Connecticut western news., 1908-02-13
ALLSCHARGES FALSE
Roosevelt Denies That He Is
 Using Offices to Aid Taft.
FoRAkER MAKES ANSWER

Senator Cites Case of Athens Post
 master as illustration of the Force 7 Used to coerce Ohio Men to Aid
 Secretary of War.
 Washington, Feb. 12. = President Roosevelt made answer at great length to the recent statement that he made use of federal patronage to further the presidential interests of Secretary Taft The answer is in the form of letter to William Dudley Foulke of Richmond, Ind, and includes letter from MT. Foulke to the president sug- gesting the need of such statement
 The president says in part:
 ''The statement that I have used the offices in the effort to nominate any presidential candidate is both false and malicious. It is the usual imaginative invention which flows from a desire to say something injurious. Remember that those now making this accusation were busily engaged two months ago in asserting that was using the of fees to secure my own renomination. It is the kind of accusation which for the next few months will be rife. This particular islander will be used until exploded, and when exploded those who have used it will promptly invent another.
 Getting Up Bolting Delegations.
 "At present various efforts are being made to get up bolting delegations from the southern states, and the meet ings at which these so, called delegates are chosen are usually announced as nonoficeholders' conventions. As a rule, this means only, so far as 1t means anything, that they are held 'un- der the lead of persons who wish to be put in office, but whose character and capacity are such that they have not been regarded as fit to be appoint ed under this administration. In these cases be it remefbered that the fail ure to secure office is not the result of the political action of the men in ques- tion On the contrary, their political action is due to their failure to secure office.
 "You quote a newspaper (New York Evening Post as saying:
 i've are now getting daily lessons in civil service reform from the White House which ought to attract national attention The appointment of Taft workers to postofices in sOhio and of tho totally unfit George w. Wanna ker as appraiser of this port is now followed by the presidents refusal to reappoint good Hughes man as col lector of customs at Plattsburg.'
 UnscrupuIous and False.
 s'This article is a good example of the accusations made by those of our opponents whose partisanship renders them especially interruptions and un- truthful. MT. Wanmakers appoint ment was made precisely in conform ance with custom. MT. Wanmaker is peculiarly fit for the position, being already an assistant appraiser who has rendered good service in that place, has served as acting appraiser several times and has a very good rec ord.
 The refusal to reappoint good Hughes man as collector of customs at Plattsburg,' refers to the case of MT. Walter Witherbee, anC the accu- sation in this case is particularly com ic, because MT. Witherbee was an open and avowed Taft man, the classmate of Secretary Taft's brother at Yale, and Secretary Taft and his bfother re Quested his reappointme ent-the only New York officeholder for whom they made such request
 Foraker Answers President.
 Rising to question of personal priv ilege in the upper branch of congress, Senator Foraker picked up the presi- dents challenge for the name of a single man who had been coerced and declared that Charles H. Bryson, post master at Athens, O., was the individ- ual sought.
 He went on to submit what he term. ed the documentary evidence" to prove his charge in the shape of core spondence between Bryson and Rep resentative Douglass, who had rec. commended the appointment. The sen ator declared his proof overwhelm- ing that the administration had sought to coerce Bryson, an anti-Taft man, into support of Taft in order to lob tain his job.
 Meyer Issuos Statement.
 The senate was tremendously inter ested in the incident, but when the spotlight moved to the White House ii failed to reveal any of the expected excitement. It was calmly pointed out there that what MT. Foraker had prov. cd was that the president, on the rec. ommendation of a strong Taft man which Douglass is, had appointed to a good office an anti-Taft man, know. ing him to be such. Subsequently, Postmaster General Meyer gave 4out al the White House a statement covering the case which concludes with this sentence:
 When the president gave this direc ton to send this name in, he and ] knew that Bryson was friend to Sen ator Foraker."
 On that showing the net result ii that Foraker has proved the presiden guilty of using federal patronage tt