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DECEMBER 27, 1907
The Commoner
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other citizens, I have decided views as to policies
and as to candidates, but I shall refrain from
expressing them until I believe it is proper for
me to do so. Upon this statement 1 am entirely
content to leave the people to draw their own
conclusions regarding such rumors as those to
which I have referred. If, in the future, I shall
decide to be a candidate for any office I shall
be prepared to say so frankly and state the
grounds upon which I ask for support. In the
meantime I shall try, as I have tried in the
past, to conduct the treasury department for the
benefit of the people of the whole country, and
absolutely without regard to whether any action
.1 may take in the line of my duty may adversely
affect my personal or political welfare."
FOLLOWING MR. Cortelyou's statement Frank
H. Hitchcock, first assistant postmaster gen
eral, issued a statement. Mr. Hitchcock was one
of the men whom rumor charged with disloyalty
.to Mr. Roosevelt. An Associated Press dispatch
under date of Washington", December 18, says:
"In breaking' the silence he has maintained for
several weeks respecting statements concerning
him that have been made from time to time, Mr.
Hitchcock' Bays the statement of Secretary Cor
telyou, published today, disposes of the charge
that he ever has been disloyal in any manner to
President Roosevelt. He declares that any such
charge is absolutely false and that the president
knows it to be, having told him so. Mr. Hitch
cock's statement is as. follows: 'I have read
Secretary Cortelyou's statement as published in
the morning papers. I am sure that the public
will accept it as a truthful declaration of a thor
oughly sincere man. It disposes of the charge
that I have been in any manner disloyal to the
president. That charge is absolutely false; in
fact, .the president has told me he knows it to
be false. I dp not care to discuss the matter
further, I .should not say even this, were it
not .for the apprehension that some people who
- are unfamiliar with the facts may be misled by
the statements circulated.' "
THE .FOLLOWING Washington dispatch from
the not always reliable New York World
,r,mayor-may not, throw a little light on the sub
ject: "Frank H. Hitchcock, first assistant post
master general, will not hereafter be permitted
to handle the enormous patronage of the postal
service, which up to this time has been utilized
to build up a great political machine for Secre
tary Cortelyou in the south. President Roose
velt has notified Postmaster General Myer that
all nominations coming fi;om his department will
be accepted prima facie as having his unqualified
indorsement. Large batches of nominations of
postmasters have reached the White House, all
chosen by Mr. Hitchcock, without consultation
with Mr. Meyer, and the president has sent them
to the senate. Until the disclosures which pre
ceded his latest formal declination of a third
term the president did not realize that all these
nominations were for the sole purpose of aiding
Cortelyou, He supposed they came along as a
matter of routine, and that in many Instances
Mr. Meyer knew of the selections made. It de
veloped that Mr. Meyer was devoting his atten
tion exclusively to other department affairs. One
reason why Mr. Roosevelt rushed his third-term
statement on the public so long before he had
intended to was the discovery that Secretary
Cortelyou was advancing his political aspirations
through the financial interests in New York. The
president saw himself in danger of being put in
a false position. Everything that Cortelyou was
doing politically was in the president's name and
ostensibly to secure a third term for him. The
president saw that a movement ostensibly in his
behalf which was engineered through the big
financial interests he had been fighting was sure
to bring himself into discredit. He determined
that whatever Cortelyou did to injure Taft
should no longer be done in his name."
MR. CORTELYOU is having trouble in other
directions. An Associated Press dispatch
from Washington says: justice Gould Of the
district supreme court today cited George B.
Cortelyou, secretary of the treasury, to appear
in court January 3, to show cause why he i should
not be enjoined from turning over or delivering
?he balance of the $21,450,000 of the Panama
canal bonds to certain banks and Persons to
whom nead announced allotments The cito-
who describes himself as'a taxpayer and property
SJSer in the United States and who declares
ho made a proposal to purchase bonds of the ad
vertised issue of tho faco value of $3,000,000.
