Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1908-09-25
President In Reply.

HreSloent IN heply'
President Roosevelt and cabinet
spent all of Wednesday in preparing
a reply to Mr. Bryan, and Wednesday
night mailed him the following, which
was at the same time given out to the
press:
"The White House. Washington, D. C.
September 23d, 1908.
Dear Sir: In your telegram you
speak of so much of the charge against
Governor Haskell as dealt with his
relations, while in Ohio, with the
Standard Oil company. You omit the
charge as to his relations with the
Standard Oil interests as shown by his
action while Governor of Oklahoma,
this very summer, this action being in
part taken while he was at Denver
where, as you state, he was by your
wish made chairman of the committee
which drafted the platform upon which
you are standing. In my statement l
purpOsely made no specific allusi0n to
the Ohio matter, and shall at this time
make none in spite Of its significance,
and in spite of the further fact that
Governor Haskell's close relations with
the Standard Oil interests while he was
in Ohio was a matter of common no
toriety.
In Oklahoma it is a matter of court
record. BY this court record it ap-
peared that the attorney general of the
state. elected by the people, obtained
an injunction to prevent the Prairie
Oil and Gas company from building a
pipe line: and that Governor Haskell
found this out while he was at Denver
as appears by the representations for
the dissolution Of the injunction made
in his name on behalf of the state, be-
fore a court Of superior jurisdiction to
that which had issued the injunction
In this the governor states that the
acting governor in his absence, had
asked that the hearing be postponed
until he, the governor, might return
and have an opportunity to investigate
the controversy. The governor sets
SC4N
authority to demand such matters, and
that the attorney general and the judge
of the lower court had no right in the
matter, and that the action of the judge
of the lower court represented IAN en-
croachment by the judiciary" The at
torney general opposed the dissolution
of the injunction, stating that the Prai-
rie Oil and Gas company was foreign
corporation which had not accepted the
provisions of the constitution applica-
BILE to such corporations and that with
out authority Of law it was employing
a great force of men and teams to dig
up, across and into various highways
of the state for the purpose of laying
it's pipe lines.
The governor prevailed. the injunc-
ton was suspended and the pipe line
was permitted to continue its work, to
use the words Of the attorney general,
without any color of law" l call your
attention to the fact that the question
is not whether or not the judge erred,
on whether the injunction was proper.
The point is that the governor was
alert to take out of the hands of the
attorney general what the attorney gen.
eral felt was his sworn duty to pre-
vent. an alleged instance Of the break
ing of the laws by this particular great
corporation.
LAS far as l have seen, Governor
Haskell has not even attempted any
thing which can be called a defense Of
this action of his. 1t thus appears that
his action was as ineXcusable as it was
wanton. except on the theory that in
defiance Of the attorney general of the
state and at all hazards he intended
for some reason Of his own to protect
against the law. 1t has been suggested
on his behalf. after all. he did not favor
the Standard Oil company but merely
the Prairie Oil and Gas company.
This claim is disposed of by the testi-
mOny of the Standard Oil company it
self taken i'm the latter part of 1907 in
the suit now PENDING before the United
States court at st. Louis against the
Standard Oil company. In this tes-
timony the Standard Oil company, up
on being required by the governor to
put in a list Of all the companies in
which it held stock. or in which its
subsidiary companies held stock, re-
ported among others the Prairie Oil
and Gas company, total capital $10,-
100000. of which the National Transit
company's proportion was $9.999,50O;
and. furthermore. it appears that the
National Transit company had a capi-
tai stock of $25.455, 200, of which the
Standard Oil company owned $25,451,-
ESQ. In other words, this Prairie Oil
and Gas company was owned, all eX-
cept $500. by the national Trust COM