The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1908-10-01
Governor Sends Salty Letter To
President Roosevelt
FULL JUSTICE is DEMANDED
Condemnation Without Chance for
Defense, the Governor Says, Is
Not What Any Man Should
Receive In America.

/ Guthrie. Okla, September 3O.-Gov.
i Charles N. Haskell, late treasurer of the
democratic national committee, tonight
! gave out long letter to President Roose-
velt in which he repeats his already pub
/ lished defense to the charges made
against him. The letter begins:
Yesterday l was engaged in writing a
communication to you as the chief magis
trate of the United States, assuming that
a few days of reflection might have
| brought you to a realization of the fact
that the people of our country had placed
you in the highest position of authority
and respect, and that with the authority
you had assumed the obligation of melting
| out equal and exact Justice to every cit
| izen of our country, and that realizing
| your obligation you would know that one
! of the principles of free government Is
that no man shall be condemned without
hearing; knowing that not one Word
that you haYe ever spoken concerning
me was of your personal knowledge, but
entirely hearsay, which has reached your
! ears as a result of intense partisan con-
hiet; that you do not know me PERSONAL
| ly, and never heard a word from my
! lips, the serious character of your charge
should shave suggested to you that you,
as chief executive, should proceed with
deliberation and certainty before making
such hearsay statements your own dec
! larations.
Appeal Laid Aside.
"Therefore | would have apepaled to you
! a second time to designate some tribunal
= t4f refi4-s foa fIfIh Sfd f.f 10 f5sI
! ton, investigating as to the truth and
only condemn when guilt has been rea-
sonably established but being interrupt
ed by receiving a newspaper which con-
tains your last statement, lay aside my
appeal for justice to you for the reason
| that I am convinced that no matter how
| dignified, great and honorable the office
| of President may be the present situation
/ clearly demonstrates the fact that the
| occupant of that office may be without
| fairness, justice or integrity.
! you have clearly demonstrated by
! hearsay statement and vacilating from
one charge to another, that various of
your charges were without information
and, therefore, abandoned, and yet with
out displaying the manhood to apologize
| for the former untruthful statements, you
seek another issue. 1t leads me to assert
that I shall seek justice against you
! before the people and in the court not
| SUBJECT TO your uOmlndIlOn. Frankly
! speaking, l could have arrived at no other
conclusion than that you, in your reck-
| less partsanship and disregarding the
rights of others, would pack a court or
fix jury.
Evading the Issue.
''Your attack upon me finally rested
| upon my conduct on the Prairie Oil and
Gas company in this state. have said
that you were responsible for granting
| franchise before statehood, thereby
| creating vested rights. You seek to evade
the issue and create wrong impressions.
| You said the interior department had no
| power except where crossing an Indian
| reservation. You would have your read
ers believe that Indian Territory was then
conducting it's own government and that
only parts of the same were Indian res
| ervations. Mr.. Roosevelt, you know this
! is not true; you know all the land was
Indian land without county, township or
territorial government. What halo OF
integrity surrounded you last week. like
the mist. has faded away and the interior
department holds the record which con-
| victs you.
You granted the franchise at the solic-
itation of Senator Depew and few days
| thereafter received $260,0OO in cash for
your campaign fund.
| you charged me with having attempted
to bribe the attorney general of Ohio.
| That was presumably nine years ago. You
have abandoned that position Charles p
Taft says through his paper that no evi-
dence was ever produced that would con-
vict me of the charge.
Quoted From Magazine.
'In touching the state university
| question, you pretended to quote from
| the Outlook Magazine, but how dishonest
| ly you enlarged the magazine article
! That article charged me with substituting
! democratic for republican professors for
| political purposes. / have shown that
| statement to be false, but | charge you
| with trying to enlarge on that magazine
| article and give the world the impression
that we were improperly using the money
| appropriated to conduct that institution.
| your charge that I vetoed a child
| labor law, you have not apologized for
| Notwithstanding you knew that | did it
| with the approval of union labor, and
| that our state constitution, which you
| said was so bad your opinion of 1t would
| not look well in print, contains more child
| labor legislation than all you have recon-
mended to the New York legislature as
governor, or to the Congress of the United
States as President. and that approved
IA acts of our legislature passed at the
solicitation of union labor.
Land Suits Filed.
"You said in your first statement that
had suits brought against me to recover
title to Creek Indian land. Adopting your
| usual policy you flee from that statement
| without just apology and adopt the state
| ment now that it was government town
J site lots that you charged me with be-
| ing sued for. Yes, l believe | am a de-
| fendant as to certain government town
site lots in one of nearly 11O00 suits that
you have had brought against as many
| different honorable and high-minded citi-
zens of this state during this presidential
campaign year, and you will not under-
take to deny that petty politics for the
| purpose of repubicanizing about 10000 In
dian voters was your sole motive for hav-
ing those suits brought, and charge you
with knowing that there has been no de-
lay in these cases, except that occasioned
by the courts deliberations, taken by him
4 self as time deemed necessary to consider