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About The commoner. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-1923 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 2, 1912)
wifiwafF $? rvwi ippi"" t '-i?s"' The Commoner. 5 LUARY 2, 1912 n - sr "r This New Light on Harvey -Wilson Controversy n.'MHK - j ni e Washington correspondent for the New World .throws what ho calls new light on arvev-Wilson incident in this way: Be- ftDitho Kentucky editor got into the limelight il ,n?New York World, in a dispatch from Wash ington, revealed the fact that Col. Harvey had bh spending week-end down on the old Vir ginia! farm of Thomas F. Ryan, and that that thad brought about the meeting in New STORY OF THE CONFERENCE ile Col. Watterson will not confirm or here is what is known to have happened lie conference in the Manhattan club: Col. tterson and Col. Harvey were present when piJP'ernor Wilson entered. In the early course " 'oxjtne conversation, it was suggestea uy mr. : aiterson, not by Mr. Harvey (but entirely with Mrl$ Harvey's knowledge, consent and, in fact, v'atfcis instigation) well, anyhow it was sug- . 'giititd by Col. Watterson that the Princeton :aljiini, while undoubtedly a fine lot of men, coulfr not be expected to finance a campaign for tK?presidency. That being admitted, Mr. Wat- .,, ttrlion (still with the knowledge and well-wishes " qtSpol. Harvey) suggested a meeting with k4$$dttias F. Ryan. M$t. this point Governor Wilson buttoned his , ; eq; preparatory to a frigid departure. It was u.at$this point, also that Col. Harvey, noting the .. gjjrmptoms of denial, rose to his feet and asked: ""j&!$jj&nd, Governor, do you also think that our i(a((Wtrnfir's wefit v Riinnorr. in mirt.lntr vouy e governor said that he thought just that. WLi -nri.. i i.i - t. c .v ... 'pmitted the Ryan incident. '"int conversations with friends of the south (fHors and statesmen, however, Col. Watterson EaSQIbeen most frank. Three incidents came t&re the climax: irst Col. Harvey went to Ryan's farm, in ion county, Virginia, and there talked over candidacy of Governor Wilson. Ryan ex sed a desire to take part in the coming ocratic campaign, and a preference for Wil because of the fact that he is a native of iCfe Old Dominion. Col. Harvey talked elo qttfcntly of Governor Wilson. Mr. Ryan, becom- u:Wimi.' euthusiastic, declared that he would an nounce himself for Wilson, pull off his coat, roll ittlfflP raS r -fT 'WBL n . .;;-. nrtf his sleeves, open his purse and work foe him. The enthusiasm of Mr. Ryan, counled ;Swih the statement that he would announce himself for Mr. Wilson, frightened Col. Harvey, virho threw ud his hands and exclaimed: ylflg'Don't you do it. If you were to announce tJWTQT wnson you woum iciu mm politically. Mr. gStjran agreed to. curb his feelings and remain OTmet. Second Five days before the memorable eeting of Wilson, Harvey and Watterson in rw York, Col. Harvey visited Washington and Liked to a number of congressmen of Wilson's aspects. To several representatives of the Louse he said he had been in Virginia and had !!jvisitwith Thomas F. Ryan, who, he said, was r Woodrow Wilson for the presidency. Ihese congressmen marvelled at the Harvey pgory about Ryan. They wondered if Mr. Wil son's booster had lost his mind. Third This was followed by the meeting in few York where the break came. Messrs. Wat- Jrson and Harvey invited Mr. Wilson over to ihe office of Thomas F. Ryan, who, it was ex- rtained. was desirous of financing the Wilson Campaign. This suggestion Mr. Wilson resented. rHe said that he would not go to see Ryan or Htave anything to do with him. He told Messrs. BVatterson and Harvey that the support of Ryan rould hurt him. Whereupon Mr. Harvey asked M he (Mr. Wilson) thought the support of Har- irs Weekly was hurting him and Mr. Wilson tnswered in the affirmative. WOW IT IS BETWEEN SENATOR TILLMAN AND MR. WATTERSON The following Associated Press dispatches are Bif-explanatory: Washington, Jan. 26. In vest in the controversy between Woodrow iRnison, Colonel George Harvey and Colonel Kenry Watterson over Mr. Wilson's aspirations r the presidential nomination was revived to- light when Colonel Watterson gave out corres- mdence that had. passed between himself and mator B. R. Tillman of South Carolina yes terday and today. The correspondence, in which the name of Thomas F. Ryan of New York figures, is as follows: "Washington, D. C, Jan. 25, 1912. My Dear Sir: Referring to tho so-called 'Harvoy-Watter-son incident,' I And you quoted by tho news papers of this morning to the following effect: 'I had given Henry Watterson credit for more sense than to try to "foist off a story like this, with the material facts concealed.' Tho man who makes a public "statement with tho 'ma terial facts concealed is little other than a scoundrel. I have the right, therefore, to de mand of you upon what warrant of authority you make this serious accusation of me and to ask a reply through my friend, the Hon. Swagar Sherley of Kentucky. With great respect, "HENRY WATTERSON." RESPONSE OF TILLMAN Washington, January 2G, 1912. My Dear Sir: In your note of January 25, handed me by the Hon. Swagar Sherley, you call my attention to an interview which I had given out in reference to the Harvoy-Watterson-Wilson incident, in which I say: 'I had given Henry Watterson credit for more sense than to try to foist off a story like this with the material facts concealed.' "You demand to know '-upon what warrant of authority you make this serious accusation against me.' "In your statement to the press you described in detail the rupture between Governor Wilson and Colonel Harvey, but said nothing as to what caused it. All the leading papers of the coun try seem to know why Governor Wilson 'severed relations with Colonel Harvey, and you, as a leading newspaper man and self-confesssed ex pert groomer of presidential candidates, must have known . at the time your statement was published. I very properly concluded that you knew the reasons for the rupture, and when you made public the manner in which it oc curred, without giving the causes, you were un questionably concealing the material facts. Very respectfully yours, B. R. TILLMAN." WATTERSON'S SECOND LETTER "Washington, D. C, Jan. 2G, 1912. My Dear Sir: I have never pretended to be a groomer of presidential