Los Angeles herald., 1908-12-11
CROMWELL SAYS EDITOR OF
INDIANAPOLIS NEWS MADE
FALSE STATEMENT IN PAPER

NEW YORK, Dec. 1O.-Wiliiam Mel
son Cromwell authorized today the fol-
lowing statement:
my attention has been called to
statement issued by the editor of the
indianapolis News, when he attempted
to reply to the charge made by Presl-
dent Roosevelt that certain statements
made in the Indianapolis News both be-
fore and since the recent election and
relating to the purchase of the Panama
canal by the United States were false
and untrue. The president said:
1.-The News gives currency to the
charge that the United States bought
from American citizens for $4,000 900
property that cost these citizens only
$4,000 OO0 The statement is false. The
United States did not pay cent of the
$40 900, 900 to any American citizen etc.
From the statement issued in reply
by the editor of the News l quote the
following: The only man who paid
any attention to them Chat Is the
criticisms referred to, etc.) was Charles
P. Taft, who did deny that he was in
any way related to the affairs We had
no word from the president or Mr.. Taft.
The other men, such as Cromwell and
Morgan, who were believed to have
full Information in relation to the bust
ness, said nothing
Says He Denied Story
"And he attempted to justify the pub
LEGATION of the false statements appear
ing in his paper by saying that they
were based largely on statements of
the New York World. Criticisms, which
were made over and over again during
the campaign We're ignored until to-
day.
@The reply of the editor of the News
furnished another proof of the justice
of the presidents Characterization, for
in the very journal under whose sheets
he now takes refuge, namely, the New
York World of October 8, 1908, appears
an explicit and unqualified denial by
me of the story referred to in which I
used the following: We may expect
during a heated political contest all
kinds of stories which are not worthy
of notice, but this one 1 wish to de-
nounce in the strongest terms as 81
lying fabrication, without shadow
of the truth in it. Neither / nor any
one allied with me, either directly or
indirectly, at any time or in any place
in America, or abroad, ever bought,
sold, dealt in or even made a penny of
profit out of any stocks, bonds or other
securities of either the old Panama
Canal company or the Panama Canal
company, or ever received for the SAME
a single dollar of the SAC, 100000 paid
by the United States. l make this most
sweeping statement that language can
convey
CAS- everybody connected with the
AFFAIR knows, abstained from receiv-
ing the $40,000.000 in my own hands at
Washington or New York, and the gen
eral counsel of the company and myself
arranged for the payment of the entire
$40, 600 900 direct from the treasury of
the United States through the bankers
of the government in the Bank of
France at Paris to the credit of the
liduidators of the two companies.
There 1t remained, subject to the
order of the hquidators until distributed
by them to 4he hundreds of thousands
of beneficiaries, and not one dollar of IL
ever came to me or anyone in any way
connected with me. OF course do not
refer to our regular compensation as
counsel