Waterbury Democrat., 1902-04-10
THAT POWDERLY LETTER.
Made Public Four Years After
 it Was Written.

The Commissioner General i'll an In
 teryiew Tells How He Came 10
 Write the Letter-W Would Rather, lie
 Says. Be the Writer of the Letter
 Than Such Man as the One Who
 Brought It to Light After Two of
 the Witnesses to the Circumstances
 Are Dead.
 Washington, April 10.-A short tune since there appeared i'll public print T letter which T. V. Powderly, commls- sioner- general of immigration wrote 10 Commissioner Fitchie at the port ol New York, in which the former Tee quested the latter to use his influence for MT Porter, formerly private secfe- tary to President Mckinley, in his as pirations for the goyernorshlp oI Con- necticut. writes the Hartford Courants Washington correspondent. In defense of his action Mir Powderly this morn ing gave out the following statement explanatory of the letter: T wrote tne letter to Mir Fitchie as it appeared Ill a Boston paper of February IS, and Ill other papers on April 4, 1902. The CIT cumstances under which the letter was written are as follows: On August U, 1898. I had an interview with President Mckinley, and as 1 was about taking my departure he said: MT Porter wishes to talk with you before you go out and I hope you may find q way to help him. As near as my memory serves me- that was his language. AT any rate it was substantially what lie said:
 q saw NIr Porter. He informed noe that he was a candidate for governor of Connecticut; that the contest at the primaries would be very close and that q great deal depended upon the vote ln Bridgeport. He said that the result either way would show a very small majority. and asked if 1 could not help him. I told him that 1 was so busy that I could not get away just then, and he suggested my writing to some friends in his interests and I compiled with his request. among those 1 wrote to being MT Fitchie That part of the letter which reads in Bridgeport they
 
 caucus for tomorrow night was the exact language of MT Porter, and in the letter to Mir Fitchie that sentence should have been inclosed ill quotation marks.
 My reasons for suggesting that MT McSweeney endeavor to induce his democratic friends to go to the caucus was that they would be entitled to vote | II. + fn the rules of the republican party and vote for the nominee of the convention I did not consider that it would be republican primaries if ths1- would agree to cast their ballots for the nom inees of the republican convention at the general election I believe that if it was right for me to use pen and voice ill behalf of the men and prin- ciples of the republican party it would not be wrong to commit democrats to the principles and nominees of the party in advance by having them at tend primaries and then become identi- fled with the party.
 Previous to that time MT Fitchie had intimated to nle that MT Me Sweeney had identified himself with the republican party. I had no direct personal interest in Connecticut politics and did not intrude voluntarily in the matter. I believe that it was the wish of President Mckinley that I should assist Mir Porter, and in the short time in which had to operate did the best I could. The wish of William McKin- ley was law with me. In all the years Gf my acquaintance with him, I never knew him to advocate or ask anyone else to advocate that which was not right. Believing him to be right. re specting and honoripg him as nay chief, and believing that he desired that MT Porter should be nominated I contri- buted my effort to the accomplishment of that object.
 Perhaps it was not the wisest thing to do. but l wrote the letter and under the circumstances detailed above I may add in conclusion that would pre- fer to be the author of such a letter, written under the circumstances recit- ed. than exchange places with the man who could successfully smother his outraged political feelings for nearly four years until both the witnesses of those circumstances had passed be- yond the reach of earthly inquiry, and then find it consistent with his sense of propriety to give out for publication q personal letter."