The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1908-09-26

the record Anyone who reads that
will fail to find a sentence or word
to Justify any such statement as Mr..
Taft makes.
Not Seeking Revenge.
'In view of Mr.. Taft's statement
trust 1 may be allowed to repeat what
|, have said a number of times, that in
this whole matter l had no revenges
to seek or personal ends to serve, but
was anxious to see that common JUS
tice was done to the representatives Of
a noble and oval race. every one OF
whom by nature Is a Republican. The
colored voters are known to be more
or less displeased with the action of
the Republican party in not passing
some relief measure for these soldiers
and many of them have signified a
purpose to vote against Judge Taft be-
cause of his official relation to the
matter. Much work has been done to
overcome this trouble and to induce
the colored Republican voters of the
country to stand by the party with
which they have always affiliated and
now comes the president and publishes
Judge Taft's letter containing his I'M
fortunate reference to this unfortunate
| case.
what does he mean? Does any
BODY imagine that the president is I'M
a BILE to see that he Is rubbing a sore
when he should have brought plas-
| ter? Does he imagine. or can anybody
|
voters of this country can be brought
| to the support of Judge Taft by
parading in these closing days of the
! campaign Judge Taft's belittling of
their chief grievance by mentioning it
| as AN incidental matter, which has
been seized upon and magnified. using
| in this without scruple a blind race
| prejudice and then adding the charge
| that all this is done only to 'embar-
rass the administration of Roosevelt
1 II he rncSihln
| to. defeat Judge Taft? That can not
| be and yet he could hardly do anv
| other one thing better calculated to
| lose him votes for no self resnectin1
| negro aiding what Taft says in this
| letter and adding to all that has gone
/ before can vote fir him without feel
ing that he is making a greater sacri-
| nee than most men, white or black
are Wiling to make. In any event,
the presidents action and comments
are wrong toward the Republican par
| ty, for they amount to a charge
| against the party at a critical hour of
| the campaign Of an unworthy purpose
in connection with a matter that every
| colored man who has any pride Of
| race holds Of highest value and in
| deepest appreciation. What Judge
| Taft says in his letter is the equivalent
| OF an assertion that the colored people
of the country who have been grieved
by what was done. in the Brownsville
matter have simply been hoodwinked
by designing selfishness This is bad
| enough, but the president makes il
worse when he says:
The Brownsville Affair
THE entire agitation over Browns
| vile was in large part not a genuine
| agitation on behalf of the colored men
!, at all but merely one phase OF the
| effort by the representatives of GER
tain law detying corporations to bring
discredit upon the administration be-
| cause it was seeking to cut out the
| evils connected not only with the cor
rupt use of wealthy but especially
| with the corrupt alliance between GER
tain business men of large fortunes
and certain politicians of great office
I'm other words, the Brownsville
proceeding was not only all Judge Tafr
said it was, but in addition to being
designing and selfish it was prompted
| by the representatives of law defyine
corporation to bring discredit upor
the administration of it's policy with
| respect to them. This is worse thar
the presidents claim that the panic OF
| last October was precipitated by a lo-
| of rich men in Wall street who
! wanted to bankrupt themselves and
the whole country that they might
discredit him, and worse even thar
the story that these same men raised
| a fund of five million dollars with
| which to prevent him from naming
his chosen successor. know better
than any body else can know, that
there is not the slightest ground for