Omaha daily bee., 1906-09-26
BAILEY REPLIES TO CRITICS
TEXAS Senator Says Agitation Against Him
il Work Of Pelitioal Enemies
WORK As ATTORNEY IS LEGITIMATE
Says Railroad IL Not Owned by
Standard OIL Company, but by
ST. Louis Capitalists and
City of Nashville.


DALLAS, Tex. Sept. 25.-The following
statement was made public tonight by
Senator Joseph Bailey, in reply to criticisms
of him and his record which have been
circulated during the past few days;
The democrats of Texas have not for
gotten that exactly this same Kind OF
fight was made on me when | was first
elected to the senate six years ago. After
had won the senatorship In fair con-
test before the people, coterie OF dissatls-
fed politicians made desperate attempt to
defeat my election by the legislature. The
present agitation was largely inaugurated
sistance and Is predicated upon exactly the
same transactions My candidacy for re-
election TO the senate was suomitted 10 =
Texas and I received within 1000 votes OF
the number cart for four Of the candidates
for governor. Notwithstanding the general
appeal made by some of the men now pro-
noting this movement 10 the voters 10
scratch my name. The convention reit-
Grated the Judgment Of the people, without
my traducers having challenged a discus
sion OF my record They do not expect 70
prevent my reelection or TO discredit & me IN
Texas, where all of the facts and circun1-
stances are known; but they hope to injure
me In the estimation Of the country az
large, and to impair my usefulness IN the
senate.
OH Company Not owner of RoRd.
Violence and detraction was to have pur-
ported interview with the Hon Roger
Sullivan of Illinois, assailing me, s,,,,isI,. sen.
! broadcast over the country. Mr. sullivan
promptly denounced that interview as
/ false hood The next step was TO clrculats
the falsehood that the Tennessee rallr9ao
| long to the Standard Oil company some
Of the men who circulating that story
/ know and all of them could have learned
with very little inquiry, that the Standard
/ oil company had no interest In or connec-
ton with these properttss, ana that tney
Biarcom, W. H. Thompson and many other
\ leading business men OF ST. LOUIS Inc
municipality of Nashville itsen, IN s oruer
ing railroad facilities had subscribed for
| 81, ,000 900 worth of the stock of the railroad
! The railroad had passed through one re-
| ceivership and was on the verge of an
! other when l was called into the case.
accepted the employment and performedi
exactly the same kind of service that would
| have been expected of any other reputable
| lawyer. The statement so industrimously m sly
circulated by some that ] put $lS,VCo,;vO a. ~
| them as pleased is little less than ridicu-
! ious 1 did not have $1S worth Of securi-
/ of bonds of that railroad company were
pledged for its Indebtedness and IL was my
| task to prevent those who held them from
enforcing their liens and saeriilcing tne
| securities at a forced sale. That / sue
ceeded in doing this is matter OF general
satisfaction to me- as i ~ was 10 my ehenos enna.
mitted to my charge in a way to save my
clients a large sum of money, but | also
of Nashville three important competing
! railroad systems, before 1t had suffered
in the grasp OF one, and the people OF
| disposition which made OF the railroad
! by public, meetings and speeches ~
NO secvet About Employment. e.
The third step In the process was TO
pretend that the testimony given by Mr..
I Pierce disclosed a secret employment OF me
| in connection with those properties.
| The employment was a perfectly proper
one and such as any reputable lawyer would
have accepted without the slightest hesita-
tion. Not only that. but the newspapers
! of the state, together with those OF St.
Louis and Nashville. contained repeated
references to those properties and to my
| connection with them.
There never was the least attempt to
| conceal my attorneyshp for those proper
ties. nor was there the least reason why
IL should be concealed.
The objection to NY employment as the
attorney of those properties must proceed
upon the theory that man in public
| office has no right to pursue any private
business, and such a doctrine, II applied to
! all men and all officers would reduce the
public life of this country to point where
only rich men or rascals could afford to
! accept office. If had found that my
time and strength would not permit me to
serve senator and to practice law at
the same time would have abandoned the
law without the slightest hesitation, be-
cause l always believed and acted upon the
belief that the public service holds the
gessi cam f. upon evsrX nn man iheys Mn0 unaer
conflict between my duty to my clients and
my duty to my constituents, l would have
declined all employment as lawyer.
Record I'm Congress.
The Congressional Record will show that
have beea as constant in my attendance
upon the sessions of the house and of the
senate during nay fifteen years in congress
as any man who has served with me
1 lthrOnRn that nprind. Certainly haf fa n
fishes beyond the shadow of a doubt that
! have not neglected my public duties in
! the pursuit of my private business. The
Congressional Record will also show that
4 during my fifteen years-hrst In the house
and then in the senate-l have spoken and
voted on every important question, and my
most malignant enemy cannot point to a
| single speech or vote in the interest Of
my clients and against the interest of my
/ nave carefully read the circular issued
| by the Good Government club of Houston.
and was impressed when reading IL, with
| the striking similarity between II and the
Cosmopolitan magazine article. In fact II
appears spp 70 De a special enort to justify
me. l have seldom seen formal docu-
ment which contained more gross misrep-
rssentations than are In that circular.
Kirby Lumber Case.
The first criticism against my business
! dealings is with reference to my attorney
ship for John II. Kirby and the Kirby
| Lumber company, which is in substance
| merely restatement of the same matter
from the Cosmopolitan magazine The
| Cosmopolitan article did not, however as |
now recall it, include the statement now
made for the first time in this circular
that helped Mr.. Kirby sell an 'east
Texas railroad TO the Santa F'e system"
This is an addition, and II seems strange
that such addition should have been
made by any man at Houston because all
of the Houston people who know anything
about Mr.. Kirby's affairs knows that the
railroad which he built and sold to the
Santa Fe system, was built and sold years
before ] had any business relations with
Mr. Kirby.
The next statement Is that Mr. Kirby.
instead OF going himself to Hartman or
ators," employed me TO do so. That Is a
falsehood. pure and simple.
Never Saw Hartman.
| never saw Mr.. Hartman I'm NY life.
and have never discussed business prop
osition with Mr.. Ryan. There is, how
ever, one part of the circular to which l
will make reply, and a most conclusive
one. They insinuate that when the Waters
Pierce iOl company was granted a permit
to transact its business in Texas l knew
shat II was not an independent concern -
/ stated on oath before the legislative COM
mittee what had been said 20 me on that
subject and l do not deem Il necessary TO
call any witness TO prove the truth OF what
have said. But in order TO prove the
falsity OF what these men now say 1 will
print this letter from Mr.. Pierce, which i
found in my mail when / reached Gaines
l. - Ia WNwI ~