Show era ROO EVELT CALLS A LIA L I 1 A n S EN AT 1 4 uffa N akl LA 1 I 1 S U IN A I 1 ETT en n W ff TIEN BY HA n KIMAN president must aust have known of the insurance companies contributions to campaign fund so harriman says how new york state was 9 carried by the liberal used use of money aply reply chicago april 2 A sensation was created here today by the publication f a letter written in 16 december md addressed to mr sidney webster t f now york and signed B E 11 hariman harriman this Is the letter mr sidney sidne y webster no sov sev street new now york city I 1 am lad to see that you are in town own and lopo hope soon to td have an opportunity of talking matters over with you 1 I had printed copies of the testimony sent you in hopes that you would after reading them give me some idea of where I 1 stand for I 1 icon con ess that I 1 feel somewhat at sea in ho the whole insurance matter the trou brou ale ble originated in allowing myself to be drawn into other peoples affairs and anti partly from a desire to help them and it at their request 1 I seem to be like tho the fellow who got in between the man mau and d h hla IS wife in their quarrel qu arrol As to roy my political instincts to which you refer in your letter of december I 1 am quite sure I 1 have none and my being made at all prominent in the political situation is due to president roosevelt and because of my taking an active part in he autumn of 1904 at his request and hits his taking advantage of conditions then created to further his own interests te if it it had been a premeditated plot it coald not have been better started or carried out about cabout a week before the election in the au autumn of 1904 when it looked certain that the state ticket would go democratic and was doubtful as to roosevelt himself he the president sent TOO a request to go to washington to confer the political conditions in new york state I 1 complied and he i told me he be understood the campaign could not be successfully carried on without money and naked asked if I 1 would help them in raising the necessary funds as the national committee had utterly failed of obtaining them and there was a large amount abou amou nt due from them to the tile new NONY york state committee 1 I explained to him that I 1 understood t the difficulty here was mainly caused by the upstate up state leaders being unwilling to support depow dep ew for TO reelection as united states senator that if he depew could be taken care of in some other way I 1 thought matters could be adjusted and the different contending elements in the party brought into alliance again we talked over what could be done for depew and finally he agreed if found necessary he lie would appoint him as ambassador to paris with full belief that he the president would keep this agreement I 1 came back to new york sent for treasurer bliss who told roe me that I 1 was their last hope and that they had exhausted every other resource in his presence I 1 called up an intimate friend of senator depew told ham that it was necessary in order to carry new now york state that should be raised at once and it if he aou would id help I 1 would subscribe after a few words over the el ephone lione the gentleman said he would let me know which ho he did in three or four hours with the result that the whole amo amount U nt in including my su subscription had been ra raised asod the checks were given to trems treasurer ur bliss who took them to chairman cortelyou if there were any among them of IM insurance companies of course cortelyou mu must st have informed the president I 1 do not know who the subscribers were other than the friend of depew who was an individual this amount enabled the new york state committee to continue its work with the result that at least votes were turned in the city of new now york alono alone making a dIf difference terence of otes in the general result there are between 2240 and 2300 ln in greater new york and in campaign zampa ign such suph as that the expends j re of say 60 in each district for campaign purposes 1 bould take more than H some time in december 1904 on my way from Virgi virginia fila to new york 1 I stopped and had S abort talk with aid the president he ald me then that ho he did not think to appoint depew as ambas ambassador sidor to paris as agreed in fact dav favored bred him for the senate I 1 had not expected that he be was the one to say sayas as to what would be necessary but he arrogated that to himself and I 1 of course could bay say nothing further after that I 1 used what influence I 1 could to have depew returned to the senate aa as I 1 considered there had bad been an implied obligation which should be lived up to this Is the way I 1 was brought to the surface in the political matters and I 1 had never before taken any active part and had only done what I 1 could as any privates private 0 citizen might so you see I 1 was brought forward by roosevelt in an attempt to help him at his request the aade as I 1 was wlas in the insurance matter by hyde and ryan by their request for my ray help and in the case of htyan I 1 probably would have haye dropped the matter after our first interview had it not been for to eave save from taking a posit position lon for which he could have been by the public press as lie be was the one ryan desired ma me to influence from opposing morton for election as chairman of the equitable board and thanked me ifie for taking his park as I 1 had voted against INI morton orton in WT of his bis local traction contentions with mr ryan would have been misconstrued ryans success in all his manipulations mant pula traction dealers tobacco combination manipulation of the state trust company into the morton trust company compan jr the shoe and leather bank into the tile bank of commerce thus covering up his tracks has been done by bg the adroit hand of ellhu elihu root and this present situation haa been brought about by a combination of lances which has brought together the ryan root roosevelt element where do I 1 stand yours sincerely signed E 11 II HARRIMAN sidney webster is a lawyer and writer on political subjects his wife Is a sister of stuyvesant fish who lost the presidency of the illinois central contral railroad a few ago after antagonizing mr harriman |