The Irish standard., 1909-01-16

!UARY 1e. 1909. 4
But the vindication speech Of Tillman
lacked fire. and the audience, though
sympathetic. was rather disappointed
at his effort. In concluding his typo.
written address, Senator Tillmpn
said:
Il have not attempted to deceive any.
body; have not told any falsehoods;
have not broken any law; have no.
been guilty of any immoral conduct
I had the right to purchase the land
if my Judgment told me it was a safe
investment. Z I would like to get solae
of it yet, and if the Attorney General
and his successors shall not die of old
age before anything is done, it may bs
possible that I may have the oppor-
tunity to purchase some of these tim.
Der lands of which he made mention
in his report"
Attorney General Bonaparte, whom
Tillman referred to in his defense, con-
tradicted the next day what Tillman
said to him with reference to the oro-
gon lands and declared that Tillman
in SO many words informed him that
he was seeking information solely in
the discharge of his senatorial duties,
and concealed from him the fact that
he wanted to purchase the lands for
himself. That Tillman had a right to
invest in the lands, nobody denies The
fact that he is a United States SEN
ator does not preclude him from pur-
chasing land according to law, like Guy
other citizen, but Roosevelt alleged
that the South Carolina senator HAD
a selfish object in view when by. reso-
luton in the senate he wanted the
government to bring action against
the Hartman corporation holding title
to the land, SO that he could buy sew
eral sections of 1t for $3.50 per acrs.
Every one can come to his own con-
clusion as to whether the President
was justified in naming Tillman ana
placing him in the Ananias club
along with other celebrities. The Re-
publican papers are inclined ito side
with Roosevelt against Tillman, but so
far as the Irish Standard is concerned
it believes that Tillman should be
granted his request for full investi-
cation by committee Of his peers.
The New York Sun, which is an
friendly to Roosevelt, condemns The
tactics of the President in employing
spies in the Tillman case, and says
that If the discoveries made by them
warranted prosecution under the
laws Of the United States. then ,Ir.
Roosevelt not only failed in his sworn
duty, but also gave the lie. to his own
professions as contained in message
to congress five days before,
when he said
IF I had proof of such corruption
affecting any member of the House in
any matter as to which the Federal
Government has jurisdiction action
would at once have been brought, as
was done i'll the cases of Senators
Mitchell and Burton and Representa-
tives Williamson, Hermann eni
briggs, at different times I have been
President. This would simply be do
ing my duty in the execution and Gu
forcement o. the laws without respect
to PERSONS F.,
On the other hand, if the spies found
no evidence of criminality against
Tillman, then the publication Of le--
tiers between the senator and others
for the qualification of private spite
is an offense difficult to characterize
adequately.
In our opinion, thu most interesting
fact revealed in these Investigations
Of the President is that the govern
ment of the United States has paid
during the last fiscal year the enor-
nous sum Ct about 100000 to mem
bers of the secret service Besides
having government by injunction, it
appears we have also government Of
spies under Theodore Roosevelt. But
as he Is going out Of office In less
than seven weeks, we shall only say
that it is in order for the Taft al
ministration to reduce the number Of
secret service men materially, ana
thereby save few million dollars
yearly to the government for better
purposes than the espionage Of United
States senator's and representatives. il
cost Great Britain and Russia co n
bined less money during the past year
to maintain their abominable spy .ys-
TENS than it did under Theodore Rose
welt, and what has been accomplished
for the benefit Of the United states?
Absolutely nothing of any consequence.
A nevysnaner headline reads. tNf;J