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Show ROOSEVELT ON STAND IN STEEL PROBE - iaaWaawaaaav f Tells FranKlj His Part In Tennessee Coal and ' Iron DeaL BELIEVES HE ACTED FOR THE PUBLIC GOOD Story of Gary and FrldCs Now Famous WKite Home Visit . NEW YOBX, A u. 8. OoL Theodore kooaaTalt took tha wltaeaa atand In to congressional Inquiry into tha eteei corporation to tall what bo know ro-(artUn( ro-(artUn( tha absorption of the Tennessee Tennes-see Coal and Iron company by tha ataal corporation durlnf tbo panic of 1007. Mr. Booerrslt reached tha city kail at 10:30; hia intention to appear had been kept secret, but a few momenta before his arrival police officers were stationed ia the aldermaoie chamber and its approaches. ' The former president appeared in exceedingly ex-ceedingly good humor and greeted Chairman Stanley and other members of the committee with enthusiasm. "I'm glad to aee you all," ha declared de-clared as ke stood in the center of' a (roup of committeemen. 1 IM Tiy uoii(ninu v ew J " " , - deed, air," he aaid to Representative Voung of Michigan, a Republieaa mem. bcr of the committee. Mr. Roosevelt took the stand at once. Haa Written Statement. "There have been certain mgttero concerning con-cerning whicii there- hss been much discussion," dis-cussion," Citalrman eUanley anoounoed, "and the committee desired Mr. Roosevelt Roose-velt s Information retatlng thereto, air. Roosevelt did riot come in response to a subpoena. Ha waa advised of our desire to hear from him with reference ta Irs ebsorptlon of ths Tennessee Coal and Iron company. He kindly advised me that tc would gladly come, and we thank him for hia appearance." Mr. Roueevelt explained that ha Mad prepared a written statement and ,wua permitted to read it. Introducing hia aubject by deecrTbtng ths financial panic condltlona In lse7,-be It waa the utmost duty of ths administration admin-istration to prevent ay all means the spread of tne panic before It became a disaster." , . , . . . The set-retarf of the treasury aad himself. him-self. he said, wsre conetsntly In touch OB- the altuatlen. During Inst time he learned that t-d members tn ths United States 81 eel corporation wished to see him tn the morning. At break (mat nasi day he waa Informed that Judge Gary and sfr. H. C. Frlck wsre waiting to aee him. Mr. Bonaparte, then attorney general, gen-eral, he continued, had not yst arrived from Baltimore. "I aenl a note to Secretary Root to anine over." the former nresldent read. "and he arrived at th whlto house." Ths conference was brief, Mr. Roosevelt Roose-velt explained, and later fceWrote a note to Mr. Bonaparte, stating all the facta of the conference. , Noted Latter la lead. He then read the committee the leitei, afterward published In the senate records, of ths hearing on the Tennessee Coal and Jron caae In lOf. The letter set forth how Mr. Prick and Mr.- Gary had submitted sub-mitted the proposition for the sale of tlte Tennessee company and bow he had expressed ex-pressed the opinion thst he did not with to siand in the way of saving a lliuuiclil Sanic. The firm that was In trouble, Mr. ooeevelt said, had not been mention-!. Mr. Roosevelt then went Into details about the serious financial condttljns tn New York and told how he had take., the responsibility to permit the transfer of tffe steel company and did It- on hia two Initiative. "It waa a matter of general know led re," he aaid referring to banks and trust companies In denser tn New York, "tnat they held securities of the Tennesse Coal and Iron company which had no market value." - "The proposition of Messrs. Gary -id Frick was. he continued, "that the t'nitcd Htates Hteel corporation should take o-rr the Tennessee Coal and Iron comp-in, at once. 1 "It wss necessary for me to act at once before the -stock eichange o I. or the transaction might prove useless. : He said he was satisfied thai u-r-mmt by the steel corporation of the Tennessee Coal and Iron company t il not change the legal statue of the corporation. cor-poration. For Pnbtle Good. 'Furthermore. I beifaved ft would 1-e for the public good," continued Mr.a Roost- van. Beuaraa Act a Oood One. "I answered Messrs. Gary and Frick thst If matters were tn such a state I did not want to stand In the way. and the results proved that the set was s good one, 'becsuse the panic waa atopped." Mr. Rooeevelt further said that 4ie hsd learned thst the action wss of greet benent to the people of the Birmingham district. "I should have proved an un worthy f'Ublic aeTlcer if I had not done as I did. t I hnd not a -1 ed at once." he continued, contin-ued, "in that extraordinary crisis I should have been a mere title. In every suh crisis the temptstlon at Indectslun to non-action slwsva exists. There Is slwsvs excuse for non-action. If a man is worth his salt he will give people in trouhle the I bene fit of tb douht and act as the situation demand If the law ia not violated. Kvery step I took waa as open as the day. Chairman 8ianiey