The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-12-07

nave them all printed If 1t wishes; but 70 congressman has ever, so far, in- timated any desire that this should be done; II suppose because to print such mass Of documents would be great expense. and moreover an entirely use less expense. unless, which is not the case. there was come object in print ing them.
 The Ananias Club.
 NOW, my dear Mr Foulk. I have answered in detail your questions and the statements of The News. You are quite welcome to print my answer but l must frankly add that I don't think any good will come from doing so. MT Delavan Smith Is a conspicuous onender against the laws of honesty ana truthfulness; but he does not stand alone. He occupies. for instance, the same evil emfpence with such men as MT, 1AFan, of The New York Sun, ed- itoTisis of whose papers you or others nave from time to time called to my attention, uJst as you have called to my attention these editorials of The Indianapolis News. I never see an ed- ttorial in any one of these or similar papers unless for some reason 1t Is sent to me by you or by some one else; and of the editorials thus sent
 me, there Is hardly one which does not contain some wilful and deliberate perversion of the truth. For example, have just made public the following statement concerning an issue of ut- terly false statements which appeared in MT. LaFan's paper, The Sun:
 "As The New York Suns story enti- tied Roosevelt and Prairie or has seemed to deceive number of people, the following statement was made public about 1t:
 As soon as tho story was brought to President Roosevelt's attention. he not only called for reports concerning the statements, from the Department of Justice and the Department of the Interior, but also communicated with ex-Secrstary Hitchcock, so as to be sure that the Presidents recollection was not at fault The story is false In every detail from beginning to end Not only is there no such report in the Department of Justice and never has been, but no such report was ever made. In granting the franchise of the Prairie oil and Gas Company, the President simply approved the recom- rnendation of Secretary Hitchcock sub mitted him precisely as all other re- concentrations were submitted. More over, in every case referring to the granting of franchises or the adoption of regulations as regards oil and gas franchises in Oklahoma and the In- dian Territory. the President approv- ed the recommendation df Secretary Hitchcock, with the exception of one small and unimportant grant to Del- aware Indian to whom the Delaware Indians tn recognition of eight years of service to the tribe. had voted in council a fec of s50,000 which he had declined to accept and who was given twice the usual amount of land. The statement about the alleged promise to. e Western Senator is as ridiculous falsehood as the rest of the story aa A~k awkl newspapers habitually and continually and as 8 matter of business. practice every form of mendaeity known to man, from the suppression of the truth and the suggestion of the false, to the lie direct. Those who write or procure others to write these ar- ticles are engaged in the practice of
 mendacity for hire; and surely there
 can be no lower form of gaining livelihood. Whether they are paid by outsiders to say what is false. or whether their profit comes from the circulation of the falsehoods. Is mat l ter of small consequence, It Is utterly | impossible 10 answer all of these false hoods. When any given falsehood is
 exposed they simply repeat 1t and cir culate another. If they were mistaken in the facts, if they possessed in their makeup any shred of honesty. 1t would be worth while to set them right. But there is no question at all as to any mistake or misunderstanding on their part They state what they either know to be untrue or could by the slightest inquiry find out to be un- true.
 Confidence fin People.
 T doubt if they themselves remem- Der their own falsehoods, for more
 than a very brief period; and doubt still more whether anybody else does.
 Under these circumstances 1t seems hardly worth while to single out for
 special mention one or two given falsehoods or one particular paper, the moral standard of which is as low as but no lower than that of other pa- pers. Of course, now and then, I am willing to denounce a given falsehood, as for instance, as regards this case have quoted of The New York Sun, simply because 1t appears that some worthy people are misled or puzzled by the direct shamelessness of the un- truth, But, ordinarily, I do not and cannot pay heed to these falsehoods. If I did, I would not be able to do my work My plan has been to go ahead to do the work, and to let these peo-
 ple and those like them yell; and then to trust with abiding confidence to the good sense of the American people in the assured conviction that the yells will die out, the falsehoods be forgotten and the work remain"
 "Therefore. as far as I am concern ed. would rather make no answer whatever in this case, but have much confidence in your judgment and if you feel that these men ought to be exposed, why, you are welcome to publish this letter. There is no high er and more honorable calling than that of the men connected with an upright. fearless and truthful newspa- per; no calling in which a man can render greater service to his fellow cOuntFymen. The best and abiest ed- itors and writers in the daily press render a service to the community which can hardly be paralleled by the service rendered by the best and abiest men in public life. or the men in bus mess. But the converse of this prop osition is also true. The most corrupt ananciers the most corrupt politicians, are no greater menace to this country than the newspaper men of the type have above discussed. Whether they belong to the yellow press or to the purchased press, whatever may be the stimulating cause or their slanderous
 mendaeity, and whatever the cloak 1t
 may wear, matters but little. In any event they represent one of the potent forces before us for evil in the com munity Yours very truly. ''Theodore Roosevelt"
 william Dudley Foulks, Richmond. Ind"
 Mir. LakRan Replies.