The Mena weekly star., 1908-02-13
THE PRESIDENT s DENIAL
Mir. Roosevelt Declares He Has Made No Appointments in Interest of
 Secretary Taft.
FoRAkER REPLIES TO THE STATEMENT
The Ohio Senator Reiterates His Charge That Postmaster Was Re- moved fof Expressing Anti-Taft Sen timents in His State--claims Writ ten Testimony Regarding Affair.

|
 ten Testimony Regarding Affair. l Washington, Feb. 11.-President Roosevelt Sunday made answer to the recent public statements that he has
 made use of federal patronage to further the presidential interests of
 Secretary Taft. The answer Is in
 form of letter addressed to William
 Dudley Foulke, of Richmond, Ind, and
 includes letter from Mir Foulke to
 the president suggesting the need of such statement
 The president begins by characteriz- l ing the charges as false and mali cious." He follows this with an analy- sis of all appointments sent by him
 to the senate for its action to show
 that in no case has the proximity of a | presidential contest influenced his | actions.
 | He closes the statement as follows: | In my letter to the civil service com
 mission of June 12, 1902, which now holds good and will be enforced, of ficers are warned not to use their | places to control political movements, I nor to coerce their subordinates, nor to neglect their public duties for poll | tical work, nor to cause any public
 scandal by their political activity: but | outside of the classified service they | are not otherwise limited in political activity. No officer will be permitted | to violate the above injunction, with my knowledge, no matter for what
 candidate he may be working: and
 may add that the only officers as to whom any question of violation of this | injunction has hitherto ariser have been men who are not working for Mr Taft.
 "The above is a full statement of the l facts. Not an appointment has been made that would not have been made
 If there had been no presidential con test impending and in no case has there been deviation from the course that would have pursued had none of those who actually are candidates for l the nomination been candidates; nor has single officerhoIder been re-
 moved or threatened with removal or coerced in any way to secure his sup port for any presidential candidate. In
 fact. the only coercion that have at | tempted to exercise was to forbid the officeholders from pushing my own re
 nomination, this being done in a letter
 sent to the members of my cabinet on November 19, 1907."
 Senator Foraker Monday made re- ply to the presidents statement con cerning charges that public patronage
 has ben used by him (the president) for political purposes. He took the floor in the senate on question of personal privilege and reading at
 length from the presidents core spondence with William Dudley Foulke. proceeded to explain his own
 attitude towards the federal patronage 1 in Ohio.
 MT. Foraker opened his remarks by
 saying that on January IA. 1908, the senate in executive session, at the in
 stance of the two senators from Ohio
 refused to confirm certain postoffice appointments which had been made by
 the president.
 Urged by our friends of the press 1 as to the reasons why we had taken
 such action." said Mir. Foraker, q
 made statement in about these
 that there would not be in Ohio any further prostitution of patronage for political purposes without being re .sented'"
 ''it is difficult to prove cases of this
 character" said MT. Foraker, because
 ordinarily there is no evidence reduced
 to writing bearing on them. But fortunately" he added, i've have one case in Ohio where there is
 written testimony" He referred to
 the recess appointment of Charles H. Bryson as postmaster at Athens, O., who. he said. was appointed without his solicitation upon recommendation | of Representative Alfred Douglass. He l then read from a local paper an inter view with Mir Bryson in which he
 stated Taft lost his following in Ohio
 and Foraker had greatly grown in strength.
 l At the conclusion of the reading of | the interview Mir Foraker observed that there was nothing in it hostile to Secretary Taft, but that it expressed i an honest difference of opinion on a subject entirely within his rights of individual opinion. Mir Bryson re- turned to Athens. said Mir. Foraker.
 entirely unconscious that he had made any trouble until a few days later.
 when he received letter from Repre- sentative Douglass telling of talk he
 had with Postmaster General Meyer on the subject of the appointment. Ac-
 cording to this letter MT. Douglass
 had been sent for to be told that the president had decided not to appoint
 Mir. Bryson after all. Representative Douglass said that the postmaster gen
 eral twas nice about it. but deter
 mined, and evidently was carrying out the presidents orders"
 | Titled Foreiuners in New York.