Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1910-09-15

to the defense of those in present con-
troll Of the Republican party in New
York state, whom it has affected to
oppose in the past, the Evening Post
through whatever editor personally
wrote the article, practised every
known form of mendacity.
Probably the Evening Post regards
the decalogue as outworn; but If 1t
will turn to it and read the eighth and
ninth commandments, it will see that
bearing false witness is condemned
as strongly as theft itself To take but
one instance out of the many in this
article, the Evening Post says: at
was Roosevelt who asked Hartman to
come to the White House secretly,
who took his money to buy votes in
New York, and who afterwards wrote
to My Dear Sherman'-yes the same
Sherman-reviling the capitalist to
whom he had previously written, say
ing: You and 1 are practical men"
Not only is every important statement
in this sentence false, but the writer
who wrote it knew it was false. AS
far as 1 was concerned, every mar
visited the White House openly, and
Mr.. Hartman among the others. l
took no money from Mr.. Hartman Sc
cretly or openly to buy votes or for
any other purpose. Whoever wrote
the article in the Evening Post in
question knew that this was the foul
est and basest lie when he wrote the
sentence, for he quotes the same let
ter in which I had written to Mr.. Har-
riman as follows: What I have to
say to you can be said to you as well
after election as before, but l would
like to see you some time before
write my message" I am quoting
without the letter before me, but the
quotation Is substantially, if not YER
bally, accurate. That statement in
this letter to Hartman is Of course
on it's face absolutely incompatible
with any thought that I was asking
him for campaign funds, for it is Of
course out Of the question that l could
tell him equally we'll what l had to
say after election If it referred in any
possible way to getting money before
election. This is so clear that any
pretense of misunderstanding Is proof
positive Of the basest dishonesty in
whoever wrote the article in question.
AS a matter of fact, when Mr.. Harri-
man called it was to complain that the
national committee would not turn
over for the use Of the state cam.
paign in which he was interested
funds to run that campaign, and to
ask me to tell Cortelyou to give him
aid for the state campaign. Mr.. Cor
| teIyou is familiar with the facts In
| other words, the statement of the Eve
| ming Post is not only false and mali
| cious, is not only in direct contradic-
ton Of the facts, but is such that 1t
| could only have been made by man
who, knowing the facts, deliberately
| intended to pervert them. Such an
act stands on a level of infamy with
| the worst act ever performed by a
corrupt member Of the legislature or
city official, and stamps the writer
with the same moral brand that
| stamps the bribe-taker.
l have seen only a Geographic alb
stract of the article, apparently con-
| tanning quotations from it. Practical
| ly every statement made in these
| quotations is a falsehood.
To but one more shall l allude. The
article speaks of my having attacked
corporations, and, referring directly to
! my Ohio speeches, Of my having
sought to infiame the mob and make
mischief In those speeches the
| prime stand 1 took was against mob
| violence as shown by the labor people
who are engaged in controversy with
a corporation. My statement was in
effect that the first duty of the state
| and the first duty of the officials was
TO put down disorder and to put down
mob violence, and that after such
action had been taken, then it was the
duty Of officials to investigate the cor
poration, and If it had done wrong to
make it pay the penalty of it's wrongs
and to provide against the wrongdo-
| ing in the future. 1t is but another
instance of the peculiar baseness, the
peculiar moral obliquity, of the Eve
ming Post that it should pervert the
truth in so shameless a fashion.
THEODORE ROOSEVELT.
Cheyenne, wyo., August 27 1910.