The free lance. (Fredericksburg, Va.) 1885-1926, 1907-04-04
HARTMAN SCORED
President Denies He Asked Him
10 Raise Campaign Fund.
BRANDS IT WlLFUL UNTRUTH
Dir. Roosevelt Says Statement That
He Requested Railroad President to
Raise S250,00o SHOULD Be Charac'
terized BY An Uglier Word

terized BY An O9"er WV'S'
Washington. April 3. - President
Roosevelt emphatically denied the
statement contained in letter pur
porting TO have been written by e. H.
Hartman 10 Sidney Webster oil Ne"
York. in the latter part OF December
1908. In Mr.. Hartmann letter the
statement is made that at the request
of President Roosevelt. he tHarrimah)
assisted in raising a fund oil SZoo'VoV
10 be used in carrying New YORK Tor
the Republican party at the election
which was then approaching. Thls
statement the president characterizes
as "a deliberate and wilful untruth-
by right il should be characterized by
an even shorter and more ugly WORD.
never requested Mr.. Hartman 10
raise a dollar for the presidential cam
paign of 1904"
The presidents denial was con
tsined in a brief statement and copies
of letters written to Representative
sherman. of New York. The letters
are dated October and OCTOBER L.
1906 respectively.
In the first letter reference Is mace
TO a conversation between Mr. Harrl'
man and Mr.. Sherman. which was re-
peated 10 the president, in which MT
Hartman is said to have given as a
reason for his personal dislike OF the
president. partly the latter's deter
mination to have the railroads super
vised and partly the alleged fact that
after promising Mr.. Hartman to ap
point Senator Depew ambassador 10
France. he (the PRESIDENT failed To
do it. and" continues the president
II understood you to say, that ne al
legged that ! made this promise AT a
time when he had come down to see
me I'm Washington. when | requested
him TO raise $250.0O0 for the Republl'
can presidential campaign which was
then on" 1t appears from the con
versation repeated to the president
that Mr.. Sherman had gone to MI
Hartman 10 ask him for a contriOu'
ton for the campaign. The president
saws that Hartman also tmore
than once. he thinks) urged him
to promise to make Mr. Depew amOas-
sador because this would help Govern
or Odell by pleasing certain big imam
cial interests. The president said ne
informed Mr.. Hartman that he did not
believe il would be possible to appoint
Mr.. Depew and furthermore expressed
his surprise at his Chairman s. saying
that the men representing big financial
interests of New York wished the ap-
pointment made inasmuch as num-
Der of them had written asking that
the place he given to Mr.. Hyde. MI.
Hartman. on learning Mr. Hyde was
candidate. hastily said that he dld
not wish to be understood as antagon-
iziug him. and would be quite Willing
to support him The president says
that although he understood that ne
Hartman still preferred Mr.. Depew
he left a strong impression that ne
would be almost as well satisfied with
HYDE. Some correspondence is then
given between the president and MT.
Hartman from which II appears tnat
ON October 10 the president said to
Mr.. Hartman that in view or the
trouble over the state ticket in New
York he would like to have few
words with him. Later. on October IA,
| in a letter to Mr.. Hartman in which
the president says that a suggestion
has come to him in roundabout way
that Mr.. Hartman did not think 1t
wise TO come in the closing weeks OF
the campaign. The president told Mr.
Hartman If he thought there was any
danger of his visit causing trouble to
give it up. Here the president in his
letter to Mr. Sherman says:
You will see that this letter is alb
solutely Incompatible with any theory
that ] was asking Mr.. Hartman TO
come down to see me in my own inter-
est"
80 much for what Mr.. Hartman
| said about me personally says the
president in concluding his first letter
to Mr.. Sherman. Far more important,
the president regards the additional
remarks which Mr. Sherman said Mr..
Hartman made to him when he asked
| him II he thought 1t was well to see
'Hearstism and the like" triumphant
over the Republican party. lou,
says the president. Inform me that he
told you that he did not care in the
least because those people were crooks
and he could buy them" and other
similar remarks. This the president
saws was doubtless partly in boastful
cynicism and partly in burst of bad
temper. but II showed In the presi-
dents opinion. a cynicisn and deep
seated corruption which he denounces
in strong words.