The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1908-12-08


and his conduct has been not merely !
scandalous but infamous. Mr. Robin |
son had not the slightest connection /
OF any kind. sort or description at any
time or under any circumstances with
the Panama matter. Neither did
Charles Taft.
so far as / know there was no
'syndicate:' there certainly was no
syndicate in the United States that
re my knowledge had any dealings
with the government directly or in
directly; and in as much as there was
no syndicate, Mr.. Taft naturally could
not belong to- it. The News demands
that Mr.. Taft appeal to the evidence
by which it means what ii calls The
records
There Are Others" .
"All Of these documents that pos
|sessed any importance as illustrating
ANY feature of the transactions have
already been made public. There re-
mains a great mass of documents of
little or no Importance, which the adj
ministration is entirely willing to have
published, but which because of their
mass and pointlessness. nobody has
ever cared to publish. Any reputable
man can have full access to these
documents.
Mr. Delavan Smith is conspicu-
Gus offender against the laws of hon.
esty and truthfulness. but he does not
stand alone. He occupies, for in
stance, the same evil eminence as Mr..
Laffan of the New York Sun, edito
rails of whose paper you or others
have from time to time called to my
attention just as you have called to
my attention these editorials of the
| Indianapolis News.
"Of the editorials thus sent me there
| is hardly one which does sot contain.
some wilful and deliberate perversion
of the truth
Mr. Roosevelt quotes for an exam
pie his recent statement i'm reply to
New York Sun story entitled
Roosevelt and Prairie OIL" and then
continues:
| "Mendacity for Hire"
The fact is that these particular
newspapers habitually and continually
and as a matter of business practice
every form Of mendacity known TO
man from the suppression of the
truth and the suggestion of the false
to the lie direct. Those who write
/ or procure others to write these arti-
Giles are engaged in the practice of
mendacity for hire. and surely there
can be no lower form of gaining
| livelihood. Whether they are paid
| by outsiders to say what is false, or
whether their profit comes from the
circulation of the falsehoods is a mat
ter of small consequence. 1t is utterly
impossible to attempt to answer all
of their falsehoods. When any given
falsehood is exposed they simply re-
peat it and circulate another. If they
were mistaken in the facts, if they
possessed in their make up any shred
of honesty, it would be worth while to
set them right, but there is no ques-
ton at all as to any mistake or
misunderstanding on their part. They
state what they either know to be I'M
true or could by the slightest inquiry
find out TO be untrue.
| ~ Just Let Them Yelr'
| Ordinarily do not and cannot pay
heed to these falsehoods. If l did,
would not be able to do my work. My
plan has been to go ahead and do the
work. and to let these people and
those like them yell; and then to trust
with abiding confidence to the good
sense of the American people in the
assured conviction that the yells will
die out. the falsehoods De forgotten
and the work remain
There is no higher and more hon
orable calling than that of the men
connected with an upright, fearless
and truthful newspaper; no calling in
which a man can render greater SER
vice to his fellow countrymen. The
best and ablest editors and writers in
the daily press render a service to the
community in which can hardly be
iparalleled by the service rendered by
the best and ablest of the men in the
public life or of the men in business.
But the converse of this proposition
is also true. The most corrupt finan-
ciers. the most corrupt politicians are
no greater menace TO this country than
the newspaper men of the type /
have above discussed. Whether they
belong to the yellow press or to the
purchased press, whatever may be the
stimulating cause of their slanderous
mendacity. and whatever the cloak it
may wear. matters but little. In any
event they represent one Of the potent
forces for evil in the community
Yours very truly.
Theodore Roosevelt"
William Dudley Foulke. Richmond,
Ind"
|
| MRS. McRANEY'S EXPERIENCE