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Show TUFT CATCHES I ROOSEVELT IN I LIE WITH EASE I Furnishes Proof by War Department Records That He Was Out of the Country When Harvester Har-vester Company Mat- ! ter Was Before the Cabinet. ROOT AND WILSON AGREE WITH HIM Personal Statement of the President Is Issued From the White House Just Before Leaving for Massachusetts to Take Part in Campaign to End Tuesday. ' " r By international News Service WASHINGTON, April 88. person.-. I statement was issued from the White house this evening by President Taft he-fore he-fore leaving for Massachusetts, in it h denies Colonel RoossvehVs allegation alle-gation that he, whib s.-cretary of war. at a cabinet meeting had approved Mr. Pooscvelfv decision not to prosecute the International Harvester company Immediately Imme-diately President 'f'aft's statement says he new- heard the International Harvester company diSCttSSed at any cahlnot meeting, meet-ing, and that tho records of the war department de-partment win show that he was out of the country when t bo Incident referred to by the colonel occurred. The slato-meh slato-meh t sayi : Mi j: Ksevell In his speech at Wor- oeeter ;s reported by the public press, referring to the harvester trust, said : Roosevelt's Charge. 'As a matter of fact, Mr. Taft was a member of my cabinet when this Identical case was fully discussed ie- fore the cabinet, and he cordially .ip-prdved .ip-prdved the action taken, ami. Indeed, ,- g mailer of fact, my memory is thai he himself made the motion that there should be no prosecution of the harvests! trust pending the investigation investi-gation Into the trust by the bureau of corporations." Mr. Roos.. cit'ji rnemory is very much at fault. I am authorised to Fay by Mr Root and Secretary Wilson, Wil-son, both of whom were members of the cabinet at that time, that they have no recollection whatever of ever hearing the prosecution of the harvester har-vester matter discussed In the cabinet, cabi-net, and Mr. Root is very certain that lie never saw or heard of Mr. Herbert Knox Smith's letter to Mr. Root until the date of September 21, I88T. on the subject. Taft's Denial. i am able to say the same thing. So tar as ids recollection goes I never heard the harvester trust matter mentioned in any cabinet meeting that I attended, and I can not be mistaken in the statement that I never saw or knew of Mr Herbert Knox Smith s letter of September ! to the president until after my administration ad-ministration had begun, and the time when the question of the prosecution cams up ln 1910 or Itll, And I never saw or read the letter until about two months ago. Tins correspondence shows that the subject matter of the prosecution of the International Harvester company came before President ROQSSVSH on August j:'. 1807, which Is the date of his letter to Attorney General Bonaparte; Bona-parte; that Mr Herbert Knox Smith's letter discussing the question and advising ad-vising against a su! was dated September Sep-tember 81, i:(7, and that Mr. Smith's letter wa.- forwarded, by direction of President Roossvell under date of September LM, to the attorney general with directions to the atturney general gen-eral to bring the letter to the president presi-dent that week to talk over the matter. mat-ter. Si . Proved by the Records. The official records show thai Pt es- . Id en I Roosevelt left Washington la June. 1807, for Oyster Bay, and re- ; turned from Oyster Oay on September Septem-ber .'4; that on September 2. he left Washington for a trip down the Mississippi Mis-sissippi river, returning to Waslilngton Wasli-lngton on October :3. 1907. and that -he remained in Washington from that The ofti'lal lecords of the war d partmant show thut I left Washington Washing-ton In June of the am year and went, to Murray Kay, Canada; that 'I remained there until August, when 1 visited Oyster Bay on August 1L'. and then went to Waslilngton on the 14th and left Washington on (.Continued on Pago Eicht.j TftFT CATCHES IDE COLONEL IN A LIE (Continued from Page One.) August 18 for ii western trip through Oklahoma Missouri the yeltow- tons park. Oregon and Wnsh hittor. rc.ifi.inc- Seattle on Septem- oer s, and aiiinp rrom Seattle tor the Philippines on September llv. I did not return to the United States until the 20th of December, 1907. Letter From Smith. I linvc a letter from Mr. Herbert Knox Smith commissioner Of the bureau of corporations, written at my request, in which he uses the following la Dguage "On November 7. I9"7, whim date I fix from my personal diary, I telephoned tele-phoned Mr. Perkins, at the President's Presi-dent's order, 'hat the president took the view that the bureaus Investigation Investi-gation should come before the sult." This indicated with certainty the time when t matter wac decided, and shows that If the. matter did come before the cabinet at all. It. must hav been after September 34, and on or before November 1907, a period when I wus out of the country coun-try and could not hav. been present, and certainly could not have made, a motion or auggeatlon in the cabinet cabi-net tha l no suit "be prosecuted until after the investigation. Delay Unavoidable. Mr Roosevelt a.ks why suit has not been brought In this administration apalnst the harvester trust A report re-port made to me by the attomey general ahowa that shortly after the decision by the supreme court of the Standard Oil and tobacco cases, the attorney general was about to begin suit against the International Har- 'ester company when Ite representatives representa-tives requested an opportunity in apparent good faith, to submit a reasonable rea-sonable plan of reorganization or dissolution, which would met the cause of complaint. With my approval ap-proval the attorney general delayed bringing suit pending the consldera-ilon consldera-ilon of this proposition and during negotiations which ensued looking to accomplishment of such result. These negotiations were delayed, first by reason of the time reoulred to mak .-xamlnntlon of th books of the harvester company and, second, sec-ond, bec.iiuse of delay In completing t'ue report of the examiners, due to t'ii- fact that 1he were obliged to suspend sus-pend work on It In order to complete. their work on the Bteel trust Investigation, Investi-gation, These negotiations had continued con-tinued until April 24 1012: when, as i have before mentioned they .came to a conclusion, and it was determined determin-ed that nO agre.-iiieiil foiild be reached which the government could accept, and on thai date the attorney general vaa directed to bring suit (Signed): WILLIAM 11. TAFT. |