Iowa state bystander. [volume] (Des Moines, Iowa) 1894-1916, 1906-05-18
THE PRESIDENT IS ASSAIlED
UTTERLY ATTACKED BY SENA,
TORS BAILEY AND TILLMAN.

Former Immediately Refutes Charges
Of Betraying Friendly Demo-
crats-Cause Of Accident.
Washington. There was series o!
sensational incidents in the senate
late Saturday afternoon, which
reached climax when Presiden;
Roosevelt took the extraordinary ster
OF telephoning direct denial o.
charges made against him and haW
Ing his denial read in the senate.
The event is perhaps without prece
dent in the history of the republic
Senators Bailey and Tillman violated
unwritten law by making a direct at
tack upon the president in debate
The president shattered all tradition
by making a direct personal reply to
the charges made against him.
The incidents included the reading
OF a written statement by Senatoi
Tillman charging the president witt
betraying the Democratic senator
who had agreed to stand by him Oh
the railroad rate bill with the under
standing that the president woult
cling to his original position agains
an amendment permitting court re
view.
Following this Senator Bailey in
dulged in violent attack on ths
president. He charged that the eX
ecutive had surrendered his position
advocating IAN effective measure;
that he had abandoned his demands
for tariff revision; that the prest
dents arraignment of trusts had been
made after his election and that be-
fore that time he had been "as silent
as the grave" on the subject OF regu
lating the railroads. The senator
closed with this statement
Let us have no more talk In the
senate and talk in the country about
this iron man. He is clay, and very
common clay at that"
Senator Tillman in his attack on
the executive charged that President
Roosevelt had asked ex-senator
Chandler to request that he rally
enough Democratic votes to carry
the Hepburn bill through and save
it from any injurious amendments.
He said he had conferred with the
president and that after having full
filled his part of the agreement, the
president deliberately backed down
Senators Dolliver, Clapp and Car
ter defended the president against
these attacks, the former pointing to
the president as "the most superb
moral leadership the American peo
pie ever had" He also praised Sen
ator Allison, who had, he said, been
his guide and counselor throughout
the whole consideration of the rate
question. Mr.. Carter said he be-
lieved the president had been con-
sistently in favor of the house bill.
Senator Lodge speaking for the
president, said that the president had
denied as unqualifiedly false the
statement Of Senator Tillman attrib.
uted to ex-senator Chandler that Sen.
ators Foraker, Knox and Spooner
were trying to defeat the rate bill by
constitutional amendments.
A statement from ex-senator
Chandler was later given out by Sen.
ator Tillman in which the former re.
iterated the statements pronounced
by President Roosevelt as "unquali
fledly false"
westinghouse lengthy statement
bearing on the rate bill incident in the
senate Was issued by the White House
Monday evening. The president says
that his own opinion that Mr.. Al
lison's amendment in no way changed
the scope of the court review as pro.
vided in the original Hepburn bill is
also the opinion of Attorney General
Moody and Secretaries Root and Taft.
He adds that as to none Of the amend
ments did he say to Mr. Chandler OF
anyone else that he should insist upon
having them in the bill as coLdi.
ton of his approval.
Washington.-Senator Tillman Tues.
day took issue with the president In
the Chandler controversy, declaring
that he felt under obligations to defend
ex-senator Chandler and place him
right on the records. Senator Tillman
refuted the statement made by the
president that he did not send for Mr..
Chandler. Senator Tillman said the
letter from Mr.. Loeb to Mr.. Chandler
invited the latter to visit the president