asked the former president for more detal's aa to the conference con-ference at the white aouse and about 1 he truet com name ta trouble in New York at I he time. " Tnut Company la Tight Place. "I think they men t lone 3 only one trust company " Mr. Roosevelt replied. "I nad personally been Informed that there ' were twe such companies and that 'the assets of a oertaln .! stock brokerage cwmpany were threatened. They aaid 1 they were fullv convinced this cnmpany would fail If the Tennessee transaction , were nnt completed. These securities had no market value at the moment, they' said, and thrv Mated they were willing to purchase that property for. the steayl corporation: that the steel corporatl.n j did not wish to do It for the sake of tlte . transaction itself because It had been (heir pollcv to keep thetr proportion of the ateei business at 9 per cent or less. As a matter of fact, their control whs less. They said they were willing ami anxious to take over the property because be-cause they fek H waa the only way to saw the situation: that it would put the power of the steel corporation behind- the .(Coatiaaed a page nasal 1 believed (and JddTllon of the Tenne Coal and Iron company property would '"Sf the proportion of the eteel company a holdings by about 4 per cent, making them Ibout : per cent Inetead of about IS per cent of the toul value In the coun-try) coun-try) an addition which by "eelf. In Judltment (concurred ""' f!? inly by ihe attorney ut, b competent lawyer with whom I talked. worked to change the leirnl statue of the stel corporation. Firt hermore. I lleved that the action " 'mh,(cVn. for the general ood that U ofterod the only chance for arresting the panic, and ?hi' n would Probably arreet the i panic ax It did. 1 anewered Meeara JTrlck and Oary aa eet forth In my published I'tter to the affect that I did not JJJ duty to Interfere-that la. to forbid the action whl h more than anything alaa In actual facte saved the situation. The result justified my l"".'"'- oanle was stopped, public conlldenee la tn? aoh"cy of the threatened Institution Institu-tion being at once restored. "Incldentelly. I may mention that when I was In Birmingham kl aptlna; avw man I met. without exception who waa competent to teetlfy. 'n'ormed roe vol-untarily vol-untarily that the results of the irtto" taken had been for the i most benefit to Blrmlnaham. and therefore to Alabama, the Industry being profited to an extraordinary extraor-dinary degree not only from '5 7 -point of the buslneas. but rm the-x4J standpoint of the community at large and of th. wace workers by the chanra In ownership. The results of the action I took were beneficial from 'very i standpoint, stand-point, and the action Itself at '1?''" when It waa taken waa vllally neceesan-to neceesan-to the welfare of the people of tha United Statea. Would Have Bean Derelict. In my judgment. I would have been detellct m my et. wwwld " myself a timid and unworthy public officer, of-ficer, If In that extraordinary oriels I had not acted as I did act. n w such crisis the temptation to Indecision, to non-actlon. la jtreat. for excuece ran always be found for non-actlon and action ac-tion means a risk and the certainty of blame to the man who acts. But If the man Is worth his salt he will do his duty. named. Next morning-, while at breakfast, break-fast, I was Informed that Messra. Ftlck and Gary were waiting at the office, ao 1 at once went over, and aa the attorney general. Mr. Bonaparte, had not yet arrived ar-rived from Baltimore, where he had been passing the night. I sent a message asking ask-ing the secretary of state. Mr. Root, who waa also a lawyer, to join us. which he did. Before the close of the Interview and In the preeence of the three gentlemen gentle-men named I dictated a note to Mr. Bonaparte, aettlng forth exactly- what afes'rs. Frlck and Gary had proposed and exactly what I had answered, ao that there might be no possibility of misunderstanding. misun-derstanding. This note waa published In a senate document while I waa atlll president, and la already apread on the mlnutea of your committee. It runs as follows: , 'Khali I read It gentlemenT" The chairman: rJual aa you Ilka, Colonel Roosevelt." Mr. Roosevelt: "With' your permission I will read It. Latter to Bonaparte. "Tha White House. Washington, November Novem-ber 4. IM?. My Dear Mr. Attorney General : Judge E. H. Oary and Mr. H. C. Prick, on tha behalf of the ateel corporation, corpora-tion, have juat called on mo. They atata that there la a certain business firm (the name of which I have not been told, but which la of real Importance In New York buelneea clrclea). whlrh will undoubtedly fall this week If help la not given. Among Ita aaaeta are a majority of tha aecurltlea of the Tennessee Coal company. Application haa been urgently made to the steel corporation to purchase tha stock aa the only means of avoiding a failure. Judge Oary and Mr. Prick Informed In-formed me that aa a mere buelneea transaction