Ho avers ho had agreed to pay at tho rato of
103.375 and accrued interest per $100 and on
notice of tho acceptance of his subscription
stands ready to doposit tho amount with tho
assistant treasurer at Now York. Mr. Austin
infprmstho court that ho had been advised
through tho public press that in direct violation
of the statutes and in absolute disregard of tho
treasury department's circular of tho $25,000,
000 of the bonds allottod only $1,000,000 wero
allotted to persons who wero individual bidders,
and who, In accordance with tho statutes and
said circular, wore given an equal opportunity
to subscribe therefor, tho remaining $24,000,
000 wero allotted to divers national banks and
only $3,550,000 of which wero allotted to banks
which had offered a higher price than that bid
by him. When he learned that his bid had been
ignored and no allotmont made to him ho says
ho complained to tho department and the re
sponse convinces him of the secretary's Intention
to disregard tho statutes and thereby commit a
malfeasance for which he says Mr. Cortelyou is
not a man of sufficient means to answer to tho
citizens of the United States and to him."
ADES MOlNES. la., dispatch to the Omaha
World-Herald says: "The Cummins-Dol?
liver controversy over the alleged promiso of
the governpr not to bo a candidate for the United
States senate against Allison means much In
Iowa to tho democratic party. The clash of these
two men has opened anew the sore in the repub
lican party. It has split wide open tho republi
can organization which republicans had hoped
had been welded together again. It means that
next fall the democrats will elect several corn
gressmon. it means they will gain a stronger
grip on the state legislature, it means they may
succeed In electing several state officers and It
may mean that Iowa will give its support to tho
democratic candidate for president. When Dolll
vor charged- Cummins with violating a promise,
Governor Cummins came back with no mild ex
planation. It was a challenge to battle, a flat
announcement that he is a candidate for the sen
ate and an offer to discuss his former promises
to republicans In tho campaign. Because of the
attitude Dolllvor has taken It will mean he will
have to return to Iowa and enter the campaign
in behalf of his colleague Allison. In doing this
Governor Cummins will find him an opponent
and has threatened to expose a few things about
Dolliver. The governor says that Dolllvor many
times himself said that Allison's condition would
not permit of him serving another term and
claims ho told Cummins' friends hero that ho
expected tho governor would be his colleague in
the next senate. Governor Cummins says ho
kept his promise not to take Dolllver's place at
the hands of the last legislature. Ho has been
given the credit largely of yielding to Dolliver.
A member of the last legislature who was active
in the last republican factional fight and who
says he will enter the field again if necessary
has declared this Is not true."
AN ELDORA, Iowa, dispatch to the Ornnha
World-Herald gives to democrats this
pleasant reminder: "At his country home near
here, In Grundy county, Hon. Horace Botes,
Iowa's forme democratic governor, is tills week
celebrating hit 80th birthday, and is in receipt
of letters and telegrams of congratulation from
prominent men all over the country. Mr.
Boies loves his farm and farm life and spends
the major portion of his time on the big farm
near Grundy Center. There are nearly 3,000
acres In tho estate, and the land Is as good as
may be found in the whole of Iowa ard would
bring v150 an acre If placed upon the market.
Hero it is that Farmer Boies, as he Is wont .to
be called, loves to live among his tenants and
their cattle and live stock."
