The Mena weekly star., 1907-03-28
BURTON ID HOME FOl|
Opera House at Abilene Crowd. With Friends of the Former
 Kansas Senator.
PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT MAY ANsvF,
While No Authoritative Statem.n Has Been Issued, Many Who A. Close to Him Believe the Presd.u
 Will Make Reply of Some sor- A Flat Denial.

Close to Him Believe the PresIc.u
 Will Make Reply of Some Sort
 A Flat Denial.
 Abilene. Kan, March 26--Senat, Burton spoke to crowded houss here Saturday night. He began N, address by giving detailed outln of the indictment returned agalpv him January 23, 1904. He defends the charge made against the Ralta Grain and Securities company h,, it was get rich quick concern, h sisting that the Rialto company dM not come under the head of disrenu able concerns and that it had neya swindled any one out of dollar
 He contended that his only crins was the misconstruction of a statuts q had construed the statute, he said "as the supreme court of the Unitea States had construed similar statuta for a century. If guilty my offens. was that I did not know more law than all the judges of all the court the English speaking race for mora than POO years. I was convicted b, the press of bribery and fraud was convicted by the courts of mis construing the statutes. My only os fense was, that I had offended ths head of the political community q interests-the president; and th, most powerful member of the com mercial community of interests, the sugar trust. These and these alons are the offenses for which have sui fered. violated no law" He then declared that he was taken from Washington where the offenss was committed to St. Louis wheTsI | the condition of the public mind wers| l particularly favorable for the convic| 1 ton of any accused official | The speaker then contended that anl the witnesses who testified against him have either been promotel in Of i flee or have received immunity from| | punishment by the president. Hs| | also stated that every official, wih| one exception. who had had anything | to do with his case had been promo. | cd by the president.
 Washington, March 26.--1he lens thy address delivered by form. CT Senator Burton at Abilene, Kan, Saturday night was reproduced n each of the morning papers here more or less at length. It creales much comment, but elicited no official 1 response.
 While there are many who are ready to advise the president not ig pay any attention to the attack whicA the Kansas senator makes upon hin some who are close to him and wha know the depths of the president feelings in the Burton case and tha he thinks the Kansan was treatel with the greatest patience ana consd eration, believe he will make a rep. of some sort
 The Burton address read we'll has much that was plausible and deal in some facts SO that it carried weigh with it and impression of sineert which could only be pierced by thcs fully acquainted with all of Inc qualifications of the different trans actions touched upon. There are som absolute misstatements of facts. 0n of these is to the effect that fiw or six days after Burton was place in the jail at Ironton he received ar offer of a pardon from the pardon at torney at Washington, but disdainful ly tore up the letter and never mad' answer to it.
 Now any one who knows the pres- dent of the United States and his at titude toward Burton since the gov ernment started the prosecution against him knows full well that I the president had been able to do 80 he would have taken satisfaction in extending the sentence rather than mitigating it. Those who spoke about the possibility of pardon were told as much at the White house from Burton that he received letter from the pardon attorney here in which au offer of pardon was made can be de' nied flatly and on the authority of tho pardon attorney himself
 A Missing Contractor Located.
 Chicago, March 26.--After a search of eight years. William L. Church q contractor of Kansas City, Mo, WIS found Monday in the hospital for the insane at Cunning, H. He was sent to the institution nearly year ags from this city. After his disappear. ance from home eight years ago photographs of Church were sent to- the police of several cities including Chicago but mp to Monday no word as to his whereabouts had been re. ceiyed. Police officials here received information that Church was in DunI ming and upon investigation he was Identified by his photograph. Chrgcp has a wife and three children living in Kansas City.