East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1908-09-28
BRYAN ANSWERS PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT

| the total product. 1t has been stated
that the steel company with your ex-
press consent, purchased one Of its
| largest rivals and thus obtained CON
! troll Of more than so per cent of the
total output. VIII you insist that in
permitting this you showed less ia
| vor to the monopollstlc corporations
| than | do in opposing them? You
I quote at length from speech made by
| Governor Hughes in which he rldi-
! cules one of our antitrust remedies.
/ Is this the same Governor Hughes
who was counted as one of the "allies"
who endeavored to defeat Mr.. Taft,
! when, as you insisted Mr.. Taft rep
resented the "reformers" OF your
party and his opponents the reaction
ary element? Did not Governor
Hughes have the support Of the New
York delegation in the convention and
| is not New York the home Of many re-
publlcans most conspicuous in their
connection with the law defying cor
porations? You are certainly
aware of the fact that in the statement
filed by George r. Sheldon, treasurer
of the republican state committee two
years ago, after Mr.. Hughes election,
1t appears that the following contri-
buttons were made to the campaign
fund: J. p. Morgan, $4,000 John D.
Rockefeller, $4,000; Andrew Carnegie,
$4,000: Charles NJ Schwab $4,000;
John w. Gates $4,000; w. f. Corey,
$4,000; W. Nelson Cromwell $1,000;
w. +. Havemeyer $500; B. NJ Duke,
$500. Several of these are known to
be officially connected with the trusts.
Would the fact that these gentlemen
contributed to his campaign fund
strengthen or weaken his testimony
against the reasonableness of our anti
trust remedy?
You cannot have failed to notice
that Governor Hughes in his speech
assumed the role of the critic and not
that of the constructive statesman
Any one possessing vivid Imagination
and pen can find objections to rem
edial measures. Lord Macauley Is
quoted as saying that eloquent and
learned men could be found to dispute
the law of gravltation If there were
any advantage to be gained by It. But
when "known abuses" are to be cured,
ali ounce of remedy is worth a pound
Of fault-finding
As you quote from Governor
Hughes, / take it for granted that Mr..
Taft has not yet expressed himself in
satisfactory manner on the subject
for you would naturally prefer to
quote from the presidential candidate
wherever possible.
Trusts Behind Taft.
You say. "let us repeat that no law
defying corporation has any other
reason to fear from you save what It
viii suffer in the general paralysis Of
business" etc. Referring to the last
part Of the sentence first, l might
question your ability to act as an ex-
pert as to panic preventives, since you
now have one on your hands, but as
to your charges that no law defying
remedies which favor permit me to
suggest that your testimony on this
subject is not conclusive You are
witness, to be sure. but your interest
IN the result of the election must be
taken into consideration in weighing
your testimony. There is better evil |
dence. The trust magnates know their !
own interests I'm the result of the cleo |
ton must be taken into consideration !
tion and they are supporting
Judge Taft. Not one of the !!
trust magnates helped to secure my |
nomination, while it is a matter of |
common notoriety' that they were |
conspicuous in the republican conven-
ton and 1t is equally matter of |
common notoriety" that they are |
supporting your party in the cam
paign. If you will name a single Of
fetal connected with "a law defying |
corporation" monopoly or trust, who |
has declared or will declare that he is
supporting me, | will publicly warn
him that | will enforce against him |
the present criminal law and will en-
force against him also the laws de-
manded in the democratic platform !
as soon as these laws can be enacted. |
Returns to Public Question.
But there Is another fact that rails
ed a presumption in favor of our party
and against your party. I referred to
II in my former letter to you, but you
inadvertently overlooked 1t in your
reply. and the members of your cabi- |
net called i'm for consultation, evil
IDENTIFY did not notice II. Irstated that |
We had not knowingly received a dol
lar from any official connected with |
a corporation known as a trust and
that any money SO received would be
returned as soon as we received |
knowledge of the fact now remind
you that your convention deliberately
rejected, by n vote of to /, the plank |
favoring publicity as to campaign con-
tributions. Mr., Taft has repudiated |
the action of the convention and re-
huked the members of the convention |
by declaring himself in favor of pub
licity law, but he favors publicity |
after the election while w efavor pub
licity before the election Which do |
YOU regard as the better plan-to let
the people know before the election
what influences are at work or let |
them know after the election?
VIII Not Before Election.
Are you willing to say that any |
public interest was served i'm 1904 by |
concealing until after the elections the |