Los Angeles herald., 1905-11-16
Rv Aasnciated Prnaa.

BY Associated Press
WASHINGTON, Nov. 15.-President
Roosevelt was asked today to use his
influence to have the customs duties on
hides removed in the interest of all the
people of the country.
A delegation of boot and shoe and
leather manufacturers, headed by Gov
ernor w. L. Douglas of Massachusetts,
called on the president by appointment
and discussed with him pretty fully the
proposed repeal of the duty on hides.
The delegation numbered twenty-eight
men, the minority from the New Eng
land states. In the course of the IN
terview the president spoke so frankly
and sincerely to his callers that they
burst into cheers that made the execu-
tive office ring.
After the delegation had presented
It's views and it's desires to the presi-
dent he told the members that, as a
matter of concrete fact, the whole sub
iect was one with which congress must
deal, and he strongly impressed upon
them that any action in the matter
must originate in congress.
At the conclusion of the conference
w. B. Rice of the firm of Rice &
Hutchins of Boston made statement
to the newspaper men of the result OF
the interview. be said:
eve represent the majority of the
leather, tanning and boot and shoe in
terests of the United States. We de-
cided to request the president to assist
us in procuring legislation placing
hides on the free list and to reduce
the duty on sole leather to 10 per cent,
where the Mckinley law placed IT,
think every man present was impressed
with the presidents desire to do the
square thing by us.
"I will go away from here With
good deal of courage that something
will be done now that the ball has been
started rolling.
SUBSEQUENT to the departure of the
delegation from the White House Pres
ident Roosevelt authorized the publica-
tion Of his remarks.
In the course of his remarks he re-
lated an experience he had last year
with a committee from Massachusetts
of whom Mr.. Whitney, recently a can
didate for lieutenant governor OF Mas
sachusetts,n was one. He SAID MI
Whitney had misquoted him IN tne
campaign which was closed few days
ago, and declared that he was con
strained to believe that Mr.. whitney
had deliberately misrepresented what
had occurred" With this experience
in mind, the president declined to enter
upon a discussion of the subject OF free
hides at this time. The address of the
president was, in part as follows:
"It Is obviously unnecessary to point
out that no change In the tar1n can
be made, keeping in view only the in
terests or desires of one state or one
locality: the law must therefore rough
ly correspond to the sentiments OF the
citizens of the several states as eX-
pressed through their representatives
therein. Where the interests and senti-
ments based on these interests are dl-
verse, as is almost invariably the case
in reference to the details of all tariff
matters, the law must normally, al
though not invariably, represent a
compromise and mutual concessions;
and no one, outside of congress, can
definitely foretell the exact shape such
compromise will ultimately take.
81 should like to discuss the whole
situation with you freely and inform
ally. But, unfortunately my expert
ence with a committee from your state
Governor Douglas, which called on me
in connection with the tariff matters
about a year ago forbds my doing SO.
Such a free, full and necessarily in
formal and tentative discussion is OBJ
viously of benefit only If those joining
in it recognize as matter of honor
able obligation the duty of not at
tempting to give from memory what
must necessarily be an imperfect and
garbled version of what takes place.
When the president of the United
States definitely and formally expresses
himself for publication on a question
of great national Importance what he
says should not be left to the imper-
fection of memory often colored by
interest, but should be put beyond the
possibility of misunderstanding by con-
fusion of preparation and committal
to writing. To try to repeat from
memory what the president has said
when a year has elapsed is to show en-
tire Indifference to accuracy, as we'll
as to propriety. Yet this is precisely
what Mr.. Whitney did in the Massa-
chusetts campaign that has just
closed. He pretended to quote what /
had said during the course of the long
and informal interview with his COM
mittee a year before, no notes of the
conversation having been taken at the
time Not only did he misquote the
words I used, but by suppressing al
most all that 1 had said. and by CIV
ing what he purported to give en-
tirely apart from its context, he alb
solutely, and as I am constrained to
believe, deliberately, misrepresentedI
what had occurred, and he knew well
that it was impossible for the president
of the United States to enter into a
personal discussion about the matter
with him.
with this experience in view. 1 can
not enter into any discussion with you
on the merits of your proposal and
must content myself with saying that
1t shall receive my most earnest at |
tention and respectful consideration"
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WHITNEY MAKES STATEMENT