REFERRING TO Mr. Roosevelt's centraliza
tion speeches, Governor Vardaman of Mis
sissippi says; "If that means anything it means
that whenever tho party in power wants to do
anything the constitution shall not be in the
way of doing it. It can be stretched out, or
shoved in, as the exigencies of the presidential
or party will may demand. Nearly a hundred
years ago Mr. Jefferson saw the dangers of such
a policy and called the attention of future gen
erations to it. If the constitution does not fit
present conditions and a change is necessary,
then in the name of candor and honesty, let
the constitution be changed by amendment and
not by legislative or Judicial construction. I am
moro convinced now than ovor ' boforo that a
constitutional convention ought to bo called and
certain changes mndo In tho constitution to suit
tho conditions that confront us today and wero
not dreamed of by tho frame of tho consti
tution of 1787. I would not call a convention
for tho purpoBo of changing tho contltutlon to
suit the Idea of Mr. Itoosevclt, for I am vo.ry
much opposed to tho concentration of authority
at Washington; but I hollevo that, unless a con
ventlon Is called and tho constitution amended,
the change which Mr. Roosovolt desires to mako
by construction may bo carried out, and when
once tho barriers are broken down and all re
gard for the constitution as originally written
shall bo thrown to tho winds and tho flat of tho
presidential will shall bo the only chart to guldo
us, the republic will bo on tho verge of dlasolu
tion, or perhaps on tho high road to Imperialism.
The brakes must bo applied or tho ropubllc la
lost, and it can only be done by tho people
through a constitutional convention."
A WASHINGTON City dispatch to tho Omaha
Wdrld-Tlerald tells this Interesting story:
M'lhat Nobrrfska Is really to be made tho locus
of a highly significant contest Involving control
of tho delegation to tho republican national con
vention Is becoming tho firm conviction here.
Tho Taft people want Nebraska, and claim an
especial right to It by reasons of their securing
resolutions In the state convention last summer.
But the LaFolletto movement Is giving the Taft
peoplo much concern In tho middle West. It Is
reportod that slnco the president took himself
out of the situation LaFolletto Is widely re
garded as a most typical representative of Roose
velt policies, and the tondoncy toward him In
Minnesota and Kansas Is reported to bo giving
Taft managers much concorn. Nebraska and
Kansas are to be looked after at once and tho
LnFolfclto peoplo now have emissaries working
there. The Taft folks are watching this state
closely and it Is reported that from their Colum
bus, O., headquarters they have taken stops to
keep the state lined up. Minnesota is appar
ently pretty hopeless. The LaFolletto peoplo
got in early and have a powerful support with
Roosevelt out there. In short tho question of
LaFolletto vs. Taft Is serious In several states,
including Iowa, and, It Is reported, Oklahoma.
If LaFolletto should by some accident pry two
or three of theso states off he would have a
capital In tho convention on which the Taft
organization has been counting and which would
gravely weaken Taft. Whence the deep concern
at Taft headquarters."
DEXTER MARSHALL has written for the St.
Louis Globe-Democrat and other news
papers an interesting article entitled "How Quay
brought about the nomination of Roosevelt for
tho vice presidency In 1900." Mr. Marshall
says that Mr. Roosevelt was nominated for vice
president "single handed by the late Matthew
Stanley Quay of Pennsylvania and for a reason'
which he then explained to no ono." Adding
"the notion that tho nomination was compassed
by Thomas Collier Plaft Is a mistake." Mr.
Marshall says that Quay forced Roosovelt's nom
ination by threatening to push a resolution
which would cut down the southern representa
tion In the republican national convention. And
sooner than submit to this Mr. Hanna withdrew
his opposition to Mr. Roosevelt and his nomina
tion followed.
A BIRMINGHAM, Ala., dispatch to the St.
Louis Globe-Democrat (rep.) says:
"Walker Percy, a prominent democrat and rep
resentative of several large corporations in Ala
bama, Is the leader of a movement which has
gained much strength to work against Alabama
sending a Bryan delegation to tho national dem
ocratic convention. He denies a statement that
there is to be an effort to organize another
party or to strengthen the republican party, but
says that the fight Is to be made In the demo
cratic party. He said that some years ago
some men who had not affiliated with the re
publican party had made an effort to get Into
that organization, but the action of President
Roosevelt in deciding against the lily white
crowd and allowing the party to be an office
holding party pure and simple prevented it.
Three hundred prominent business men, man
ufacturers and others signed the petition to
work against a Bryan delegation. Julius David
son, one of the republican chairmen, states to
night that many anti-Bryan democrats will jola
the republicans.'.'
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