The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1908-12-08
Join A NOBLE ARMY.

~ DSAeNFah SHlltn OF the Indian
apolis News and William NJ. Laf.
fan Of the New York Sun have been
given free and unlimited member
ship in the noble Ananlas club by Pres
ident Roosevelt. forming a valuable adj
dition to an already notable aggreea
ton This time the president unlim-
hers his vocabulary and says il right
out; there is no resort to such circum-
locutions as "a shorter and uglier
word but both the candidates are
called liars plain. liars variegated and
liars Of all degrees from Blue Lodge to
Thirty-third and back again. Lest there
should be some misunderstanding. he
iterates and reiterates with no quail
flying phrases that the truth is not in
these publishers.
The occasion for this latest outbreak
was the publication by the Sun, copied
by the indianapolis News. of a. charge
that the s40.OO0,OOO ostensibly paid to
the French government for the old Pam
anna Canal company's worthless assets
found It's way into the pockets of syn
dictate of Americans who had organized
the movement to back the revolution
which grabbed off the Panama strip
for this country, and who had later
made an enormous profit on the deal bv
which the French company surrendered
its paper right to dig the big canal.
The story further intiraated that the
presidents brother-in-Iaw. Mr.. Robin
son, was interested in the deal. and
that Charles p. Taft. brother of the
president-elect. who was then secretary
OF war. had a slice of the velvet ac-
cruing to the negotiators.
In reply the president says the money
was paid to the French government. a
fact already published by the Sun. The
president. however. does not say where
the S4o.0O0,000 ultimately went-and that
is the crux of the whole story. because
so far, no one has ever found who real
ly got the cash. though it is certain
the original stockholders of the French
company barely got a whiff of 1t. In
vestigation in Paris disclosed the fact
that all the records had been turned
States. but such records as would dis
close the final recipients of the big
payment have either been destroyed or
are withheld from the public.
Tho reply of Mr.. Laffan is character
istically brief. He says no respectable
man can afford to get into contro-
versy with the president. because of his
(RooseveIt's) complete freedom from,
any sense Of. personal obligation in re-
spect to the truth" Which is a rather
neat retort courteous. Mr.. Laffan also
notes with passing irony that the let
ter is addressed to William Dudley
Foulke, to whom MIR. Roosevelt wrote
his memorable letter denying that he |
was using the federal patronage to aid
Mr.. Taft's candidacy. the letter which
at once took its place among the most |
valued incunabula of veracity."
In explanation of Mr. I.affan's play
ful and erudite use OF language it may
be said that a careful study Of the Cen
fury dictionary shows that "incunabu-
la" means cradle or birthplace, so he |
would intimate with some sarcasm that
the letter referred 20 is one of the origi-
nal sources of truth as the president
interprets it.
Newspaper publishers who know Mr..
Laffan and Mr.. Delavan Smith person.
ally viii have no difficulty in deciding
a question of veracity between them
and Roosevelt: and they viii not accept
the presidents version without some
evidence other than his written word.
though. as Mr.. Laffan says. I'VE cam
Dot disguise our chagrin and humilia-
ton that the person thus addressed is
the president of the United States"
Having descended to the level of
billingsgate and invited the issue. the
president deserves no better fate than
the biting reply of the men he assaiIed
50 'vituperatively. The long category of
honorable men whom he has accused of
lying. the repeated instances. one of
which Mr.. Laffau cites. in which the
president either ignored or purposelv
the truth. confirms the i'm
preston that he has a monomania for
assatiing all who venture to differ from