New-York tribune., 1908-02-10

been sent I'm IL there had been no Presidentiai
canvass at all at this time o,,.
AS regards collectors of internal revenue
some are appointed upon the RECOMMENDATIONS
OF Senators and some on the recommehoaaioonS o
OF Congressman. In Ohio the collector OF IA.
ternal revenue whom nominated III - .no 40.
District was recommended by the Congressman,
OF the district. In the 10th District 1oho"Gu
the recommendation OF the two Senators III
other words ] followed the same course IN ONO
as in other states regards all these nomlna-
tions the only difference being thaI oliio Has ,s
the single state where the bulk Of the federal
EMPLOYEES have been inclined to be against the
Presidential candidate Of the state.
In New York Pennsylvania, Illinois, Indiana
and Wisconsin so far as know the enormous
ma iorifv of appointees are in each case for the
Presidential candidate from the state. rms mas
not been true in Ohio, and my interference WIN
patronage matters IN Ohio has been limited TO
insisting as / should insist anywhere else, ina.
opposition to the purposes, poicies ana trenos VI
the administration shall not be considered as a
necessary prerequisite to holding the commission
Of the President
CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION ORDER
In nv letter to the Civil Service Commission
of June H. 1902, which now holds good and VIII
be enforced. officers are warned not to use .heia
places to control political movements nor 10
coerce their subordinates, nor TO neglect their
public duties political work. nor to cause any
public scandal by their political activity; but
outside of the classified service they are not 9th
erzvise limited in political activity NO ohicer
will be permitted to violate the above injunction
with my knowledge. matter for what candl-
date he may be working, and may add that the
only officers to whom any question of VIOLA
ton OF this injunction has hitherto arisen have
been men who not working for Mr. Taft
The above is full statement of the facts. Not
appointment has been made that would not
have been made If there had been no Presiden-
tial contest impending. and in no case has there
been deviation from the course that I would
have pursued had none of those who actually are
candidates for the nomination been candidates,
nor has single of1cehoder been removed or
threatened with removal or coerced in any way
10 secure his support for any Presidential can
flDra To- flza lyolx- yny7 hat hay 20
attempted to exercise was to forbid the office
holders from pushing my own denomination. this
being done in the following letter sent to the
members OF my Cabinet on November 49, 1907:
/ have been Informed that certain ofaceholders in
ar are prep1sg T. 70 go 10 20 reno ra1
mating for the Presidency, are proposing to
procure my Endorsement for such renominaton by
to inform such oacers as you may ind it ad-
sabe -s or &c to nf9pn in ords5 b to
of my denomination or acceptance of an election
serious violation of official propriety and will be
dealt with accordingly.
THEODORE ROOSEVELT.
Hon. William Dudley Foulke, Richmond, Ind.
MR.. FoULKES LETTER.
The request that the President answer the
charges was made by Mr.. Foulke in this letter.
dated February 8, 1908:
To the President
Sir: On January 13 I laid before you article
from ''The Indianapolis News" "a paper supporting
the candidacy of Mr.. Fairbanksl accusing you or
using the federal patronage to secure the nomina-
ton of Mr.. TAFT and naming the postoff1ces In
particular I spoke Of the fact that certain Taft
men had been nominated in Ohio, and you an
swered that that true; that you would be very
weak If you allowed the power of appointment In
that state TO be used only means Of attack
upon the administration.
On my return home I observed other articles
making similar charges various papers: for in
stance, the following in THE New York Evening
Post of January 16: I'VE are now getting daily
lessons Civil Service reform from the White
House which ought to attract national attention
The appointment of Taft workers to postoffces in
Ohio and of the totally unfit George W. Wanmaker
as appraiser OF this port is now followed by the
Presidents refusal to reappoint good Hughes man
as collector of customs at P1attsburg.'
On January II an article charging you with SINH
lar abuse of the patronage appeared In The In
dianapolis STAR paper also supporting Mr.. Fair
banks. and reputed to be owned principally by
Daniel c. Reid, gentleman representing important
Wall Street interests This article inciosed in a
letter TO you, in which I said: mo man be
more unqualified supporter of Mr.. Taft than l. yet
1 realize that any Of the patronage to aid him
especially if coercion can be implied, is likely to
injure you very seriously. The OF any
public office for this purpose is fraught with great
danger and subject to unanswerabe criticism
To this you answered, January 10: 'Will you pro-
duce the name of single whom have CO.
creed or inffuencedY VIII you give me the name OF
any official who has been controlled by threat of
dismissal implied threat of dismissal, or from
whom have demanded support for Taft? In short
will you give particle of justification for
the fears you expressed? Name the man whom
have removed because he not for Taft or
threatened to remove because he not for Taft
You cannot do So and as you cannot why do you
not repeat this challenge the newspapers in ques-
ton assert that their words absolutely false
and challenge them to make good?"
L accordingly wrote to The STAR asking il to
name a single case of coercion referred to in its
previous issues II published answer to my let
ter, but failed to name any instance of the kind
then wrote again. calling attention to this failure
and asking IL l not forced to conclude from
its own silence that its charges were abso-
lutely without foundation This second letter how
ever, it would not publish though still continues
10 repeat its general charges abuse of the pat
ronagc
These charges also continue be circulated by
other newspapers in all parts Of the country Thus
The Boston Herald" of January % says: Federal
officehoIders may be commanded to use their in
fuence and their authority in behalf OF a candidate
Such command has been issued and the Presi-
dent should know ii. Somebody has in
structed postmasters that they must obtain from
their subordinates either their designations or their
pledges Of support for Taft delegates to the con-
Vention. Even in Massachusetts efforts of
this kind have recently been made. bu happily
they have been stopped, partly because the post
masters whom the attempts made have
the courage TO resist and partly from other causes
IN view Of these reiterated complaints, would not
a detailed statement of your recent appointments
the by whom they recommended your
reasons and the principles upon which You have
acted in making them. well statement IN
regard TO the alleged coercion. be the best method
of exhibiting the facts? Yours respectfully.
WILLIAM DUDLEY FOULKE.
PRESIDENT L4UDS PRIEST.