Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1908-12-15

reputable private citizens and to con-
vict the government of his own coun-
try in the eyes of the civilized world
of wrong doing of the basest and foul
est kind when he has not one shadow
OF justification of any sort or descrip-
tion for the charge he has made. The
attorney general has under considera-
ton the form in which the proceed
ings against MIR. Pulitzer shall be
brought
The president refers to various pa
pers which he transmits with his ms :
sage and calls attention to numecS
utterances and acts relating tr - e
canal and it's purchase. He CT 8 .he
act of congress by which he 81 au-
thorized to pay $4O,ooo,0OO the
canal property and says 1t - 40 con-
Germ of the president " the new
Panama Canal eompan' . with the
money. -
Method of Purchaa Explained.
Explaining the method of concluding
the purchase, the president says:
The Panama canal transaction was
actually carried thru not by either the
then secretary Of state, Mr.. John Hay,
or the then secretary of war, Mr.. Elihu
Root, both OF whom, however, were
cogniZant of all the essential features;
but by the then attorney general, Mr.
p. c. Knox. at present senator from
| Pennsylvania. l directed or approved
every action, and am responsible for
all that was done In carrying out the
will of the congress; and the provis-
ions of the law, enacted by congress
xf,,o oyI Al
cussion, were scrupulously complied
with by the executive. While the trans
action was pending saw Mr.. Crom-
we'll but two or three times. and my
communications with him were linn
tied to the exchange of purely formal
courtesies. Secretary Ray occasionally
saw him, in the same manner;I doubt
whether Mr.. Root held any conversa-
ton with him. The attorney general
saw him frequently, as he was coun-
sci for the Panama company; their
communications were official, as rep
resentins the two sides"
The action of the government. he
says. was wholly uninfluenced by any
question of who were or We're not
stockholders either in the new or the
old company
Deal Open and Above Board.
'If, as a matter of fact" he ex-
plains, "the canal company, either or
both. had been owned by American
citizens or by citizens of any other
nationality. it would not have altered
in the slightest degree the action TAX
en- by this government. Our concern
! was to get the canal property, which
hx, N
and to see that the title was clear.
Our transactions were carried on open
ly and We're published in detail. and
we dealt solely ESQ far as the interests
of the old Panama company were con-
cerned) with the liquidator appointed
by the proper French governmental
body, the civil tribunal of the Seine,
and in accordance with the decree of
this same tribunal, with the New Pam
anna Canal company. which also went
into liquidation upon the sale to the
United States. All our transactions
were carried on openly, and were pub
lished in detail"
The president states that the money
was paid thru the New York banking
house of ]. p. Morgan & Co, acting
as fiscal agents of this government,
into the Bank of France in Paris
'In these payments" he says, 1--WE
followed to the letter the decree of the
governmental tribunal Of France which
had the authority to make such a de-
cree, the Civil Tribunal Of the Seine.
We had neither desire nor authority
to go behind this decree Of this proper
governmental body. as all the con-
a: IL re 1c1f
Of both companies had been settled by
the decree of said court by ratification
Of the arbitration which resulted in
that division.
Nothing to Do With Distribution.
II wish to make as clear as possible,
and as emphatic as possible, the state
ment that we did not have anything to
do with the distribution Of dollar of
the $40,0O0,000 we paid as regards any
stockholder or bondholder Of the
French companies, save that we fol-
lowed out the award Of the arbitrators
appointed in accordance with the de-
cree of the French court which had
dealt with the subject in awarding
certain proposition to the old company
and a certain proportion to the new
company. Any question concerning the
stockh/ers, bondholders, or other
benet/laries of the proceeds of sale
was purely a question for the civil
tribunal of the Seine, the French gov
ernmental body with which this ma
ton had nothing whatever to do.
''Under these circumstances there
was not the slightest need for Mr..
Cromwell to give any information on
the subject Of the companies for which
he had been counsel. This government
has no concern with Mr.. Cromwel's
relation to these companies, or either
of them, or with the amount of his
professional compensation; it was not
the affair Of this government to inquire
who were the security holders of the
companies.
Knows Who Got the Money.
Nevertheless, Mr.. Cromwell, Of his
own accord, has submitted to me, to-
gether with copy Of his statement
published on the 11th inst, and which
I transmit herewith, a full list Of the
stockholders Of the New Panama Ca
nal company of France on Jan. Is, 1900
Numbering over 6,0O0) and a list of all
stockholders who were present at
special meeting Of the company, held
Feb. %, 1902, Immediately after the
cable offer Of the company was made
to the United States (Jan. Gil, 1902
to accept the appraisement of s40,000.-
600 made by the Isthmian canal COM