Coeur d'Alene evening press. (Coeur d'Alene, Idaho) 1907-1929, 1908-09-24
DOSEVELT RE-
PLIES TO BRYAN
Pdes His First Charge Against
Haskell.

| WASHINGTON, D. c., Sept. "a
President Roosevelt, in his reply to
w. ]. Bryan says:
THE White House, Washington, D.
G., Sept, %. 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 company inter-
ests 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.
I'm my statement purposely made
no allusion 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
notoriety. In Oklahoma 1t is a mat
ter of court record. BY this court
record 1t appears that the attorney
general of the state. elected by the
people. obtained an injunction to pre-
vent the Prairie Oil and Gas comnay
from building pipeline; 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 before a court of
superior Jurisdiction to that which
issued the injunction. In this the
governor states that the acting gov
ernor, in his absence, had asked that
the hearing be postponed until he, the
governor, might return and have an
opportunity to investigate the con-
troversy. The governor set forth in
his petition that he is the sole au-
| thority to determine such matters
and that the attorney general and
the judge of the lower court repre-
scented AN encroachment by the ju-
dietary"
''The attorney general opposed the
! dissolution of the injunction, stat
ing that the Prairie Oil and Gas COM
pany was foreign corporation. which
had not accepted the provisions of
, the constitution applicable to such
corporations, and that without au-
thority of law it was employing a
great force of men and teams to dig
| up the land across and into various
highways of the state for the purpose
of laying its pipelines. The COVER
nor prevailed, the injunction was sus-
pended and the pipeline was per-
mitted to continue its work, to use
the words of the attorney general.
without any color of law
Aided the OIL Trust.
81 call your attention to the fact
that the question is not whether or
not the judge erred, or whether the
injunction was proper. The point is
that the governor was alert to take
out Of the hands of the attorney gen.
eral what the attorney general felt
was his sworn duty. and prevent an
alleged instance of the breaking of
the laws of this particular great cor
poration.
''As far as have seen. Governor
Haskell has not even attempted any
thing which can be called a defense
of this action Of his. II thus APP
pears that his action was as mex
cusabIe as It was wanton. except on
the theory that in defiance of the at
torney general OF the state and at
all hazards he intedned. for some
reason of his own. to protect the
interests OF a great corporation
against the law.
1T has been suggested on his be-
half that. after all. he did not ia
yor the Standard OH company. but
merely the Prairie OIL company. This
claim is disposed of by the testimony
Of the standard OIL company itself,
taken in the latter part of 1907 IN
the suit now pending before the
United States court at 81. Louis
against the Standard Oil company
In this testimony the Standard oil
company. upon being required by the
government to put in a list Of all