The daily telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1901-1926, 1908-11-09
Writes President oeseyelt IN
AnsweF Of These Who OBJ
Iectsd to Iafts

wAsHISG ToS7S, p. 81. -
Secretary TRfta religtpIs faith g
Il purely hiA own private concern. and
! NOT r1attef for general discussion.
and poltfieGl Discrimination, says
President Roosevelt IN letter ae
made pubic last night IN which he
n answers ntmerons coErasponae
The President says he deferred the
publication OF the letter until now
Ito avoEd any agitation likely to i'm
huenco the election. The letter fol-
lows!
Ny Dear Sir:
I have received your letter xun-
lining in part as follows:
while It IS claimed almost unt-
liversally thet religion should not enter
ii into politics. yet there - NO denying
N that 1t does. and the mass OF the vet.
ers that are not Catholics viii not
support a man for any ONCE, especial
h Is for President of theA United States,
h who, Is a Roman Catholic.
..Since Taft has been nominated
| for President by the Republican par
Fly. It IS being circulated and is con-
tstantly urged as a reason for not
voting for Taft that no Is an inhdel
III (Enttarian) and his wife and brother
tRoman Catholics. II his
feelings are In sympathy with the Ro-
Ek1AG 3Q04A4 JIG OOJS(-
tionabIe to sufficient number OF Vot-
fers to defeat him. On the other
hand IL he is an inhdel,. that would
| be sure to mean defeat.
am writing this letter for the sole
purpose Of giving Mr.. Taft an oppOr-
tunity to let the world know what
his religious belief Is"
I received many such letters as
yours during the campaign express
ing dissatisfaction with Mr.. Taft on
religious grounds: some of them on
the ground that he was Unitarian,
and others on the ground that he was
Esuspecteds to be In sympathy with the
fCathoHcs. L dId not answer any of
these letters during the campaign be-
cause I regarded 1t as an outrage
even to. agitate such a. question as
mans religious convictions, with the
purpose OF influencing political cleo
ton. But now THAT the campaign Is
over, when there Is opportunity for
men calmly to consider whittier such
ii propositions as those you make in
your Letter would lead. I wish to in-
Evite them to consider them, and T
have selected your letter to answer
because you advance both the objec-
tons commonly urged against Mr..
Taft, namely that he Is a Unitarian
and also that he Is suspected OF sym
patl1y with the Catholics.
You ask TINT Mr.. Taft shall ''let
Ii the world. know what his religious
RI belief Is" This Is purely his own
II private concern: and. It Is a matter
n between him and his Maker. a mat
ter for his own consciencei and to
require it to be made public under
III penalty of political discrimination is
I to negative the first principles OF our
| government, which guarantee COM
plete religious liberty, and the right
to each man to act In religious af-.
fairs as his own conscience dictates.
Mr.. Taft never asked my advice in
the matter but if he had asked it,
should have emphatically advised him
/ against thus stating publicly his re-
lfgious belief. The demand for
statement Of candidates. religious
belief can have no meaning except
for or against him because OF that
BELIEF. Determination against the
N holder of one faith means retaliatoFy
discrimination against men of other
faiths. The inevitable result of en-
terinE upon such practice would be
an Abandonment of our real freedom
of conscience and reversion to the
dreadfulr conditions of religious dis
senslons which In so many lands have
proved fatat to true liberty, to true
religion, and-.to all advance in civil
izatIon.
To discriminate. !, against a thoroly
upright citizen because he belongs to
some particular church, or because
like Abraham Lincoln, he has not
avowed his allegiance to any church,
is an outrage against that liberty of
conscience which Is one OF the foun-
dations of American life. You are
entitled to know whether man
seeking your suffrage Is a man of
tclean and upright life. honorable In
all his dealings with his fellows. and
At by qualification and purpose to do
well In the great office for which he
is a candidates: but you are. not en-
titled to know matters which lie
purely between himself and his Maxi
er. II it Is proper or legitimate to
oppose n man for being a Unitarian,
as was John Quincy Adams, for in
stance, as is the Rev. Edward Everett
Hale, at the present moment Chap
lain of the Senate, and an American
OF whose life ALI good Americans are
proud-then it would be equally
proper to support or oppose man
I because OF his views on justification
I by faith, or the method Of admins
tering the sacrament or the gospel
n of salvation by works. If you once
enter on such career there is abso-
lutely no limit at which you can
n leEitinatelyv stop.
n SO much for your objections to Mr.
Taft Because he is Unitarian, Now.
for your objections to him Because
II you think his wife and brother to be-
II Roman Catholics. AS 1t happens.
ii they are not: but IL they were. or II
I he were Roman Catholic himself.