The Washington bee., 1908-10-03

! TAFT SAYS CORROTHERS IS
A LIAR.
| Republican Nominee Did Not De-
clare for Repeal of 18Th AmeHd-
.ment - BeHe0eS tn Negro Suffrage
Strong Letter to Laayey White.
Louisville, KY, Sept. % Judge
William Howard Taft is in favor OF
the 18th Amendment to the Federal
| Constitution, which declares that the
right OF suffrage shall not be abridged
to any citizen of the United States
on account of race, color or previous
condition Of servitude."
When the attention of the Repub-
lican nominee was called to the cir
! cular sent out by the Rev. 5. L. Cor
rothers, said to be Zion preacher at
! Washington, D. c., stating that
Judge Taft, in a public sheech, favor
ed the abolition of the 18th Amend
ment, that eminent statesman did not
mince words in making an emphatic
denial Of the charge.
He declared in the plainest kind Of
language that the report put out by
Preacher Corrothers is a lie
The prompt and vigorous denial
came in a Letter from the Republican
candidate to Albert S. White. a lead
ing colored lawyer of this city. Cor
rothers, it will be remembered, IS at
the head of some kind of an anti-ad-
ministration' League, said to be COM
posed of Negro voters, but who the
other officers of the League are,
aside from Corrothers, is not known !;
nor is there any definite way ofknow-
ing who the members are or where
they are located. It is generally be
lieved and openly asserted that Cor
rothers and his mouth are the whole
thing"
The avowed intention of the Lea
que" is to encompass the defeat 9f
Judge TAFT and to discredit the ad
ministration of President Roosevelt,
and the official head of the organ
ization, does not appear to be par
ticular as to the means by which his
result is to be brought about
The correspondence between Judge
Taft and Mr.. White was as follows
Ld7gyer Whites Letter to Judge TAFT,
The Hon, William H. Taft, Mid
die Bass, Ohio.-Dear Sir: l was
shown circular today from a colored
Washington preacher, the Rev. S. L.
Corrothers, in which he appeals to
his people to vote against you because
he alleges that i'll an address you had
sta Ell that a law that cannot be en-
forced ought to be repealed He
claims that you had direct reference
to the Fifteenth Amendment. | en-
deavored to procure the letter, but
without avail.
1t is because | believe that Ken
lucky will give you her electoral
votes, and because I believe that this
letter may do harm that | write to
you l Judge that if any part Of his
communication is true, that it must
be some sentence that has been dis
torted from the text, and made to do
duty for his miserable ends.
If you have made any speech sus-
ceptible of such perversion, kindly
let me have it, or the part pertinent
thereto, as I desire in the newspapers
to expose the fraud.
Yours very truly,
Albert S. White,
Judge Taft PyOuomces C0yr0thers 4
."Liar.".. ....
Judge Taft writing from Middle
Bass, Ohio, effectually disposes OF
/ preacher Corrothers in this emphatic
note:
Ny Dear Mr.. White The circu
lar letter of Mr.. Corrothers IS a ''ie. -
What l was referring to was sumpt-
uary laws, and I referred to them in
lecture at Yale | can send you
copy of it as soon as l get to Cincin-
natl, and shall do so.
Very sincerely yours,
William II. Taft.
THE BEE WOULD LIKE TO