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APRIL 12, 1007
The Commoner.
7
gested for ambassador, protested to me against
the appointment. Sincerely yours,
"THEODORE ROOSEVELT."
MR. HARRIMAN'S RETORT
New York, April 2, E. H. Harrlman late to
night gave out the following statement in re
sponse to the statement made public by President
Roosevelt at Washington today:
."For many years I have maintained an inti
mate confidential correspondence with my friend,
Mr. Sidney Webster. What I wrote him and
iwhen he wrote me was, of course, intended for
our eyes alone. In the course of a letter which ho
wrote me in December, 11)05, he warned me
against being drawn into politics and questioned
whether I had any political or party instinct. This
drew from me the reply to Mr. Webster's inquiry,
which, in a substantially correct form, has been
stolen and published. This letter was written on
January 2, 100G, at a time .when no one could
doubt the cordiality of my relations with the pres
ident. "About ten days agoI was told that a dis
charged stenographer was trying to sell to some
newspaper a reproduction from his notes of one
of my private letters. I could hardly believe that
any matter so obtained would be accepted or pub
lished, yet I made every effort to prevent it.
When I learned late yesterday afternoon that a
New York newspaper had a transcript of these
notes, I notified the publisher at once of the facts,
and urged upon his attention the gross outrage
that the publication of it under such circum
stances would Involve. While deploring, of course,
that the sacredness of a private correspondence
should be thus violated, I cannot withdraw any
thing in the letter.
"I have read the president's statement I am
most anxious to treat him and his other utterances
with consideration due to the high office which lie
holds. Nevertheless I feel bound to call attention
to certain things in regard to which he does me
Injustice.
"In his letter to Mr. Sherman he clearly seeks
to convey the impression that the personal Inter
view with him in the fall of 1904 was of my seek
ing and not his. He says:
" 'His (Harriman's) and my letters now before
me in the fall of 1904, run as follows: On his re
turn from spending the summer in Europe on
September 20 he wrote me stating that If I thought
4t desirable ho would come to see me at any time,
then or later. (He had been, as you remember, a
delegate to the republican national convention,
having voted for my nomination.) On September
23 I answered his letter, saying: "At present
there is nothing for me to see you about, though
there were one or two points in my letter of ac
ceptance which I would like to have discussed
iwith you before putting it out"
"Let me present the facts. On June 29, 190-1,
the president wrote me the following letter,
which he does not include in the correspondence
published today. It reached me In Europe:
" 'White House, Washington, D. O., June 29,
1904. Personal. My Dear Mr. Harriman. I thank
you for your letter. As soon as you come home
I shall want to see you. The fight will doubtless
be hot then. It has been a real pleasure to see
you this year. Very truly yours. (Signed)
" 'THEODORE ROOSEVELT.'
"In reply to this I wrote him on my return
from Europe the letter of September 28, the open
ing sentences of which he eliminated in his pub
lication: " 'New York, Sept. 28, 1904. Dear Mr. Presi
dent: I was very glad to receive your note of
June 29 last while I was in Europe. I am now
getting matters that accumulated during my ab
sence cleared up, and if you think it desirable will
SO to see you at any time either now or later. It
seems to mo that the situation could hot be in bet-''
ter shape. Yours sincerely. (Signed)
'"E. H. HARRIMAN.'
"Then followed a series of invitations from the
White House both from the president and his sec
retary urging me to go to Washington. On Octo
ber 10 the president wrote:
" 'In view of the trouble over the sate ticket
in New York I should much like to have a few
iwords with you. Do you think you can get dowu
here -within a few days and take either lunch or
dinner with me?'
"On October 14 he wrote:
" 'My Dear Mr. Harriman: A suggestion hns
come to mo in a round-about way that you do nofc
think" it wise to come to see me in these closing
weeks of the campaign, but that 3fou are reluctant
to refuse inasmuch as I have asked you.'
. "A funeral in ray family prevented a prompt
response to the president's repeated invitation, but
finally, about October 20, I was able to go to
Washington and see him. There is some differ
ence of recollection as to what trauspired at that
Interview. Fortunately the president himself in
his 'strictly personal' letter to me of November 30,
throws some light upon what did take place. He
says:
" 'If you remember when you were down here
botli you and I were so interested in certain of the
New York political developments, that I hardly,
if at all, touched on governmental matters.'
"Again in the same letter he says:
" 'As a matter of fact, as you will remember,
when you did come down to see me, you and I
were both so engaged in the New York political
situation that we talked of little else.'
' "The Invitation of October 10 bade me to the
White House to have a few words with the presi
dent 'in view of the trouble over the state ticket
In New York.' I had replied on October 12: I
am giving a very large part of my time to correct
ing the trouble here, and Intend to do so if any
effort on my part can accomplish it I will take
occasion the first of next week to run down to see
you, and I think by that time the conditions will
bo very much improved.'
"Whether I was seeking his aid to secure ad
herence of the state of New York to the Htate
ticket or he was seeking mine is proved or dis
proved by this correspondence, and I cheerfully
submit to the public whether the Inference clearly
suggested by the president is the proper one. I
did not so understand it from the invitation, nor
from the interview.
