The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1907-04-05
AN UNFAIR ADVANTAGE
TAKEN OF ROOSEVELT.
Corporations Grab His Pledge
Not to Run Again as a
Means of Fighting Him
Effect of the SIS, 900, 900
Combination.

Raymond, who is perhaps closer to
the president than any other Wash
sngton newspaper man in writing to
the Tribune under a Washington date
says that if the corporations keep up
their present fight they will force
Roosevelt to run again in 1908.
Raymond says in part:
Unless the Harrimans, Rockefel-
1ers Morgans, and the big railroad
magnates and money kings generally
Iool. out for themselves they will, be-
fore they know it, achieve the one
thing which beyond all others they
most dread. and that is the nomin-
alton of Theodore Roosevelt for an
other term as president
This is the opinion of thinking men
in this vicinity and it is being rapidly
strengthened by the developments of
the last few days, and particularly by
the evidence of a combination OF adj
verse elements against not only the
president personally but his policies
as well.
Nav Force Roosevelt to Run.
What is tAe really significant fea-
the Hartman letters and other things
recently is the existence of a degree
of personal hostility on the part of
the railway men and money kings to
the president which in the long run
can have but one result. | believe
] am expressing the simple truth when
/ say that Theodore Roosevelt was
entirely sincere on the night of the
election in 1904 when, without any
solicitation and to the surprise of the
entire country, he announced that he
would not be a candidate for reelec-
tion.
He has repeated the same thing
since then in my presence and in the
presence of hundreds of others. He
undoubtedly believes it as honestly to-
day as he did then, and he resents to-
day as he did then any imputation
that he could under any circumstances
go back on his word
Pushing Him Into Corner.
This is the situation. therefore. at
the present time. The president has
pledged himself not TO be candidate
for reelection. The trust magnates
have tagen advantage of that pledge
and are pushing him into corner.
There are many who believe that in
personal seIf-defense and in vindica-
ton of his own political reputation
the president will sooner or later be
forced to go before the people him
self for a vindication. and he will be
able to do that only by becoming a
candidate for president.
His opponents hate him so much
now that they will be quite willing
to take up with any candidate wheth-
er he be classed with the conServa-
tives or not. They would support Taft
as soon as Foraker Fairbanks as soon
rs Hughes, or any one with any
chance of election. provided that by
SO doing they could stick a knife in
TO Mr.. Roosevelt, to say nothing of
defeating his policies.
Raymond discusses how Senator
Penrose at a banquet disclosed the
scheme OF several rich men to raise
s5.00o.000 with which to defeat the
Roosevelt policy in the next election
and then goes on to comment on it
as follows:
Nothing Could Stop 1t.
IF the s5.000.00 combination Mr..
PenrOSe dreamed OF existed. and went
to the point of fomenting anti-third
term opinion in the different states.
nothing in the world could prevent the
nomination of Theodore Roosevelt in
1908. IT would be the worst thing
the combination could do for its own
interests \ convention with a major
ity Of delegates instructed in advance
to vote for Roosevelt would be almost
certain to vote for him until the cows
came home, and he might decline as
often as he pleased under such condi-
tions for the convention would almost
surely nominate him and go home.
leaving it to Mr.. Roosevelt himself TO
determine whether he would be presi- +
dent or whether acknowledgements
ably Bryan-would be"
PENROSE DENIES THE CHARGE.