Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1908-09-29
and the North American interests in
BRYAN Idol Of Special Interests.

| ~. 1<ouio'
Bryan Idol of Special Interests.
| You say that the trust magnates
know their own interests and are sup
I porting Judge Taft. SO far as their
interests are simply the interests Of
the business community, especially Of
the wage workers, l believe they will
support Judge Taft. So far as they
have special interests which are to
them more important than the gen.
eral business welfare, l believe they
will support you. l base this belief
upon what happened in 1895. Your
success then would. In my belief, have
been a calamity for the country from
the standpoint of the welfare of the
business men, farmers and working
men, just as, in my belief, your sue
cess now would be a calamity to the
country both from the standpoint Of
business (and especially Of the inter-
ests of the wage-earner) and from the
standpoint Of morals.
My belief Is, and the attitude Of
many men of large financial interests
warrant me in expressing the belief
that these trust magnates whose fear
of being prosecuted under the law by
Taft, is greater than their fear Of gen.
eral business adversely under you, will
support you and not Mr.. Taft
As to Contributions.
now come to what you have to say
as to contributions, and here you fur
nish your own answer. You state that
it appears from the published state
ment Of the contributions to Mr..
Hughes campaign for governor two
years ago that various men Of wealth,
some Of them connected with big cor
porations whom you name, to the
number of nine, contributed from
$4,000 to $500 apiece. You ask,
would the fact that these gentlemen
contributed to his campaign fund
strengthen or weaken his testimony
against the reasonableness Of our an
THRUST remedy?" And later you con-
tinue by asking Are you willing to
say that any public interest was serv-
ed in 1904 by concealing until after
election the contributions made to the
Republican campaign committee by
Mr.. Hartman, and those collected by
him from others? Are you willing to
say that the publication before the
election Of the contributions then
made would have had no effect on the
election?" You then propose to pub
lish the names of contributors before
election and ask us to do the same.
The amounts you mention as con-
tributed to Mr.. Hughes are utterly
trivial as compared to the amounts l
have already mentioned as contribu-
ted to your campaign in 1895; but in
my judgment the amount contribu-
ted has nothing whatever to do with
the point at issue. The question was,
for instance, whether Mr.. Clarke Of
Montana, when he contributed heav-
lily to your campaign fund, had a
proper motive, and whether your ac-
ton would not have been influenced
properly or improperly by that con-
tribution; and the same question ap-
plies to Mr.. Hughes and to me. In
the case Of Mr.. Hughes and myself the
answer is fortunately easy. You have
nothing to do but examine our records
in the offices to which we were both
elected. You either know or ought to
have known before writing that not In
one instance has Mr.. Hughes, as gov
ernor, done one thing Of any kind,
sort or description, for any one of the
contributors you mention, or for any
other contributor to his fund, which
ought not to have been done, and
would not have been done If no con-
tribution had been made. Yet you
clearly imply that he is and has been
Improperly Influenced by the fact Of
these contributions having been made.
Do you consider such an implication
either straightforward or sincere?
A Charge of lnsincerity.
You have quoted the subscription
furnished to Governor Hughes as CIV
ing reason to distrust Governor
Hughes attitude toward corporations,
and am obliged to say that this can
not be sincere on your part for you
know we'll what the governors atti-
tude has been throughout his term.
You quote the subscription of Mr..
Hartman to my campaign, although
you know we'll that it did not inter-
fere with any action taken by me as
against Mr.. Hartman, and ask II 1t
would not have affected the campaign
If known Thereby you have furnish
ed an excellent reason for refusing to
meet your proposal; for you make 1t
evident that to adopt your proposal
would give to every man who cared
merely for partisan success, the
chance, by precisely the argument you
have now made, to create to more
purpose the false impression that you
are now seeking to create. Mr.. Tafts
reputation, Mr.. Taft's acts on the
bench and in the executive service,
show that he could not be swayed In
any shape or way by any considera-
ton save the public interest, and that
the fact of any mans contribution or
falling to contribute would in any way
influence his action any more than 1t
has Influenced my action or the action
of Governor Hughes / emphatically
approve Of the publication of cam
paign expenses after the election,
whether provided for by law or not.
Condemned For Attitude Toward Has
kelI.
l now come to the important part
of your letter, your attitude toward
Mr.. Haskell. You state that Mr.. Has
kell has voluntarily resigned from the
committee. You speak lightly of the
public service he has rendered, and
protest against any condemnation of
him except such as may come in a
court. Out of your own mouth you
are condemned. You thereby set up
that standard Of law honesty" which
has been the bane Of this people In en-
deavoring to get equity and fair deal
ing-as they should obtain among
high-minded men from great business
corporations, and from individuals
like Mr.. Haskell. Apparently you dis
claim even asking Mr.. Haskell to re-
tire from the position in which you
placed him, so that he retires of his
own free will; and you utter no word
Of condemnation of his gross offenses
against public decency and honesty.
On the contrary you strive to make it
appear that his misconduct in refer
ence to the Standard Oil company is
all Of which he is accused; whereas,
lll