trans-action they did not care to purchase the stock: that under ordinary circumstances 4wvy tertdwiteowotf0" pwcctxaetne the took, becauae but little benefit will coma to the ateel corporation from tha purchase; pur-chase; that they are aware that the pureha will be uravd aa a handle for attack upon them on tha around that they are at rt vine to ecu re a monopoly of the buslneaa and prevent competition not that thla would represent what could hon-eatly hon-eatly be aald, but what mlfht reckleael and untruthfully be aald. he will give the people tha benent or tne doubt and act In any way which their tn-teresta tn-teresta demand and which la not arrirm- . atlvely prohibited by law. unheeding the likelihood that he himself, whea the crlala Is oxer and the danger passed, will be assailed as-sailed for what he has done. "Every step I took In the matter waa open aa day and was known In detail at the moment to all the people. The press contained full accounts of the vlalt if) me of Messra. rrlck and Gary, and heralded her-alded widely and with acclamation the results of that visit. At that time tha relief and rejoicing over what had been done were well nigh universal. The danger dan-ger waa too Imminent and too appalling for men to be willing to condemn thoee who were successful In saving them from ft. But I fully understood and expected that when there was no longer danger, when tha fear had been forgotten, attack at-tack would be made upon me. "If I were on a sail boat, I should not ordinarily meddle with any gear: but If a audden enuall struck us and the main sheet Jammed so that the boat threatened to capelae, I would unhesitatingly cut the main sheet, even though I were sure that the owner, no matter how grateful to me at the moment for having aaved hla life, would a few weeks later, when he had forgotten hla danger and hla fear, decide de-cide to aua me for the value of the cut rope." Queattona by Stanley. "Did Mr. Oary or Frlck advlae yon that the atock of the Tennessee Coal and Iron company waa preferred bv them more than anv other Indiietrlel stock before the panic?" Chairman Stanley asked "They never spoke of any auch thing. Mr. Roosevelt replied. "IHd they tell you af their efforts In New York through this transaction to heln out a certain atock broker?" "Oh. no." Tld thev describe the conditions In re-latlon re-latlon to this stock In Wall street how the Tenneeeee haa been kited about Ilka a football?" . "Mr. Btanlev." the former preeldent exclaimed ex-claimed emphatically, "you must apply tp eome one other than myeelf If you wish an expert opinion on Wall afreet. Mr. Rooeevelt laughed heartily at the conclusion of this answer, leaning forward for-ward over tha table In a characteristic ""TOdn't thev advlae you that the week before .they had offered to make a loan to a certain stock Jobber, who was In trouble trou-ble In Tennessee securities?" "Thev never mentioned auch thing, Mr. Kooaeveit replied. Thing Not Men tl on ad. "Did they advlae yon that nlne-tentha of this Tennessee atock aa locked up In the atrong boxes of multl-mllllonalrea on account of Its value, and that the stock's value had purposelv been destroyed In Wall atreet bv pegging, and that only 10 per cent of this stock was Involved In the loans that were In trouble?" "Nobody talked to me on thoaa Ilnea yon suggest." said Mr. Roosevelt. "I ought to aay." Mr. Rooeevelt Interrupted, Inter-rupted, as the chairman waa about to ask another -uestlon. "that New York banker after banker had Informed me that the Tenneeae Coal and Iron atorfce were val'teleee as seenrltlee. Messrs. Oarv and Frlck earnestly drslred that tha threatened threat-ened Inatltutlon should have the coal and Iron stock eupplemented in order to aava a serious crash. Thev aald thev knew of no wsy bv which tha panic could be imw1 evceot bv this trenwfer. Want But Sixty Par Cent. They further Informed me 'that aa a matter of fact, the policy of the company haa been to decline to acquire more than 80 per cent of the ateel pro pert lee and that thla purpose haa been pereevered In for aeveral years paat. with the object of preventing these accuaatlona. and as a matter of fact their proportion of ateel pro pert tee haa slightly decreaeed. ao that It Is below this 40 per cent and the acqul-eltlon acqul-eltlon of -the property In queetlon will nqj. raise It above 40 per cent. But they feel that It Is Immeneely to their Interest, aa to the Intereat of every reeponslble business busi-ness man. to try to prevent a panic and general Industrial smashup at thla time and that they are willing to go In this transaction, which they would not otherwise other-wise go Into, because It seems the opinion opin-ion of those best fitting to express Judgment Judg-ment that It may be an Important factor In preventing a break that might be miaous; that thla haa been urged on them by the combination of tha moat responsible re-sponsible bankers in New York who are now thua engaged In endeavoring to aave the