candidates, expert or otherwise, but I desire your good opinion and wrote with that, as well as the truth of this matter, in mind. "I am with you, senator, in wishing a demo cratic and not a pseudo-republican for our presi dential nominee. It was no less from a sense of party justice than of justice between man and man that I made the statement to which upon a total misapprehension of the facts you take exception. "I have been aware for nearly a week that recognized spokesmen for Governor Wilson were industriously circulating the story that the real reason wny Governor Wilson broke with Col. Harvey was that Col. Harvey tried to bring Mr. Thomas F. Ryan to the governor's campaign. But until you gave credence to the story it could not be invested with any responsible authority. Its origin was mysterious, its circulation sur reptitious. Consequently there has been up to this time nothing either to deny or to recognize. "Now, senator, I know, of my own knowledge, that story is a lie made out of tho whole cloth. If any person ventures to question this asser tion, I have in my possession proof conclusive which I hold myself ready to place before your honest and truth-seeking mind. I do not accuse Governor Wilson of origi nating or circulating this invention, manufac tured to make a hero of him at the expense of the friend who has most effectually served him. I do not assume that he is aware of the dastardly work being done by his alleged agents, but tho fact remains that Governor Wilson knows as well as I do that the story is false.. He may or not feel that he owes an obligation to Colonel Harvey. That is a matter of which he must be the judge. But I do insist that he owes it to his own honor to repudiate that story and to disavow those who are striving to Inject the calmuny into the human mind. "At Governor Wilson's instance I had under taken to assist his accredited managers In rais ing the considerable sums of money needful to tho prosecution of his campaign, and In this my efforts were not wholly unfruitful. A the business procooded the name of Thomas V, Ryan, not unnaturally, came into my mind. Ho is a democrat. Ho is a Virginian. lie is my friend; Knowing him to bo a disinterested man, having no axo to grind, I hoped tlast I might induce him to help out what I believed to be a worthy cause. Governor WilHon'tf'jmanagors were delighted with tho suggestion. Colonel Harvey had nothing whatever to do with it, and as far as I am aware, knew nothing whatover about it. "Throughout this unhappy affair I havo been an unwilling witness in its consequences sotno what of. an innocent bystandor having been, up to tho hour of tho Harvey incident, a sincere believer in Governor Wilson. He is a man of ability. In some ways ho might provo a candi date of availability, but I fear that if ho becamo our president we might discover all too late that he possesses personal peculiarities which would provo disastrous. Wo want in the White house a man of broad mind, as well as polished in tellect, of heart grateful and kind, no leas than daring. I remain with great respect, your obedient servant, HENRY WATTERSON." "Hon. B. R. Tillman." DENIAL FROM WILSON Now York, Jan. 2G. Governor Woodrow Wilson, on his departure for Boston on tho midnight express tonight, made the following statement in reference to the Wattorson-TIllnian correspondence, given out in Washington. "So far as I am concerned, tho statement that Colonel Watterson was requeued to assist in raising money in my behalf, it is absolutely without foundation. Neither I, nor anyone authorized to represent mo ever made any such request of him." New York, Jan. 2G. Colonel Georgo Ilarvoy declined to comment tonight on tho correspon dence made public by Col. Henry Watterson in regard to the former's rupture with Governor Wilson. MR. McCOMB'S STATEMENT Now York, Jan. 27. Suggestions by Colonel Watterson that ho solicited a contribution to the Woodrow Wilson campaign fund from Thomas F. Ryan was met with declarations by William McCombs, Governor Wilson's campaign manager, that Mr. Ryan's money could not bo accepted, as "such contributions wore not within the spirit of the Woodrow Wilson campaign," Mr. McCombs declared in a statoment made public here tonight. Ills statoment follows: "I have read the correspondence interchanged between Colonel Watterson and Senator Till man which appeared in this morning's papers. I had thought that Colonel Watterson's state ment of several days ago itself entirely disposed of the incident. I so stated in an interview a day or so afterwards. I have made no state ments with reference to it since that time. Since beginning the campaign for Governor Wilson, which I have managed, I have received all of the contributions made to it. I assume responsi bility for them and I know all their sources. They have uniformly been made by people who had no interest except the consummation of the ideas which he represents. Not one of them ex pects any other return. Any communication which has been had between myself and Colonel Watterson regarding campaign funds has taken place in personal interviews between him and myself. There have been two interviews, only. "I intensely dislike to make a public state ment of a private conversation and regret very much that Colonel Watterson has forced mo to do so. In October of last year I had a general conversation on presidential politics with Col. Watterson at the Waldorf, where ho was stop ping. In the course of that conversation ho gave it as his opinion that a large amount of money would be needed, and volunteered tho suggestion that he would go and see his friend, Thomas F. Ryan, and that he was sure he could Induce him to make a very large contribution to tho campaign. "I said to him that we could not take Mr. Ryan's money and that such contributions were not within the spirit of the Woodrow Wilson campaign. His reply was: " 'I have been in politics fifty years, and I know that money and not patriotism counts in a presidential campaign.' "I repeated to Colonel Watterson that we could not take the money. Early in December I met him again and ho renewed the discus sion of a Ryan contribution. I made the same answer to him that I made before. "I heard nothing further from Col. Watter son on the subject and thought no more of the rutin i-awikMirWiitg.-g-t' fi-ij'.. t: --tr .' vA