The Winchester news. [volume] (Winchester, Ky.) 1908-19??, 1908-12-07
EDITORS
ON I'm BAD LIST
President Replies to Panama CHARGE
Denies There Was
Deal.

tween President Roosevelt and Will
liam Dudley Foulke has been made
public by the latter.
Mr.. Foulke says: "Sir-The Indian.
apolis News, not only during the
campaign but even after its close,
has been repeatedly and continually
making serious charges against your
administration as we'll as against Mr..
Taft in connection with the Pana-ca
purchase, as for example the follow
ing:
The Panama Matter-The cam
paign is over, and the people will
have to vote tomorrow without any
official knowledge concerning the
Panama canal deal. 1t has been
charged that the United States
bought from American citizens for
$4O,000,000 property that cost those
citizens only $12,00O,000. Mr.. Taft
was secretary of war at the time the
negotiation was closed. There is no
doubt that the government paid $40,-
100000 for the property. But who
got the money? We are not to know.
The administration and Mr.. Taft do
not think it right that the people
should know. The presidents broth
er-in-law is involved in the scandal,
but he has nothing to say. The can
didate's brother has been charged
with being a member of the syndi-
cate. He has, it is true, denied it.
But he refuses to appeal to the evil
dence, all Of which is in the posses
sion OF the administration and Who'll
ly inaccessible to outsiders. For
weeks this scandal has been before
the people. The records are in Wash
ington and they are public records.
But the people are not to see them
till after election, if them
where are these Inaccessible rec
ords?' When did they come into the
possession of the government and
what do they contain If the state
ments of the News are true our peo-
pie ought to know it, if not true, they
ought to have some just means of es-
timating what credit should be given
in other matters to a journal which
thus disseminates falsehoods"
The president says: "My Dear Mr.
Foulke-I have received your letter
and have read it in connection with
your previous letters inclosfng quota
tions from the Indianapolis News, a
paper edited by Mr.. Delavan Smith.
AS Mr.. Smith certainly knew that all
the statements he made were false,
both as to this Panama matter and
as to the other matters of which you
inclose me clippings, and lnasmuch,
therefore, as the exposure Of the falls
ity will not affect his future state
ments, l am not very clear what good
will result from such exposure; but
inasmuch as you evidently earnestly
desire some answer to be made, and
inasmuch as you say that some rep
utable people appear to believe the
falsehoods of the News and Mr..
Smith, and inasmuch as you seem to
think that his falsehOods as regards
the Panama matter are the most
prominent. I will answer them.
"The News states in one of its is
sues that probably some of the docu
ments dealing with the matter have
been destroyed. This is false Not
one has been destroyed 1t states
that the last documents were sent
over in June of this year, the object
of this particular falsehood being, ap-
parently, to connect the matter in
some way with the nomination of Mr..
Taft. AS a matter Of fact the last
papers that we have received of any
kind were sent over to us in May of
1904, and they have been accessible
to every human being who cared to
look at them ever since, and are ac-
cessible now. You quote the News
as stating that the people have no
official knowledge concerning the
Panama canal DEAL The fact is that
the people have had the most minute
official knowledge; that every impor
tant step in the transaction and every
important document have been made
public in communications to congress
and through the daily press, and the
whole matter has been threshed over
in all its details again and again.
"The News gives currency to the
charge that the United States bought
from American citizens for 100000
600 property that cost those citizens
only $12,O0O,OOO.'. The statement is
false The United States did not pay
a cent of the 100000 to any Amer
lean citizen The News says that
there is no doubt that the govern
ment paid $40,0OO,OO0 for the proper
ty, and continues, but who got the
money? We are not to know. The
administration and Mr.. Taft do not
think it right that the people should
know Really this is SO ludicrous as
to make one feel a little impatient at
having to answer it, The fact has
been officially published again and
again that the government paid $40,-
100000 and that it faid this $4,000