Little Falls herald. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1889-1950, 1903-07-24
Washing ton Letter

July IS The Littauer glove cor
tract 'l is still agitating the War De-
.partment and official Washing ton. On
account Of peculiar relationship exist
Ing between President Roosevelt and
Congressman Littauef, the question
is on the tip Of every mans tongue,
What will Roosevelt do about this
latest scandal that gets close to him?,'
At q Harvard College dinner \ at the
Waldorf Asst ria hotel in New York on
the 23d Of February, Roosevelt de-
clared with pride and emotion that his
closest personal friend and political
adviser was Mr.. Lucius N. Littauer,
member of Congress from New YorA.
TO quote his exact lang usge: II
want to tell you that it is Congress
man who is my most intimate per
sonal friend, and who is my closest
political adviser. ,'zZ ->
,"Who is her, came from all side=
''Lucius Littaner, ''said Roosevelt.
The laws Of the United States l.r-
bid member Of Congress to take a,.y
Government contract The New Yrr.
Sun, = repu blican newspaper, fri.I's-
~ to Mr.. Roosevelt, Of course. r..
veals the fact that MIR. Littauer, du.-
ing the Spanish -American war, manu-
featured some fve-hundred thousand
dollars worth Of gloves and otht +
supplies bought by the United States
Government. man named Lyon, got
the contract from the Government,
and Littausr made the gloves fer
Lyon. In letter to Lyon, Littauer
asked whether he (Littauer) shall go
and see the responsible War depart
ment official, General Ludington,
Sin regard to the other glove con-
tracts. - And Littauer's brother acted
as bondsnan forLyon in the procuring
of the contract.
What will Mr.. Roosevelt do under
the circumstances? Will he instruct
the Attorney General to investigate
the matter! Hs cannot doubt that his
Endorsement of Mr.. Littauer would
have great weight with the War De-
psrtment. Mr.. Littauer may not have
known, in spite Of his offer to see q
certain official, that Lyon really got
the contract on the strength Of repre-
senting Mr.. Roosevelt s intimate
friend.
But what will Mr. Roosevelt do?
He has not hesitated to give US his
views ofssofdcial purity. He has said,
"Words are good when backed up by
deeds, and only 60" VIII his words
be backed by deeds, in this cass? Or
is there difference between an
ordinary individual and the Harvard
graduate who happens to be the Presi-
dents "closest political friend and
adviser?'
The people would perhaps like to
ask Mr.. Roosevelt this question:
> What can be expected of the Post
Office people if the intimate political
friend and most trusted adviser of the
President makes profit of some ninty
thousand dollars on Government con-
tracts when the law says that no
member of Congress shall profit by
such a contract, directly or indirec ly?
Mr.. Roosevelt has said that he pro-
posed to have every thing about him
''as clean as a hounds tooth.'' Isn't
it about time for him to buy a carload
of tooth brushes?
There is another phase Of this glove
contract matter that has never been
exploited in the press of the country.
The people know nothing about it and
it contains a whole lot Of meat for
meditation upon the ways that are
dark and the tricks that are vain, as
practiced by the astute and IN
scru pulous Secretary Of War, Mr..
Root. He is at present making a lot
Of fuss about investigating this glove
! contract, but he is doing the CUTIE
fsh act. He is spewing OUT "a lot of
stuff that darkens the wat ers, and
no one can see his work. Instead Of
placing the investig ation of this glog 9
contract in the hands of the regular
army Inspector in charge, and who Is
thoroughly familiar with every DETAIL
he sends for E new man, Mr.. Carl
ington,> who knew nothing about the
true inwardness Of 1t, and gives him
his instructions as to how he is to
carry on the investigation and what
he is to investigate. He iclrcumscribes
and limits his discretion in the mat
ter. He~tells him to Investigate every
thing except enc, and that one con
! tains the mill in the cocosnut. That
is the manner in which the contract
| is drawn. It is drawn in such man
ner as to call for certain and specific
kind Of glove, and that kind ::of glove
|is made only by the Littauer Brothers,
glove manufacturers of Nsw York.