Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1907-04-03
REPLY FROM KR. HARTMAN
,ailway Magnats Rsitsratss Statement
Made in Letter to NJ. Webster.
NOTES FROM THE PRESIDENT QUOTED
Says He was Invited 60 white
House and Assisted state Com
mittee at Executives
Request.

NEW YORK, April 2-E. H. Hartman
late tonight gave out the following state
ment in response to the statement made
public by President Roosevelt at Wash
] ington today;
Fer many years 1 have maintained an in
TINA te confidential correspondence with my
| to HIN and what he wrote me was, of
/ course intended for our eyes alone. In the
/ course Of a letter which he wrote me in
december, 1906 he warned me against be-
( ing drawn into politics and questioned
/ whether had any political or party In
stlnct This drew from me the reply to
/ Mr.. Websters inquiry which, in a sub
| stantially correct form, has been stolen
/ ana published. This letter was written on
could doubt a cordiality Of my relations
with the president.
| About ten days ago 1 was told that
! discharged stenographer was trying to sell
10 some newspaper reproduction from his
! notes OF one Of my private letters. l could
! would be accepted or published yet l made
! every effort TO prevent It. When learned
! late yesterday afternoon that a New York
! newspaper had a transcript of these notes,
/ notified the publisher at once Of the facts,
and urged upon his attention the gross out
rage that the publication of It under such
| circumstances would involve. While de-
! ploring, of course, that the sacredness of
! a private correspondence should thus be
Violated, l cannot withdraw anything in
Invitations from President.
have read the presidents statement: 1
am most anxious to treat him and his
| other utterances with consideration due to
the high ONCE which he holds. Neverthe-
less / feel bound to call attention to GER
tain things In regard to which he does me
In his letter to Mr. Sherman he clearly
seeks to convey the impression that the
of 1904 was OF my seeking and not his.
His (Harrimans and my letters now
before me in the fall OF 1904 run as follows:
on my return from spending the summer
In Europe on September 20th he wrote me
stating that If 1 thought It desirable he
| would come to see me at any time, then or
later. (de had been, as you remember, a
delegate to the republican national con-
On September e I answered AMI vel his letter iat
saying: AT present there Is nothing for me
to see you about, though there were one
which l would like to have discussed with
you before putting Il out. "
Let me present the facts On June 20,
1904 the president wrote me the following
letter, which he does not include in the
correspondence published today. 1t reached
"(Personal)
June %, lsO4.-My Dear Mr.. Hartman: ]
thank you for your letter. AS soon as you
come home, / shall want to see you. The
fight will doubtless be hot then. 1t has
been a real pleasure to see you this year
"THEoDoRE ROOSEVELT"
In reply to this wrote him on my return
from Europe the letter Of September q
the opening sentences of which he elimi.
mated in his publication:
NEW YORK. Sept 2. 1904. Dear Mr.
Presidents / was very glad to receive youl
note OF June % last while was In Europe
J sm now getting matters that aocuniu.
up, and Il 20 tilt il desiiSBie Viii viii sc 3
to see You at any time either now or later
Sc h ssteF dhaSe ans5 thS SoTs eGg
} "E. H. HARRfMAN.
from the White House, both from the pres
ident and hts secretary, urging me to 81
to Washington on October TO- the presi
I'm view Of the trouble over the stat,
l ticket in New York, / should much like t
, you can get down here within few days
. and take either lunch or dinner with me.
Z On october IA he wrote:
) MY Dear Mr. Hartman: A suggestion
has come to me in a roundabout way tina
you do. not think It wise to come to SCI
but that you are reluctant to refuse mas
much as I have asked you"
, pronpt Tesponse 70 The nresident's Taneste,
a Invitation, but finally about October 20
I was able TO go to Washington and se
him; There is some difference Of recol
! lection as to what transpired at that inter
view.
state Politics Discussed.
, Fortunately, the president. himself, in hi
2 strictly personal" letter to me Of No
vember 30, throws some light upon what did
take place. He says:
, here. both You and / were SO interests
in certain OF the New York political de
: velopments that hardly Il at all, touohe,
Again in the same letter he says:
AS a matter OF fact, as you Will re
member, when you did come down to SCI
me YOU and I were both so engaged ii
the New York political situation that WI
3 talked of little else"
the White House to have a few word
, with the president 'in view OF the troubl
over the state ticket in New York" ha'
large part Of my time to correcting tn
: trouble here, and intend TO do so IL an
EFFORT on my part can & accomplish it;
20 run down to see you, and / think b.
that time the conditions win be very mue
/ improved"
Whether 1 was seeking his aid to secur
the adherence of the state of New Yorl
TO the state ticket, or he was seeking min
Is proved or disproved by this CORE
spondence, and 1 cheerfully submit to tn
. public whether the Inference clearly sug
gested by the president is the proper one
T. did not so understand II from the tnvi
< tRtion, nor from the interview.
The president drells at length on the as
b sertion that he did not ask me 70 contrib
Q ute for the presidential cOmpaign" no
for his personal benefit" don't den
, this statement, nor is II at all consisten
. with the assertions l MADE IN the WeDSte
I letter respecting the interview. Therein
4 distinctly said; The president sent me
, request to so to Washington to confe
upon the political conditions in New Yor
a state. complied, and he told me he un
: derstood the campaign could not be sue
cessfully carried on without sufficien
: money, and asked II 1 would help them q
raising the necessary funds, as the ma
o uOnal committee, under Chairman Cortel
l. you, had utterly failed OF obtaining theu
and there was a large amount due fror
them 20 the New York state committee"
n II that means anything whatever,
5 must he that he was urging me to he'll
a the New York state committee and not tn
national committee or the presidentia
campaign, except so far as the success o
K the state ticket In New York would con
tribute TO the national ticket
4 Helps Raise Money.
What the condition OF the finances o.
the New York state committee and OF tn,
national republican committee at thl
time was Is well known to every one
That the national committee did owe thl
stale committee, and that the state com
mittee was In financial straits, Is notorl
Gus. / was not a political manager.
was asked 70 go 20 Washington BY III
president in the interests Of the star,
ticket. ! could help TO raise money Tha
I did help In this regard. that / did rais,
funds Immediately upon my return from
the interview With the president. is un
deniRble. and n this fund j eontr Pjuts,
= $50 900 Nv ioterVieW with the nragfdan