

498
00:25:44,848 --> 00:25:47,910
He wrote Kelley a letter saying,

499
00:25:47,910 --> 00:25:49,830
I want this confirmed, and I wanna know

500
00:25:49,830 --> 00:25:51,930
what the hell went on.

501
00:25:51,930 --> 00:25:56,350
I will quote just a little
piece of Kelley's answer.

502
00:25:56,350 --> 00:25:58,160
It was as follows.

503
00:25:58,160 --> 00:26:00,510
"If we are polluting anything, sir,

504
00:26:00,510 --> 00:26:05,510
it is our own land, and
there is no law against that."

505
00:26:05,700 --> 00:26:09,090
Today, in the files of
the Department of Justice,

506
00:26:09,090 --> 00:26:13,130
you can, with patience,
read in full detail

507
00:26:13,130 --> 00:26:15,073
the story that I have just told you,

508
00:26:16,050 --> 00:26:18,630
and written in black ink across the back

509
00:26:18,630 --> 00:26:22,340
of the last folder, 1920,

510
00:26:22,340 --> 00:26:25,140
which contains the testimony
of the aborted trial,

511
00:26:25,140 --> 00:26:27,393
is one word, "abandoned."

512
00:26:28,660 --> 00:26:30,630
I suppose there are some generalizations

513
00:26:30,630 --> 00:26:32,893
that can be made now,

514
00:26:34,030 --> 00:26:36,230
never, I think in the
history of the country

515
00:26:36,230 --> 00:26:40,440
have there been two more
dedicated and determined

516
00:26:40,440 --> 00:26:42,750
and powerful attorneys general

517
00:26:42,750 --> 00:26:44,683
than Bonaparte and Wickersham,

518
00:26:45,610 --> 00:26:49,350
but with all of the support
of two strong presidents,

519
00:26:49,350 --> 00:26:54,010
dedicated equally to bringing
one corporation into line,

520
00:26:54,010 --> 00:26:57,560
and with all the resources
of the Department of Justice

521
00:26:57,560 --> 00:27:00,637
and the Department of
Forestry, they failed.

522
00:27:01,770 --> 00:27:04,180
I'm going to describe the
environmental structure

523
00:27:04,180 --> 00:27:07,245
that we have in Montana to
you in a subsequent lecture,

524
00:27:07,245 --> 00:27:09,370
but let me assure you, it is very good

525
00:27:09,370 --> 00:27:12,700
and very worthwhile.

526
00:27:12,700 --> 00:27:16,550
I think that it might be
wise for us to remember

527
00:27:16,550 --> 00:27:17,853
what Hegel said.

528
00:27:18,710 --> 00:27:20,420
The only thing that history teaches us

529
00:27:20,420 --> 00:27:22,863
is that history teaches us nothing.

530
00:27:23,710 --> 00:27:26,680
Or if you don't like that, take Santayana,

531
00:27:26,680 --> 00:27:28,500
of people who ignore their history

532
00:27:28,500 --> 00:27:30,330
are condemned to repeat it,

533
00:27:30,330 --> 00:27:32,100
and we had damn well better be careful

534
00:27:32,100 --> 00:27:34,820
about the future, because
great corporate forces

535
00:27:34,820 --> 00:27:38,710
are again headed our way, and
we have been there before,

536
00:27:38,710 --> 00:27:40,383
and we should not go back again.

537
00:27:46,385 --> 00:27:49,052
(gentle music)