"The president dwells at length on the asser
tion that he did not ask me to contribute 'for the
presidential campaign' nor for 'his personal bene
fit' I don't deny this -statement, nor is it all con
sistent with the assertions I made in the Webster
letter respecting the interview. Therein I, dis
tinctly said: 'The president sent mo a request to
go to Washington to confer upon the political con
ditions in New York state. I complied and he told
me he understood the campaign could not be suc
cessfully carried on without sufficient money, and
asked if I would aid them in raising the necessary
funds, as the national committee, under Chairman
Cortelyou, had utterly failed of obtaining them
and there was a large amoutit due from them to
the. New York state committee.'
"If that means anything whatever it must that
he was urging me to help the New York state
committee and not the national committee or the
presidential campaign, except so far as the suc
cess of the state in New York would contribute
to the success of the national ticket
"What the condition of the finances of the New
York state committee and of the national commit
tee at that time was is well known to everyone.
That the national committee did owe the state
committee and that the state committee was in
financial straits is notorious. I was not a political
manager. I was asked to go to Washington by
the president in the interests of the state ticket
I could help to raise money. That I did help in
this regard; that I did raise funds Immediately
upon my return from the Interview with the presi
dent Is undeniable, and to this fund I cbntributed
$50,000. My interview with the president covered
a wide range of subjects connected with the New
York state campaign, and I did not pretend to go
over the whole matter in the Webster letter.
"The president's letter of October 14, and his
commentthereon, arc interesting. In that letter,
he suggested that I might think there was some
danger in my visiting him during the closing
weeks of the campaign and suggested that if I
thought so the visit be postponed until after elec
tion, when he would ask me to 'discuss certain
government matters not connected with the cam
paign were distinct invitations to discuss two
different subjects. I could see no danger in visit
ing him to discuss New York politics before the
election, and therefore went, and discussed the
subject alone, and after the election took up the
other subject for consideration with him.
"I think if what concerned me as the object of
the visit had been the government's relations to
the railroads, the interview would certainly not
have been entirely confined to politics.
"I am not responsible for what Mr. Sherman
may have said to the president with reference to
the conversation he had with-me. All that I have
to say is that I did not meet his urgent requests
that I contribute to his campaign fund, and that
the statements alleged to' have been attributed to
me by him were false. The president was assured
of this facjt by a mutual friend who was present
at the interview."
A Cincinnati dispatch to the New York Herald
follows: The Enquirer today prints a dispatch
from New York to the effect that E. H. Harrlman
has recently been exhibiting to his financial
friends a photograph, pipturiug the following:
1. A letter dated In October, 1904, signed by
Theodore Roosevelt, inviting Mr. Harriman to a
conference at theWhite House.'
2. A letter from Mr. Harrlman to Mr. Roose
velt, accepting the invitation.
3. Checks to the national republican committee
from each of the Harriman roads, aggregating a
total of $208,000.
Mr. narriman, the Enquirer stales, assorts that
these checks were exclusive of his personal chuclc
toward the special $200,000 fund and were given
as a result of what he believed to be an under
standing reached at the White House conference.
On April 3. the following statement was given
out at the White House: "The real reason for
Mr. E. II. Harriman's interest In the election of
the state ticket In New York in 1004. reference to
which was made In the communications which
passed between him and the president, was that
ho desired to advance his own ambitions. It is
asserted that Mr. Harriman wanted the position
of senator, now filled by Mr. Depew, and that this
was the reason why he was anxious to have him
appointed ambassador to Paris. The inferences
from Mr. Harriman's attitude was that if Senator
Depew could be Induced to go to Paris that Cov
ernor Higglns was prepared to appoint him to the
vacancy."
A statement was given out from the White
House April 'I, to the effect that a conspiracy was
on foot between E. II. Harrlman, William R.
Hearst and Rockefeller for the purpose of defeat
ing Mr. Roosevelt In the republican national con
vention and otherwise Injuring him. It was said
that the secret leaked out at a dinner recently
given, when a prominent politician somewhat the
worse for liquor declared that a fund of $5,000,000
had been raised for the purpose of carrying out
this alleged conspiracy. Later newspaper dis
patches said that Senator Penrose of Pennsyl
vania was the man who gave away the secret but
this Is hotly denied by Penrose who says that he
is a partisan of Roosevelt A later statement
given out from the White House says that the
president will not at this time designate the part?
who gave away the secret Mr. Roosevelt's op
ponents openly laugh at this charge and say Unit
he is suffering from "exaggerated ego."
INCANTATION
Hyah dem frogs a talkin' funny
Yonder by de crick? , ' ,
- Dem Is all magicians, honey, ,,
Practicin' a trick. .
Dey Is conjurin' out de bioomln'
An' de butterflies,
Things new shapes will be assumin'
Right befo' yo' eyes!
Muttcrln', slngln', scoldln', screamin'
Halid to understand
But dey '11 have dis ol' place seem in'
Jes' like iairy land!
Washington Star.
vi
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