The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1908-09-30
Standard Oil Man Explains
How Facts Leaked Out
STATEMENT BY M'LAURIA
Former Senator From South Carolina
Says He Got Aid From Standard
Oil Company and Is Not
Ashamed of 1t.

New York, September 29.-A new phase
of the discussion of the so-called "Stand-
ard Oil correspondence" made public re-
Gently by William r. Hearst, was entered
upon late today when John D. Arehbold.
vice president of the Standard Oil COM
pany, made statement to the Associated
Press setting forth details Of the alleged
theft of correspondence from his files.
Former United States Senator John L.
McLaurin of South Carolina also entered
the field with a signed statement, deelar-
ing his attitude in the matter Of the cor
respondence between himself and Mr..
Archbold. Mr.. Archbold said:
I'm response to many inquiries as to the
theft of letters from my files, the fol-
lowing may be made known:
"Over three years ago a report reached
me that certain of my letters had been
offered for sale to newspapers Of this city,
estensibly stolen letters Examination
showed that some letters were missing.
and that they could only have been taken
by some one not only familiar with the
office details. but highly trusted. The
party on whom suspicion fell stoutly de-
MED all guilt. A little later, however
man who represented himself as acting
between the thief and those to whom the
letters had been sold, proposed to return
some of the letters for a consideration.
His story was that the idea of the theft
had been conceived by his brother, who
! had at one time been in the company's
! employ, and that this sfather had in
=, duced the employe already suspected to
accomplish the theft According to the
! go-betweens story, he had disposed of
| the letters, or some OF them, to two men
| who purchased them on behalf of Mr..
Hearst's newspaper, the Journal. Not only
had stolen letters been thus traded for.
| but the thief was induced to carry off
one or more letter copying books many
of whose pages he claims were pnoto-
graphed; other pages being removed alto
gether. The book in question were the
go-betweeen said, returned after Is hours.
1t is impossible to say how many were
stolen and sold in this way. The thieves
worked at their leisure. 1t is not thought
necessary to say more at present or to
mention names. Corroboration of the 60
between's story of three years ago lay in
his return of some of the correspondence
at the time The production of stolen
letters by Mr. Hearst is further corrobo-
ration now. Obviously, among such a
| coterie authenticity of their output is to
be lightly accepted. The opportunities for
falsificaton, suppressing of context and
distortions of passages are many"
McLaurin's Statement.
/ Mr.. McLaurin, who has just reached
! New York, gave out a signed state
! ment follows:
"An effort has been made to create
political sensation by the publication
! of certain correspondence between Mr.
! John D. Archbold. vice president of the
! Standard Oil company, and myself. For
/ that correspondence have no apologies
to make. At the time the letters were
written ! had the honor to enjoy and
am proud still TO possess the friendship
of Mr.. Archbold, for VIII ON l have the
high est regard. AT the time the letters
We're written l was engaged in a bitter
struggle in which was involved not
only my own political future but the
economic and political principles for
which I stood and which stated brief
ly meant the emancipation of the
south from the ignorant prejudice of
Bourbonism and the bloody shirt into
the freedom of an enlightened self-in-
terest and the progress of an intell-
gent induStrialism.
In the support of these principles.
and the hope of this progress | saw
then no impropriety in enlisting, IL
practicable. the assistance of the most
progressively administered and the
most intelligently officered corporation
that human intelligence has yet pro-
duced. Nor has the enormous body of
statutory crime since created or the
hypocritical affectation of morality as
sumed by some of our legislatures and
Congress, in any wise changed my
point of view or quickened by con-
science of expedency, as seems to have
been the case with some of my former
colleagues and associates
The constituencies that they repre-
sent do not hesitate to take Mr.. Car
negies trust produced and tariff pro-
tected money for their churches and
libraries. or to accept Mr.. Rockefeller's
largess for the education of the negro
VIII ON they have disfra nchised
"If political campaigns are to be run
without money and political progress is
to be achieved without financial expen-
dfture, 1t Is high time that both par
ties should be apprised of the arrival OF
that Utopian era, but until that period
has arrived. I can see no reason why
|. when battling for what I conceive
to be the right, should refuse to seek or
decline to accept the support whether
financial or personal, of which l stood
in need.
Men may die but right principles
persist and in the end they will trf-
umph
81 believe that the south. and espec-
tally the state of South Carolina, is to-
day throttled in its natural progress and
its intelligent exercise of the right of
sef-government by an oligarchy which
keeps alive the preiudices of al past
generation through the perpetuation of
ignorance and the fertilization of cor
ruption, and l shall welcome the day
when the educationa. propaganda which
can only be spread by the of money
whether it be STANDARD Oil money or
->-~--------~->---------~
CONTINUED ON PAGE ~