altuatlon. But they asserted they did not wish to do thla If I stated that It ought not to be done. I answered that while of course I could not advise them to take tha action proposed, I felt It no public duty of mlna to Interpose any objections. ob-jections. "Sincerely yours. (Signed) 'THEODORE ROOSEVELT. "HON. CHARLES J. BONAPARTE, "Attorney Oeneral." . Bonaparta Agreea. "Mr. Bonaparta received thla nota in about an hour and that aame morning he came over to acknowledge Ita receipt, and aald that my answer was the only S roper answer that could have been made, avlng regard both to tha law and to tha needa of the- altuatlon; ha stated that the legal situation had baea In no way changed, and that no sufficient ground existed for prosecuting the ateel corporation. corpora-tion. But I wish It distinctly anderetood that I acted purely on my own Initiative and that the raaponalblllty for tha act was solely mine. "I was Intimately aoqualnted with tha situation let New York. The word "panic" "pan-ic" means fear, unreaeonlng fear: to atop a panic It la neceasary to restore confidence; confi-dence; and at tha moment the ao called Morgan Intereeta were tha only Interacts which retained a full hold on tha confidence confi-dence of the people of New York, not only the buelneea people, but the Immense msss of men and woman who owned small Inveatmenta or had email savings In the bank and trust com pan lea. Mr. Morgan Mor-gan and hla asocial e were, of course, fighting bard to prevent tha loss of confidence confi-dence and tha panic dletruet from Increasing In-creasing to such a degree aa to bring any other big financial Inatltutlon down, for this would probably have been followed by a genera- and probably world wide, crash. The Knickerbocker Trust company com-pany had already failed, and runs had begun orwere threatened aa regards to other big trust companies. These com -panlea were now on tha fighting Una and It was to tha Interest of everybody .to strengthen them. In order that tha altuatlon altua-tlon might be aaved. No Market Valne. "It waa matter of general knowledge and belief that they or tha Individuals prominent In them held the securities of the Tennessee Coal and Iron company, which aecurltlea had no raarket value and were useless aa a source of strength In the emergency. "The steel corporation's aecurltlea. on Ihe contrary, were Immediately marketable, market-able, their great value being known and admitted all over the world, as tha event showed. The proposal of Messrs. Frick and Oary was (hat tha ateel corporaton should at once acquire tha Tenneaaee Coal and Iron company and thereby aubati-tute, aubati-tute, among the aaaeta "of the threatened Institution, which by the way they did not name to me. aecurltlea of great and Immediate value, for aecurltlea which at the moment were of no value. It was necessary for ma to decide on tha Instant before the stock exchange opened, for the situation In New York was such that any hour might be vital and failure to act for even an hour might make all aub-eequent aub-eequent effort to act utterly useless. But align In eras aa. FjrornfehewtJnforma -ROOSEVELT ' (Continued from page 1.) companies on the Urine; line and tn a poaltlon to prevent dlaaster. Aaked If I any truat comnantea were mentioned, Mr. Rooaeve't rrolled: "I think they mentioned none, and I did not aak them for the name' Tzt ef Itatemeot, Th text of Colonel Rooeevelt'a testimony testi-mony before th ateel Inveatlfatlnf com mitte follow: "In the fall of 197 there were severe buslneaa dlaturbance and financial atrin-ffemy. atrin-ffemy. culmlnattns; In a panic which arae In Vew York and spreiul over the country. The da mace actual done waa Kivat and damage threatened waa Incalculable. Incal-culable. Thank taresly to the artlon of the vovemment. the panic waa stopped before. InMcsd of being merelv a aeiioua hualneea check. It became a fHffhtful and natron wMe calamity, a disaster frausht with untold mlaery and wo to all our oeoole. For severiil davs the nation trero bted on the brink of such a calamity, of aui'k a dlaaater, aa you aenttemea doubt-Iraa doubt-Iraa rememler. "Ourlns these day both the secretary of the treasury and I were pereonaMv In hourly communh'atlen with New Tor, foil owl na every change In the altuatlon and trytns; to anilcloate every devekn-tnent. devekn-tnent. It was the ohyloua duty of th admlnlatni1on to take every atep possible possi-ble to prevent appaMlnar dlaaater by checktns the arread of the nanlc befora It crew ao that nothlnr could erk It. Iind events moved with auch apeed that It was necessary to decide and to act on j the In tint, aa each aucceaaiv crlala aroae. If th deelston and action were to accomplish anvthlnc. The serretmry of the treaaury toh varlmm artlnns. aoma on his own Initiative, some by say direction. di-rection. , Visit of rrick & Gray. . Lat ene even In; I waa Informed that tare repreemtatlves af the at, enrpora-, tka wtahad to see me early the ff " momtoL, tha p-ecix u ot not t |