The times and democrat. [volume] (Orangeburg, S.C.) 1881-current, 1909-01-12

First He promotes me to men,
bership in the "Ananias Club" and
charges, in effect, that I have delib-
erately lied to the Senate.
Second. He charges that I have
exerted my official influence and
/ worked as Senator tor my personal
benefit alone to secure the passage
of a resolution and TO press the De-
partment of Justice to bring suit
against the corporations which hold
so much of the public domain in the
West and will not sell it to settlers
under the terms of their grants from
the Government.
He has prepared his indictment
with consummate ability and skill.
He is even cunning I'M the apparent
ly innocent pretence that in making
search through the Secret Service
for one kind of malefactor he had
run down another, and the case of
that one of such serious Importance
that his sense of official obligation
compelled him to prompt action.
Mark you, he has been in the posses
sion of all the facts in this case
since July last, and men will be Gu
rious to know why, if his zeal was
honest, he did not make them known
then.
The President announced in his
special message to the House OH
January 4.
have made no charge of cor
ruption against Congress nor
against any member of the present
House. If I had proof Of sucn
corruption affecting any member
of the House in any matter as to
which the Federal Government
has jurisdiction, action would at
once be brought.
This would simply be doing
my duty in the execution and en-
fbrcement of the laws without
respect to persons. But do not
regard it as within the province
or duties of the President to re-
port to the House "alleged de-
linuuencies" of members, or the
supposed corrupt action of
member ''in his official capacity.
1t therefore follows that he has
Ar. in1iotinD
in the courts, which, no doubt, would
have rejoiced him overmuch, and
all this fuss, fury, and fustian about
the seriousness of the case and the
gravity of the offense with which ne
charges me can be attributed to per-
sonal malice alone.
On January the President de-
clared what he conceived to be his
relationship to the House and that
he would not do certain things. On
January 5 he wrote letter to Sena-
tor Hale, doing the very thing 10
regard to a Senator which he had
declined to do toward a member Of
the House. Why this difference:
In my public work here l have not
hesitated to criticise and comment en-
the official actions and utterances Of
President Roosevelt, and have
doubtless given him good cause to
seek revenge / have at various
times arraigned him in the Senate
| for tyranical invasion Of the rights
of Congress, for usurpation of au.
thority not given him by the Goa
stitution, for disobedience Of the law
and neglect of duty, and particularly
in the case of Mrs. Morris, for brutal
and cruel conduct toward helpless
woman. I was not aware that these
darts of mine had quivered in the
Executive hide and stung him ST.,
but the eagerness and intensity with
which he has presented his case
against me, his making precedent
where none has existed heretofore.
his taking from the committee to
which he had forwarded them the
papers and giving them to the press
before that committee had consid-
cred them, indicate that Theodore
Roosevelt enjoys to the limit the
feeling Of getting even with Ben
Tillman, and lays on the big stick
with the keenest relish, doubtless
believing that the pitchfork has gone
out of business.
In his letter to Senator Hale
find on page the following:
But case has just arisen of a
different kind. which it seems TO
me | should put before you as IL
Illustrating in striking fashion the
way in which Investigations be-
gun by any Of these various agents
in the strict line of their duty
may develop facts of high impor-
tance. which the investigators
would not in the first instance
have sought to discover, which.
when discovered, ought not to be
hidden or suppressed, but the de-
velopment of which may tend 20
create an erroneous impression
! that the agents in question were