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Show ROOSEVELT ON HIS DEFENSE. Colonol Roosevelt continuos to mo' nopolize large space in tho newspapers, newspa-pers, while at tho samp timo protesting protest-ing that bo is denied a hearing virtually vir-tually ignored. His latest letter in defense de-fense of his position on tho Standard Oil contributions gods to", the inter1, minablo length of 18,000 words. And after nil,, everything is loft protty much aa beforo. The testimony of Chancellor Day as to Archbold telling i him soon after the Presidential election elec-tion of 190-1 precisely tho Bamo story as Archbold lately told tho Senate committee, and tho scene where Morgan Mor-gan is described as rod and angry at Roosevelt's demand in tho fall -of-1904 for another 4100,000 from Morgan's Mor-gan's firm for campagn ipurpoBca, all testify to Roosevelt's, eager, money-chasing money-chasing at that time for means to "p"ut him over" into tho Presidential chair. The prolific production of letters and telegrams in this defense by. Colonel Roosevelt is a miraculous circumstance, in view of tho colonel's disclaimer, of ability to Tlro'duco"' correspondence bo fur back. In reply to Mr. Hearst 'b demand that tho Colonel produce letters let-ters of that fall of 1904, Colonol Roosevelt Roose-velt protestod that it was impossible, saying "Anyone can. readily appreciate appreci-ate the difficulty in my pickhrg' out a single letter, dating back eight years, from my files. It would be a tremendous tremen-dous undertaking." And yet, he can now encompass that "tremendous undertaking, '.'.and .produce .pro-duce a flood of letters when it suits him to do it, or when he considers that they may help hia case. The Cortel-you Cortel-you letters he produced at once, while he was "on the wing." But do they holp him? Only super-.ficially, super-.ficially, if at all. He is able to show that he made a record which be is now able to cite. "But that very record rec-ord is what is in question. Senator Penrose says it is all a "frame-up.'"' Secretary Knox is quoted as saying that ho happened to enter the President's Presi-dent's room when Mr. Roosevelt was dictating the first Cortelydu letter directing di-recting him to decline any Standard Oil contribution; that on learning the character of the letter, which (.then) President Roosevelt was dictating, he assured Roosevelt that the Standard Oil monoy had been spent and Could not be returned; that Roosevelt's re-, ply was that he was writing the letter so, as to put it into" the rceoVd"to make' the record straight," Colouel Rooaovelt admits this, his explanation being this, in a statement to certain Now York uewspapers on tho morning of August 27th: Mr. Knox may 'have- heard me say, 'These letters will put the record straight," or "This will establish a record of my attitude." hut it Is certainly not to ha inferred from this, remark (I don't auy that I did make U. but I may have) that they were written solely for the record. rec-ord. They were penulno letters, and expressed ex-pressed Just what I wanted to express when I first heard a report that the Standard Stand-ard Oil had contributed or wanted to contribute con-tribute to my campaign t The colonel sa.ld Mr. Knox had been astonished at his ordering Chairman Cor-telyou Cor-telyou to return any Standard Oil monoy and continued: ' He (Knox) said that he had never heard of a Presidential candl-uate candl-uate taking such a course, but he. assured me ne ftlt. certain Mr. Frlck would make good any loss that was occasioned to the campaign fund by my action." This is a clear admission of the trnth of what Secretary Knox taid, and also a practical admission of .Senator Penrose's Pen-rose's suggestion that the record thus-made thus-made was a "frame-up." Roosevelt's plea that he did not write the letters "solely for the record" must full to thp ground whf.n v recall that Secretary Sec-retary Knox had jii-t reminded him that the Standard Oil money had been used, and could not he returned. No doubt Roosevelt knew tiiii fact quite as well as Knox did; so that the Knox reminder was needless; but it was gi;enj and the impression that Secretary Secre-tary Knox got from tho interview, that the. letters were being written .to make ! a record that was impossible as an honest record, was tho only comprehen-siblc comprehen-siblc nnd honest understanding that he could reach. The oplv possible conclusion to come to that is at ouce honest, candid, and intelligent, is that Col. .Roosevelt wrote those letters to make a false -and im-poat-ihlo record "which" he could cite in his own faxor in case tho facts came to light. And it seems clear, also, that tho real objection, which Roosevelt had at that time to tho Standard Oil money was that he was not getting as muoh as he wanted of it; that he withheld the writing of those letters to Cortolyou until he knew not only that the $100,-000 $100,-000 contribution to his campaign fund had been spent and bo could not. be to-turnod, to-turnod, but that thcro waB no longer auy hope that the Standard Oil com-.pany com-.pany would "coino through" with the further $150,000 which he had demanded, de-manded, The exceedingly long letter which Col, Roosevelt writes now to Senator Clapp in no way changes tho essential facts of tho caBO as previously knowa, The Colonol docs not holp his caeo by it, and it ia in no seuse a satisfactory bit Of testimony from him. The only thing that will do' will be for him to, appoar beforo tho Senate committco at its earliest session and submit to oral questioning and cross-examination; and when he docs this wc shall all see how" fllmey is the falso record which he irir.kily made when ho was caught at it by Secretary Knox. |