Omaha daily bee., 1902-06-18
CALLSDOWN JOHN R. WEBSTER
E. Rosewater Demands Retrsction Of Some
Loose Assertions.
QUICKLY REsENTs UNwARRANTED ATTACK
MaEnate Of che Omaha Bridge and
Terminal Company Learns Some
Truths of which He
Was Ignorant.

Was Ignorant.
Monday afternoon in the presence OF a
number Of persons at the Commercial club
rooms John r. Webster, manager Of the
Omaha Bridge and Terminal company, said:
81 will tell you gentleman the reason
that The Omaha Bee is continually attack
ing my company. The year Edward Rose
water was candidate for United States SEN
ator Victor Rosewader came to me and
asked me for a contribution to his fathers
campaign fund, l refused to give IL and
The Bee Immediately began its attack on
the Omaha Bridge and Terminal company"
Yesterday a friend Of Mr.. Edward Rose
water who had heard the remark told him
about It. Mr.. Rosewater senta message to Mr..
Webster requesting him to call at the office.
Mr.. Webster declined to comply with the
request. whereupon Mr.. went to
the Office Of Mr.. Webster and, repeating
the words he had heard, asked II II were
true that Mr.. Webster had said them. Mr..
Webster acknowledged that he had made
the assertion.
"The statement is false" remarked Mr..
Rosewater, and no one but a scoundrel
would make such a statement. My son is
absent from the city, but / know that he
never asked any one to contribute to my
campaign expenses. When you say that
you were asked to make such a contribu-
tion you tell a deliberate lie. aud you as
wilfully misrepresent as when your COM
pany made a statement as to the location
Of the East Omaha bridge in Pottawat-
tamie county, Iowa, for assessment pur-
poses, and another statement directly OPP
posite as to the location of that bridge
when assessments were being made here"
Mr.. webster Gets Abusive.
Such language proved a little too much
for Mr.. Webster's nerves and the words
that he used would bar a magazine from
circulation In a Sunday school library.
Eliminating those words, which are usually
represented by dashes, he said:
You are a scoundrel, sir, and a hypo-
critic; you say one thing in your newspaper
and practice another. You say that the
corporations should not take part in poll
tics and then you solicit political contribu-
lions, and when they are not paid you at
tack them as you have attacked me. /
can show you by your files that you lied
about me and my company only after
had refused to make a contribution What
do you mean by coming into my office and
talking like this to me. anyway"
"You said that l had asked you to con-
tribute to my campaign expenses" said
Mr.. Rosewater. II came here to secure a
retraction. You had no right to make such
a statement. 1 want you to understand
that / will hold you accountable for tina
statement. Now, 1 would like to
know why you said what you did. Victor
Rosewater was a member of the county
central committee and was probably charged
with raising funds for election expenses,
but do not believe that he ever asked you
for a cent and I am positive that he never
asked you for a cent for my campaign ex-
penses. as l provided for all of that my
self. Victor is not in town now, so l can
not learn what he did in that matter, but
when he returns l feel sure he will con
tradict what you have said"
"Victor Rosewater did ask me for money
during that campaign" asserted Mr.. Web
ster. HE did it, undoubtedly on accoun
Of the campaign expenses in the state, bu
we all know that you, Mr.. Rosewater, wer,
the only man to be benefited by the elec,
ton of the legislature; that any money
contributed to the campaign fund tina
year was a direct contribution to you
campaign expenses"
Where Webster is Mistaken.
THAT year. said Mr.. Rosewater, "ther,
were two United States senators to b,
elected. I suppose 1 was to be both o
them. There was a governor, a full statt
ticket to be selected. l suppose that accord.
ing to your view I was to have been all o
them. There was a state to be carried
for William Mckinley suppose l was t
b that. Every republican was asked t
DO all he could to accomplish these ends
AS a republican you may have been aske,
A. AA-N-NEVVA- - Il a n
most every republican in the state was
directly or indirectly, but as the manage
of the Omaha Bridge and Terminal com
pany l do not believe that you were aske,
to give one cent"
Mr.. Webster then turned the converse
tion to what he termed the unwarrante,
attacks upon the company in The Bee
showing why he had made an attempt I
have his property placed under the juris
diction OF the State Board OF Equalization
because the property OF the company wa
taxed higher than other railroad propert
In the city.
Sample of Railroad MISREPRESENTATION
Right now" he said, I'VE are payin
more taxes on our property In this cit
than you are on The Bee building. Yc
are assessed at $50, 900, while we pay o
an assessment OF SIC. 900 for city purposes.
II know the railroad liars hsve fixed
that way" replied Mr.. R%osewater, but tn
fact is that we pay on a city assessment {
$165, 900 for The Bee building and on $65. 0O
county and state assessment, and that is a
close as the railroad liars will com to th
truth"
81 apologize to you, then. on that point.
said Mr.. Webster, "as ! accepted the fg
ures as given by the railroads as true"
II have never altered my position on tn
question Of honest assessment" said NJ.
Rosewater. land nothing you have don
has caused me to make any change" an
the conversation closed.