Los Angeles herald., 1908-09-26
Sen. Foraker Makes Counter Charges

was the guest of G. T. Lewis or the law
firm of Doyle & Lewis, who have been
the attorneys of the Standard for many
years, standing next in rank in that
relation to Virgil p. Kline; and when
Mr.. Taft had occasion to pass back
and forth between Middle Bass ana
Toledo, where 1 had the pleasure of
meeting him, he Travelled on the yacht
of Mr.. Richardson, a prominent mag
nate of the glass trust; and while he
doubtless paid his fare cat least the
papers so announced) when travelling
from Hot Springs to Toledo on his way
to Middle Bass, yet nevertheless ne
rode in the private car of one OF the
officers of the road, of which also Doyle
Ss Lewis are attorneys. What series
of objectionable crimes!
No Rankle Then
"There did not seem to be any such
righteous dislike of these Standard Oil
and other trust deputies ranking in
the bosom of Mr.. Taft on the occa-
sions to which I Tefer. On the con-
trary, he acted like a good, square,
sensible, honest-minded man, who really
enjoyed the company he was keeping
and entertainment he was receiving,
and who recognized, as the late Senator
Hanna was accustomed to say, that
there were good trusts as well as bad
ones and even decent people in the
employment OIL I1e OIdilNldIu Oli Soih
pany, as will as Objectionable people,
And all that is to his credit.
'It is also highly to his credit that
when, three years ago, the president
had occasion to appoint a United States
district judge for the northern district
of Ohio, Mr. Taft, knowing the abilities
and high character of John H. Doyle OF
the Standard Oil firm of Doyle SS Lewis,
did not hesitate to recommend him to
the president in strong language for
appointment to that judgeship.
"The Standard Oil relation to Judge
Doyle, then we'll known to Mr.. Taft,
did not prevent him from recognizing
his high character and general fitness
for such a sacred trust and I happen
to know, as did Mr.. Justice Moody,
who was then attorney-general, that
the president, on the recommendation
of Judge Taft, was intending to ap-
point Judge Doyle, and would have
done so no doubt except for reasons
which did not reflect on Judge Doyle
he finally appointed Judge Robert w.
Taylor.
''But if the Standard Oil company
was in good enough repute only three
years ago to warrant Judge Taft in
recommending Judge Doyle and Presi-
dent Roosevelt in appointing him to a
judgeship, much more was 1t in suffi-
GENTLY good repute, six or seven years
earlier, before any of the recent viru-
lent attacks were made on it, to War
rant me in accepting employment or
the character mentioned.
If 1t Had Only sIeptl
what pity it is that Judge Taft's
letter was not allowed to continue its
slumber until after the election!
"As to the Brownsville matter, Mr..
Taft says, speaking of me: He has
seized upon and magnified an unim-
portant and incidental matter to en-
barrass the administration, using in this
without scruple a blind race prejudice
to accomplish his main purpose
81 have no way of proving what was
in my mind, except by referring to the
record. Any one who has that will
fail to find a, sentence or word to JUS
tify any such statement as Mr.. Taft
makes.
'In view of Judge Taft's statement, I
trust I may be allowed to repeat what
have said a number of times that in
this whole matter I had no revenge
to seek or personal ends to serve, but
was done to the representatives of that
noble and loyal race, every one of whom
| is by nature Republican.
| "The colored voters are known to be
more or less displeased with the action
| of the Republican party in not passing
|
and many of them have signified a. pur-
pose to vote against Judge Taft be-
cause of his official relation to the
matter.
much work has been done to over
come this trouble, and to induce the
colored Republican voters of the coun-
try to stand by the party with which
they have always affiliated And now
comes the president and publishes Judge
Taft's letter containing his reference
to this unfortunate case"
"What does he mean? Does anybody
imagine that the president is unable to
see that he is rubbing a sore when he
should have brought plaster?
"Does he imagine or can anybody
suppose that the Republican colored
voters of this country can be brought
to the support of Judge Taft by parad-
ing in these closing days Of the cam
paign Judge Taft's belittling of their
chief grievance by mentioning 1t as an
inciaental matter which has been
seized upon and magnifled, using in
this without scruple blind race preju-
dice,' and then adding the charge that
all this is done only to 'embarrass the
administration of President Roosevelt?
Done to Defeat Taft?
"Can it be possible that the president
wants to defeat Judge Taft? That cam
not be, and yet he could hardly do any
other one thing better calculated to lose
him votes, for no self-respecting negro
reading what Judge Taft says in this
letter and adding 1t to all that has
gone before, can vote for him without
feeling that he is making a greater sac
rifice than most men, white or black,
are willing to make.
SIN any event, the presidents action
and comments are a wrong to the Re-
publican party for they amount to a
charge against the party at critical
hour of the campaign of an unworthy
purpose in connection with matter
that every colored man who has any
pride of race holds of highest value and
in deepest appreciation.
"What Judge Taft says in his letter
is the equivalent of an assertion that
the colored people of the country who
have been grieved by what was done
in the Brownsville matter have sim
ply been hoodwinked by designing self
ishness. This is bad enough. but the
president makes 1t worse when he says:
"'The entire agitation over Browns
Vile was in large part not genuine
agitation on behalf of the colored men
at all, but merely one phase of the ef-
fort by the representatives of certain
law-defying corporations to bring dis
credit upon the administration because
1t was seeking to cut out the evils con-
nected not only with the corrupt use
of wealth but especially with the cor
rupt alliance between certain business
men of large fortunes and certain poll
ticians of great office
Brownsville Case Slfted
"In other words, the Brownsville
orooaadipo was NOT OnlV all Judge Taft