The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1909-01-24
Former Civil Service Chief
States Smith Actually Tried
To Place Panama BIunder
On Subordinates.
PUTS DELAVAN ON GRIDDLE
NEWS PROPRIETOR SCORED FOR
HIS COURSE OF ACTION PRIOR
AND SUBSEQUENT TO PREsi
DENTS LETTER.

History repeats ITSELF" said Will
liam Dudley Foulke to a Palladium
representative yesterday afternoon in
regard to Delavan Smith of the Indian
apolis News and Mr.. Pulitzer of the
New York World, proprietors of the
papers which are undergoing grand
jury Investigations on account of the
Panama Scandal"
'The News is denouncing the attack
on the liberty of the press because it
is in danger of being prosecuted for
libel for false statements appearing
in it's columns" said Mr.. Foulke. 1T
quotes the Louisville Times in Pre-
vailing Prussian Methods on Majesty
Enthroned' and the like This recalls
the Indianapolis Sentinel. which was
the Sopperhead representative of the
Peace and Pistol Democracy during
the civil war and which after the bat
tie of Pogues Run, declared: Indiana
is as completely under military rule
as France. Austria and Russia 1t
then proceeded to denounce the gov
ernment in unmeasured terms.
FouIke Cites Morton.
"Whereupon the Journal, which rep
resented the views of Oliver P Morton,
our War Governor at this period. re-
torted land l commend it's observations
to the News):
I'VE implore you not to sit down
in despair and mourn as one upon
whose cervical vertebrae the ferrin-
guous heel of oppression has ruthless
ly been deposited-there is hope, a
glimmer, a ray, a beam, whole dawn
of hope-if you would only open your
eyes and see.
'Unassailable bulwark of the free
dom of disloyal speech, despairing ad-
vocate of the liberty to assist rebel.
lion, did it occur to you when writ
ing your denunciation of the govern
ment that if you could publish it you
were lying? Do you want more lib
erty of abuse than you exercised on
yesterday morning:'"
Rakes News and World.
After chuckling over the way the
files of the Indiana papers of several
decades ago served his purpose in re-
gard to the News. Mr.. Foulke went on
to tell in his own words the application
of past history. He scored Delavan
Smith the owner of the News, for his
course of action previous and subse-
quent to the Presidents letter. by
pointing out the coincidence between
the course of action taken by the
Sentinel during the war.
1T was not long after this" said
Mr.. Foulke. recalling some of the in
formation on the later war period, on
which he is an authority, that Mr
Bingham. the editor of the Sentinel
under LincolDs administration, was
placed behind the bars-from which
unfortunate position he relieved him.
self by turning states evidence and
duplicating his associates
Says o. Smith crawled.
Mr. Foulke then said: Such a
course seems to be already fore.
shadowed when Mr.. Delavan Smith
said that all he had published about
the Panama Scandal had been taken
from the New York World. whose
statements he implicitly believed.
Why should he not complete the
analogy by testifying against Mr. Pull
itzer?
Such course might promise con-
siderable advantage, though little hon
Or, to him who should undertake it
almost as little honor. indeed. as the
course which Mr.. Smith actually pur-
sued in trying TO throw the response
bility on his own subordinates-