The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1908-02-10
President Roosevelt Replies to
Charge Publicly Made
That He Has Used Appointive
Power to Help Taft.
CHALLENGES ANYBODY
To Cite Instance in Which Pat.
rOnage Has Been So Used.
Reviews History of Appoint
ments for Past IL Months.

washington, Feb. 10. = President
Roosevelt today made answer to the
recent public statements that he has
| maze use of federal patronage to fur
ther the presidential interests of Secre-
tary Taft The answer is in form of a
| letter addressed to William Dudley
f'oulke of Richmond. Indiana, and in
ciudes letter from Mr.. Foulke to the
president suggesting the need of such
statement.
| Ihe president begins by characterize
| ing the charges as false and malic- E
| lous- He follows this with an analysis
of all appointments sent by him to the
senate for it's action to show that in
no case has the proximity of presi-
! oentlal contest Influenced his actions
FOulke's Letter.
| MI F'oulke's letter, dated February 5,
| says:
| "On January IS 1 laid before YOU an
| article In the Indianapolis News "a pa
| per supporting the candidacy of Mr.
Fa1rbanks) accusing you of using the
| FEDERAL patronage to secure the nominal
ton of Mr.. Taft and naming the post
| OFFICES In particular. / spoke of the
| fact that certain Taft men had been
| nominated in Ohio and you answered
| that that was true; that you would be
very weak If you allowed the power OF
appointment in that state to be used
| only as means of attack upon the ad-
ministration. On my return home 1 OBJ
| served other articles making similar
charges in various papers, for instance
the following in the New York Evening
Post of January 16:
| I'VE are now getting daily lessons
| in civil service reform from the White
| House which ought to attract national
| attention. The appointment of Taft
workers to postoffices in Ohio and of
| ia a W UTor r
er as appraiser of this port is now fol-
lowed by the presidents refusal to re-
| appoint a god Hughes man as collector
of customs at Plattsburg.'
! "On January II an article charging
you with similar abuse of the patronage
appeared in the Indianapolis Star, a
4 paper also supporting Mr. Fairbanks and
reputed to be owned principally by
4 Daniel g. Reid. a gentleman represent
ing important Wall street interests.
This article I enclosed in a letter to you
in which / said:
| "'No man can be more unqualified
supporter of Mr. Taft than 1. yet
realize that any use Of the patronage
can be implied. is likely to injure you
very seriously. The use of any public
office for this purpose is fraught with
great danger and subject to unanswer-
able criticism.
ITO this you answered January 10:
"'Will you produce the name of a
| single man whom I have coerced or
influenced; will you give me the name
Of any official who has been controlled
by the threat or implied threat of dis
| missal or from whom have demanded
support for Taft; in fact, will you give
me one particle of justification for the
fears you expressed? Name the man
whom / have removed because he was
not for Taft or threatened to remove
because he was not for Taft. You can
not do so, and as you can not, why do
| you not repeat this challenge to the
newspaper in question; assert that their
| words are absolutely false and challenge.
them to make good?'
'I accordingly wrote to the Star ask
ing it to name single case or the
| coercion referred to in its previous is
| sues. It published an answer to my let
ter but failed to name any instance of
| the kind. / then wrote again, calling
| attention to this failure and asked II
| were not forced to conclude from Its
own silence that its own charges were
absolutely without foundation The sec
ond letter, however, 1t would not pub
| fish. though it still continues to repeat
it's general charges of abuse OF the
| patronage.
These charges also continue to be
| circulated by other newspapers in all
parts OF the country. Thus the Boston
| Herald Of January 20 says:
| Federal officeholders may be COM
manded to use their influence and their
| Such a command has been issued and
4 the president should know of 1t. Some
body has instructed postmasters that
| they must obtain from their subordi-
mates either resignation or their piedges
| of support for Taft delegates to the
convention Even in Massachusetts, eff
forts Of this kind have been made re-
| Gently. but happily they have been stop
ped partly because the postmasters on
| whom the attempts were mace nave
| the courage to resist ana paTtiJ ifoh
| other causes
! oIn view of these reiterated COM
| plants. would not detailed statement
| of your recent appointments, the men
| by whom they were recommended, your
| reasons and the principles upon which
| Won have acted in making them, as
! well as a statement in regard to the
alleged coercion, be the best methods of
/ exhibiting the facts.
Yours respectfully.
| (Signed) sWM. DUDLEY FOULKE.
| The Presidents Reply.
| In his reply to Mr.. FouIke, President
| Roosevelt says:
| .oThe statement that I have used the
| Offices in the efforts to nominate any
| presidential candidate is both false ana
| malicious. 1t is the usual imaginative
invention which flows from a desire to
say something injurious. Remember.
| that those now making this accusation
were busily engaged two months ago
in asserting that / was using the Of
/ fees to secure my own denomination
/ ''Since the present congress assem-
4 bled, two months ago, have sent to
i the senate the names of all the Off
/ cials I have appointed for the entire
period since congress adjourned on the
4th of March last, that is, for II months.
Excluding army and navy officers. sci
entific experts, health officers and those
/ of the revenue cutter service, have
made during this period about 1852 APP