The San Francisco call., 1910-07-30
JOHNSON REFUSES
TODISCUSS SHAM
By Implication He Places Blame
For Misuse Of Name on
Partisan Press

In response to a request for a state
| ment of the reasons for advertising
Roosevelt's alleged support of his candi-
dacy ana the probable effect of Roose-
Velt's denial. Johnson declined to dis
cusS this matter. BY implication he
placed the responsibility for the mis-
use of Roosevelt's name upon the news
papers supporting him, and upon Pin
chot, who spoke for him in San Fran
cisco. Johnson said:
My understanding from the ppess
dispatches and from Pinchot, whom j
saw for short time only, was that he
had come out here to make speeches
in this campaign at the instance of
Colonel Roosevelt"
Johnson refused to talk further
about Roosevelt's telegram or the
| reason for. advertising Pinchot as rep
resenting Roosevelt, saying that II
would be of no use to make further
explanation.
A few weeks ago. Marshal Stimson.
one of the leaders of the johnson cam
pa1gn in southern California went to
| Oyster bay to endeavor to secure from
Colonel Roosevelt some pledge of as
sistance for. Johnson as the representa-
| tive of insurgency in California. About
that time William Kent, the Lincoln
alton to congress in the second district
had completed arrangements with Gift
ford Pinchot for a series of speeches in
the second district. Kent entered the
| fight frankly declaring that his was
an anti-Taft and anti-Ballinger can
yass, and that his campaign would be
made on a tariff and conservation plat
form.
After his conference with Colonel
Roosevelt, Stimson wired to the Cali
fornfa leaguers that he and Pinchot had
talked with Roosevelt, and that Pin
chot would leave for California at once
to speak for Johnson and Kent.
In the light of Yesterdays deve1op-
ments, coupled with the character of
the speech made by Clifford Pinchot in
San Francisco, it seems a wrong con-
struction was placed on Stimsons tele-
gram. The newspapers supporting
Johnson heralded Pinchot as the per-
sonal representative of Roosevelt, and
declared that Roosevelt had sent the
| former forester to California to advo-
cate the nomination of Johnson.
The fnsistent advertising of Roose-
velt's alleged espousal of Johnson g
candidacy brought no cheer to the
other candidates for the republican
nomination for governor. 1t was espe-
cially discomforting to Phil Stanton,
who had contended that he was en-
! llllSu TO ROOSeFS1t support because he
! had helped Roosevelt prevent the adop-
| ton of anti-Japanese resolutions and
| legislation by the California legislature
of 1909.
The Johnson supporters made such
! vigorous use of Roosevelts name, es-
| pecially in southern California, that
! the Importance of a showdown was i'm
| pressed on Stanton, who had advertised
himself as the man President Roose-
| velt praised and the man who had
made Roosevelt's foreign policies pos
| sible. He sent his brother to put the
matter squarely up to Roosevelt
| The Johnson managers gave it out
| before Pinchots arrival that he would
make several speeches for Johnson He
made only the San Francisco speech.
| That was an unequivocal espousal of
| Johnson's candidacy, but Pinchot was
| careful not to connect Roosevelt or
Roosevelt's name with his own advo-
| cacy of Johnson.