Omaha daily bee., 1907-04-03

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"At present there is nothing for me to
see you about, though there we're one or
two points IN my letter OF acceptance which
should have liked to discuss with you be-
fofe putting il out.
Invites Hartman 60 Dinner.
on October 10 1 wrote him;
In view Of the trouble over the state
ticket In New York / should like to have
few words with you. DO you think you
can get down here within a few days and
take either lunch or dinner with mef'
The trouble l spoke OF had reference to
the bolt against Higgins-that Is, in real
ity against Mr. Hartman and Mr. Harri-
man s friend, Governor Odell. A reference
70 the hles Of the New York papers at
extensive bolt against Mr., Higgins upon
the ground that Governor Odell had nomi-
mated him and that he had in some matters
ground, in my judF sn being tenabie. M
Harriman's backing OF Governor Odell and
extreme Willingness that he showed by Sc
curing Higgins election, was matter Of
common notoriety and mentioned In all the
papers, notable in the New York Sun. on
october II Mr.. Hartman wrote me:
Il am giving very large part OF my
time TO correcting the trouble here and in
tend TO do 80 IL any effort on my part can
accomplish it. will take occasion
the first of next week to run down to see
you and think by that time the conditions
will have improved"
Letter to Hartman.
l wrote Mr.. Hartman the following let
Personal.
october 8, 1904
My Dear Mr. Hartmann: A suggestion
has come to me in roundabout way that
you do not think IL wise to come on to see
me In these closing weeks OF the COmpaign,
but you are reluctant TO refuse, inasmuch
as have asked you. Now, my dear sir,
you and l are practical men and you are
on the ground and know the COnd tions bet
ter than do. II you think there is any
danger of your visit to me causing trouble,
or If you think there is nothing special |
should be Informed about or no matter in
which I could give aid, why, of course give
up the visit for the time being and then,
few weeks hence, before l write my mes
sage, shall get you to come down TO els
cuss certain government matters no. con-
nected with the campaign.
with great regard, sincerely yours,
You VIII see that this letter is absolutely
Incompatible with any theory that I was
asking Mr. Hartman to come down to see
me In my own interest or intended to make
any request of any kind for help from
oerned with in seeing him was to know
IL ] could help in securing the election of
Mr.; Higgins-a man for whom ! had the
be, as in fact he has been. most ad-
mirable governor.
Letter from Hartman.
Moreover, the following letter will show
that Mr.. Hartman did not have In his
mind any idea of my asking him to collect
money, and that on the contrary, what he
was concerned with in connection with my
letter to him was the alusion l made to
the fact that l would like to see him be-
fore wrote my message to discuss GER
tain government matters not connected
with the campaign. His letter, which is Of
November 90 reads as follows:
Dear Mr. President: l have just had a
telephone talk with Mr.. Loeb and re-
quested him to give you a message from
II drew his attention to the last para
graph of your letter to me of October
II and explained of course, that l did not
want to make trip to Washington unless
IL should be necessary; that the only mat
ter knew of and about which 1 had any
apprehension and which might be referred
to in your coming message to congress is
that regarding the Interstate Commerce
commission, and what the attitude Of the
railroads should be towards It.
II have communications from many con-
sentative men in the west asking me to
take the matter up they having, which
have not information as to what you pro-
jeot, and / am very apprehensjve about IL
MIR. Loeb stated he believed that that
part Of the message could be sent to me
believe 1t would be best for all interests
that no reference be made to the subject
and in any event. referred to in such a
way as not to bring about increased ag1ta-
ton. 1t is, as you we'll know, the con-
sentative element, and the one on which
we all rely, which is the most seldom heard
This letter to me was crossed by one from
me which reads as follows:
Another Letter 20 Hartman.
Dear Mr.. Hartman: Mr.. Loeb tells me that
you called me up today on the telephone
and recalled my letter to you of October
Ii in which spoke to you Of a desire
to see you before sending in my message,
as l wanted to go over with you certain
governmental matters and you added that
you had heard that / had referred to the
Interstate Commerce commission; that you
regretted this and wished had left II out.
In writing to you had in view especially,
certain matters connected with currency
legislation and had not thought of discus
sing railroad matters with you. However,
II II had occurred to me, l should have
been delighted to do SO, but II you remem-
Der when you were down here both you and
/ were so interested in certain of the New
York political developments / hardly, IL at
all, touched on governmental matters. AS
regards what l have said in my message
about the Interstate Commerce commission,
while say I should have been delighted to
go over 1t with you, l also must frankly
say that my mind was definitely made up.
Certain revelations connected with the In
vestigation of the Beef trust caused me to
write the paragraph In question. / went
with extreme care oyer tne INFORMATION FORMATION
commission and Of the bureau of corpora
lions before writing It,
Paragraph Considered.
'I then went over the written paragraph
again and again with Paul Morton, who Is,
OF all my cabinet, the man most familiar
with railroad matters Of course, and with
Root Knox, Taft and Moody. 1t is q mat
ter / had been carefully considering for
two years and / had been gradually, though
reluctantly coming to the conclusion that
II is unwise and unsafe for me to leave
the question Of rebates where 1t is now and
to- fail to give the Interstate Commerce
commission additional power Of an effective
backing in regulating these rates.
Let me repeat, that did not have this
question In mind when / asked you to come
down but that / should most gladly have
talked It over with you II 1t had occurred
to me 10 DO So but, as a matter OF fact, as
you will remember, when you did come
down to see me, we were both so engaged
In the New York political situation that
we talked Of little else, and finally, that
the position / have taken has not been
taken lightly, but after thinking over the
matter and looking at II from different
standpoints for at least two years, and
after the most careful consultation with
Morton. Taft, Moody, Knox and Root, as
to the exact phraseology / should use
Il do not send you copy simply be-
cause they have given no one a copy, not
even the men above mentioned 1t is inn
possible n l give out copies OF any portion
Of my message TO prevent the message to
be known in advance, and three press as
ISOLATION which now have the message are
under a heavy penalty not 20 disclose a
word Of It before the appointed time
Sincerely yours"
Hartman Writes Again.
I, 10 ha Fo1I rfv,gr