Los Angeles herald., 1908-06-21
SPRECKELS HEARS
FROM ROOSEVELT
PRESIDENT GIVES HIM GOOD
ADVICE
TELLS SAN FRANCISCO MAN TO
KEEP UP FIGHT
Hopes Associates In Graft Prosecution
VIII Not Lose Heart In War
Against Dishonest POLL
ticians
BY Associated Press.

BY Associated Press.
SAN FRANCISCO, June 20.-The Call
today prints a letter dated June s, at
the White House, from President
Roosevelt to Rudolph Spreckels, in
which he comments upon the local graft
prosecutions and urges the prosecutors
to keep UP the fight" The followiog
is a synopsis of the text of the letter:
my Dear Mr.. Spreckels: Now and
then you and Mr.. Heney and the others
associated with you must feel down
hearted when you see men guilty or
atrocious crimes who for some cause or
other succeed in escaping punishment
and especially when you see men OF
wealth, of high business. and in sense
of high social, standing banded together
against you.
my dear sir want you to feel that
your experience is simply the expert
ence of all of us who are engaged in
this fight. There Is no form of SANDER
and wicked falsehood which will not as
a matter of course be employed against
all men engaged in such a struggle.
"And this Is not only on the part or
men and papers representing the low
est type of demagogy, but, I am sorry
to say, also on the part of the men ana
papers representing the interests that
call themselves pre-eminently conserVa-
tive, pre-eminently cultured.
SUN d II 10 w SNNO-A
true that the feeling against those en-
gagged in 1t becomes peculiarly bitter,
not merely in the business houses OF
the great financiers who directly profit
by the wTongdoing, but also In the
clubs, in certain newspaper ofnceS
where business interests exercise an
unhealthy control, and, l regret TO aoo'
in other newspaper offices which like TO
be considered as in a marked degree
the representatives of the cultivation
and high social standing of the country.
sNow, I do hope that you and your
colleagues will treat all this bitterness
with entire disregard 1t is of small
consequences to YOU, or TO any of us
who are engaged in this work, whether
men think well or Ill or us personally;
but II is of very great consequence thae
we should do the work without linen
ing. 15arav
and your associates will keep reason
ably good natured; but that above al
things you will not lose heart You
must battle on valiantly, no matter
what the biggest business men may
saw. no matter what the mob may say,
no matter what may be SAID by that
element which may be regarded as So
ciallv the highest element. You must
steadfas tly oppose those foolish or
wicked men who would substitute class
Conscience and loyalty to American cit
izenshib as a whole, for loyalty to the
jmmutable laws of righteousness OF
lust and fair dealing as between man
and man.
Calls Situation Un-Ameriean
"It is lust as bad to be ruled by
pIutocracy as by mob: 1t is pro
foundly un-American, and, in social
sense, profoundly immoral, to stano Ior
or against a given man, not because ne
is or is not a brave, upright ana aple
man hut because he does or does not
belong to a labor union or does or does
not represent the big business lnUeresIs'
In their essence, down at the rouhualloh
of things, the ties that are an ti ,l9o1,
tant are those that knit honest men,
brave men, square dealing men, toge-
ether. and it is a mighty poor supstl-
+,,ta ;f we replace these ties by those
that bind men together Whether tney
are good or bad, simply because they
follow a particular business, haVe
given social standing, or pelons "
particular organization.
ar is an evil and a dreadful thing Tor
sahoring men to endeavor to secure lile
,,oliticaI dominance of labor unions Ny
conniving at crookedness or VloieLS0
nv being loyal to crooked laoor ieau-
ers. for to be loyal to the fanclea ~
tarasts of the union when they are
AGAINST the laws of morality ana the
interests of the whole people means
ultimately the destruction of the unions
themselves, as an incident to the oe-
struction of all good citizenship. \
''But 1t is, IL anything an even more
evil and dreadful thing TO nave tne
merchants, the business men, the cap
tains of industry accessories to CRIME
and shielders and supporters OF ctt a
inals: it is an even more dreauIui uiliIS
TO see the power of men hlgn IN SUI
nolitics. high in finance, hlgh IN lne
social life of the rich and fashionable
united to stifie the prosecution OF OF
tenders against civic integrity, II these
Offenders happen to be their Lrlenos
and assistants; most eVll OF All - ~
when we see crooks Of a labor party IN
offensive and defensive alliance Wlth
the crooks of a corporation parry
Labor unions and corporations allhe
should be heartily supported when they
do good work and fearlessly opposed
when they stand for what is eVll. Inc
best kind of wage-worker, the pest
kind of laboring man, must stano
shoulder TO shoulder with the best klno
of professional man, with the best
kind of business man in putting
stop to the undermining of civic de-
cency. and this without any regard 10
whether ii is a labor union or a cor
noration which is undermining 1t, With
out any regard to whether the offender
is a rich man or poor man.
'The most powerful ally or laWless-
ness and mob violence is the man, Who
ever he may be, politician or business
man, judge or lawyer, capitalist or
editor, who in any way works so as
to shield wealthy and powerful wrong
doors of the consequences of their mis-
conduct.
Indeed, If there can be any degree