Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1908-09-26
REPLYING TO NERRAsKAN's DE-
TENSE OF CAMPAIGN TREAS
URER, ROOSEVELT JABS LEAD
ERs OF DEMOCRACY.
OKLAHOMAN HELD
UNFIT FOR OFFICE
PRESIDENT CALLS ACTION OF
GOV. HASKELL SCANDALOUS-
BRYAN PROGRAM TERMED ONE
OF RUIN TO ALL BUSINESS.

Washington, D. c., Sept. "a Pres
adent Roosevelt sent sizzling letter
to William Jennings BRYAN last night
in reply to the telegram from Bryan
yesterday when the latter unbranded
the president for his structures on
Governor Haskell of Oklahoma, treas
urer of the Democratic national COM
mittee, and demanding proof of the
charges made.
In all his career President Roose-
welt has probably not publicly chHs-
tised any man more mcrcilessly than
he has in applying his lash to the OK
lahoma governor. bur ::sis Is not the
only interesting feature OF this latest
addition to the literature Of the pres
emit campaign After saying all he
cared on the subject of Haskell, The
president took up Mr.. 5lyan's dec
laration that he would not permit any
responsible member of the Republic
can organization to misfepresent the
attitude of the Democratic party in
this campaign.
Wants People to Condemn.
"You will have no difficulty in get
ting me to represent 1t arigh'," says
the president, "for my SOLE anxiety is
that the people of the country shall
understand this attitude clearly and
shall then condemn it as it should be
condemned"
In the remarkable letter. and it
is regarded as remarkable because it
Is a personal communication from the
president of the United State5 to the
leader of the opposition rat,,v-- using
the second personal pronoun in al
most every line of direct address, the
writer proceeds to pay his compi
ments to the Bryan doctrines as he
sees them.
"You have indeed adv - ate meas
ures that sound more radical (thaa
Roosevelt's policies) but 4hey have
the prime defect that in practice they
would not work"
81 put Mr.. Taft's deeds against
your words
Calls Plans Visionary.
Thus speaks the president, with a
lot more like it. Classifying Bryan
as identified with visionary and I'M
practicable radicalism," the president
declares his own efforts at reform
had been hampered as much by sucn
extremists as by the reactioaaries at
The other extreme.
Your plans to put stop to the
abuses Of corporations are all chimer.
lcal," says President Roosevelt to
Mr.. Bryan, and he declares that Mr..
Bryan's policies would correct no
evils, but merely throw the whole
business of the country into hopeless
and utter confusion.
The Presidents Reply.
Following is the text Of the presi-
tents reply to Mr.. Bryan:
In your telegram you speak so
much of the charge against Governor
Haskell as dealt with his relations,
while in Ohio, with the Standard Oil
company. You omit the charge as to
his relations with the Standard Oil
interests as shown by his a ,tion while
governor Of Oklahoma this very sum-
mer, this action being in part taken
while he was at Denver, when, as you
state, he was, by your wish, made
chairman of the committee Which
drafted the platform upon which you
are standing.
In my statement purposely made
no specific allusion to the Ohio rar
ter, and shall at this time make mona.
In spite of its significance, aal in spite
of the further fact that Governor Has.