The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-12-15
TO PREJUDICE WOOD
REpORTs or EVIDENCE PER
 VERIFIED, SAYS ROOT.
Calls Attention Of Senator Proctor to False 4.ecounts Given out as to Testimony Before Milf
 tary Committee.

Washington, Dec i4-secretary Root has addressed the following letter to Senator Proctor. acting chairman of the commistee on Mslltarx Affairs:
 Hir--I enclose a letter from Brigadier General TRslkaf n. Bllass asking attention tc tho report af hla reesnt teatina0nv be- Fore your -cDnsf4itftS as q witness. re- garding certain objections to the con- Armation of General Wood. It appears that the press reports of General Bliss's testimony are the precise contrary of what he in fact testified. He wishes this set right for his own reputation and shall take the liberty of doing so as far as practicable, by giving his letter to the press.
 At the same time I wish to call the ate tention of the committee to the fact that some person eeems to be pefsistently fur nishIng to the press false statements of the testimony taken before you, the perversion of the evidence being in every case to the prejudice of General Wood $
 papers publishing these reports believe them to be true and that the reports are sent to them by the representatives of the press In good faith, under the same belief. It is evident that'some per- son is undertaking to convey to the press representatives information of what goes on in the committees and Is taking ad- vantage of the fact that the evidence Is not published to state 1t falsely for the purpose of inJuring General Wood In the publlc's estimation; so that while your committee will act upon the evidence ac- tually before it, the public judgment as to how you ought to act will be based upon an entirely different and erroneous idea of what the evidence Is.
 If the evidepce actually given called for General Woods presence, should. of course. bring him back from the Philippines, but do not feel justi- fled in withdrawing him from the im- portant duties which he Is performing on account of false reports of evidence which has never in fact been given. It hardly seems fair that an officer who is not here to protect himself but Is serving his country faithfully, under or ders, on the other side of the world, should have his reputation stabbed in this way. earnestly request your com mittee's attention to this subject.
 Very respectfully,
 Elihu Root,
 Secretary of War. General Bliss in his letter. contradicts the report that he strongly opposed the admission. without payment of duty, of the silver service purchased in New York. by the Jai Alai. and that he re- ceived mandatory instructions from Gov erpor Wood to admit the silver service free of duty. He oays he testified most positively under oath that neither direct ly nor indirectly. verbally nor in writing. personally from him nor through any sub ordinate, nor from any person whatso- ever ''had received even an intimAtion as to the remission of duties upon -aese articles; that ordered the remission of the duty because believed then and be- lieve now that 1t was in accordance with the law; that if any mistake was made, I was solely responsible for it. further testified that during the two and half years that served directly under the orders of General Wood as military gov- ernor of Cuba I know of no action of his that was not consistent with the char aeter of an honorable officer and a man of integrity"