The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1908-10-01
RECORDS WILL
SHOW THE TRUTH
Governor Haskell ReneWS His
Charge That Roosevelt
Granted Oil Franchise.
ISSUE CANNOT BE EVADED
PRESIDENT RAISED 1T HIMSELF
IN HIS FIRST ONSLAUGHT.

Guthrie, Okla, Sept. Ex-Governor
Charles n. Haskell has written a letter
to President Roosevelt, in which he
says:
Il lay aside my appeal for justice to
You for the reason that 1 am con-
WINGED that no matter how dignifed,
great and honorable the Office of pres
ident may be, the present clearly dem
onstr4tes the fact that the occupant of
that office may be without fairness,
justice or integrity.
Let the People Decide.
You have clearly demonstrated by
hearsay lodging and vacillatinS from
one charge to another, by admitting
that various of your charges We're
without foundation, and therefore
abandoned, and yet without displaying
the manhood to apologize for former
untruthful statement, you seek another
issue. 1t leads me TO assert that l shall
seek justice against you before the peO-
pie and in a court not subject to your
domination. Frankly speaking,
could have arrived at no other conclu-
sion than that you, in your reckless
partisanship and disTegarding the
rights of others would fix a court or
before the conclusion the people OF
America will be Disguised that they
ever elected you president of the
United States.
Print the Records.
Mr. Roosevelt. l have said that you
were responsible for the granting Of
the franchise to the Prairie Oil * Gas
company before statehood, thereby re
ating vested rights i'm that company
that our state authority is pOwerless to
interrupt. You have tried IL your last
statement to evade this issue You
have tried to give your readers a
wrong impression. In the office OF the
interior department the records win
speak as between US. l say that You
granted that franchise. l say that you
did il at the solicitation of Senator De-
pew and others. and that within few
DAYS thereafter chiefly by subscrip-
tions of Standard Oil men. according to
Mr.. Hartman, the sum of $260.OOO in
cash was added to your campaign fund.
Must Not Be CARRIED.
Il challenge you to publish the rec
ords of the interior department on the
subject of this franchise. Mark me
now, Mr.. Roosevelt. you must not gar
BILE the records nor suppress any of
them The public shall know the truth.
1t may have been sufficient four years
ago for you to wipe out tne truthful
statement made by Judge Parker oy
simply calling him a liar, but that was
four years ago, and your controversy
now is with man who Will not accept
a bluff in exchange for receipt in fun
settlement In any character of state
meut YOU make that | have at any
time during my entire life had any
connection whatever or of any charac-
ter with the Standard Oil company or
any of its sub-companies, l am ready
to refute such statement.
Oklahoma Constitution.
1T is still fresh in the minds of tho
people of our state, labor unions, farm
ers' unions and other advocates Ct
honest and humane government lhat
the sixteen objections you raised to our
constitution struck at the very vitais
of honest government Your threat to
turn down our constitution because II
contained provisions for jury trial III
contempt cases is only one of the MANI
things that you criticised, and / thank
Cod 10 this day that I had had the
courage 10 challenge you at that time
10 turn our constitution down on that
ground if YOU dared TO do so. You said
that YOUR opinion of our constitution
- would not look well in print. Mr.. Har-
riman and j. p. Morgan said the same
thing. but Samuel GOmpers said the
ever written I expected you to agree
with Mr. Morgan and Mr.. Hartman,
and. of course. was not surprised.
Haskell Never Gets Drunk.
Morally, Mr. Roosevelt. 1 should not
undertake TO make a comparison be-
tween you and me- l do not get drunk
on any occasion and never did in my
life but still have your letter of last win
ter. which l shall be glad to publish
with your permission, advocating your
idea OF interstate commerce OF whisky
into prohibition territory II was your
would freeze the heart OF any honest
public official seeking 10 administer the
laws of his state as the people by their
votes had made the law
Why Was Monopoly Given.
Mr. Roosevelt. let us not leave this
Standard OIL company question without
inviting from you information that we
really need You made a ruling that
1900 acres of land was the limit that
any person or corporation directly or IN
directly could obtain under lease for oil
purposes in the Indian Territory, and re-
newed the lease on $4,000 acres of Usage
land to the Indian Territory Illuminating
Oil company, and you know that the
agent for the Standard Oil company
owned d majority OF. the stock. Why
did you give them a monopoly on the
Usage oil lands?
Again Mr. Barandale the well known
representative of the Standard Oil COM
pany, has leases. as L am ADVISED Dy
Mr.. Shea of Bartlesville, on little over
10000 acres Of Indian allotments in the
Indian Territory and I am advised that
on account of the controversy brought
to your personal attention that you know
Of these excessive landhOIdings. Why dId
you do this?
Brings Up Paul Morton.
You criticise my directing the dis
missal of the suit against the Prairie
Oil q Gas company, which could not
have been successfully maintained by the
state. Tell me, please, what your reason
was for directing the dismissal of the
suit against the Atchison, Topeka & San
ia Fe railroad, being prosecuted by judi
son Harmon and special counsel when
the facts disclosed that member of your
cabinet paul Morton) was being I'M
covered as the prime offender. Answer
this will you?
Mr.. Roosevelt, you cry out for pur-
ity You say YOU did not four years
knnM nhere the cnrnnratinn fund