New-York tribune., 1910-03-10
10 PLATT OFFER
HARRISON LETTER.
Qaoted by ". III. II. Miller IN
Denial of Report.
rB, 7eIerrsps to The Tribune


--5isnspolis. March 9-Following the
..nlirarjon Of a statement by the late Sen
- plat, 20 the effect that President Ben
'-.,;- Harrison had indirectly offered him
=. ,ost Of Secretary OF the Treasury. ".
n Miller. Attorney General under Pres
nj Harrison and the former Presidents
-. mariner. today denied that place IN
,-.hiret vas rendered Mr.. Plat.
.t~ miller ouotes = letter from President
harrison. as follows:
Perk1ev Lodge Old Forge F O.:
Kew York Aug. %. 1900.
F{or x h T. Miller, lndianape3,ls;z mo, mo:
St-, near Nr Miller-I have received your
,,..s- nj rbe 18th. with the inclosed clip,
- - " +aEe The Press" here, and
! - - eeen The same matter in substance in
,iher paper 1,,+a hard that q man Who
- ~,e5s ss good 4 record as ] on the
,ssc- oF promises while candidate ana
-T1ie n Office should be Sop9ecIea 10 m
-lIu3soto-. -lItsoSs t-abinef Office 70 Plat. 1 NOT
-,7ror-7-,rlv negatiyed the suggestion
-, Sew York that I should make some
r,,+ while the convention was in
abeol,Itelv refused tU hold out
- he T-aeuest hint Of a promise 20
f<er f<czIr,s3-iysnis and 10 the Pacific Coast sup
TT - NJ Platt. as told him when he
-a,,9A "a see ne after the election. l never
Sd 60 much as q suspicion thai he wanted
q 2
~ time Of giving him one. II MI. Elkins
communicated 70 him what ] said TO him,
q. was only that I had no such prejudice
against him as n prevent me from giving
',ir7 his fair influence with my admnistra-
.to- i 7 should be elected. I think. while
NJ Plarr claims that Mr.. Elkins said more
20 him than this. Mr. Elkins denies II, and
] Pm sure that after my talk with him NJ.
rlsr+ was convinced that | had never au-
-ho-ized anybody TO make him any prom
That x not all. When met Mr Platt
~ Nr Reds country home in the cam
- - Of 1892 I had a very long conIersa-
sion with him. and again vas Careful 10
eaT 70 him that / could make no promises
= any KIND, and he must not assume that
suFthing ] said meant any such thing,
YOU know that while ] was President
made mvseful unpopular perhaps by rea-
e'- OF the fact that I never salo 10 any one
hat I would make this or that appoint
-1art until II was actually made. Some he'd
senator's standing by my desk urging an
appoirtnaent which ] had determined 10
r. rake-tle unsigned nomination being in
my desk within reach Of my hand-and
declined 70 tell what I intended TO do. for
foer that something would happen before
r'e nomination was sent in that would
sho- that the appointment ought not to he
made i YOU preserve this. some time or
ofher-after am dead perhaps-it may see
he light With kind regards to all the
i@'ni'' cry S'''EIzs55 BENJAIIN HARRISON.
~. Miller SAYS that he went TO New
Tgrk in 1880 and had a talk with Senator
quay. who told him that the committee
res badly in need Of money. On his arri-
81 however. John .. New had told him
,aat money could be raised if Harrison
7ould permit Plat 10 name the Secretary
r the Interior. Miller replied that Harri-
son would not DO il. and he called upon
Plstt and told him the same thing. At
p1av's request he returned here and laid
'he matter before Harrison. who refused
20 put himself under such obligations.
". Miller asserts that tie Treasury port
fo.io vas not mentioned by Platt or any
orc else. IN conclusion he says:
IT may rot be improper to say. further,
mat so far Is the offices in the Department
r. Justice were concerned, Sc far as known,
;hev were made upon the recommendations
II Senator Evarts and Senator Hiscock.
am cutie sure that Mr.. Plat never spoke
70 me on the subject. while both Senator'S
did sneak 70 me with reference to the
appointment Of the Solicitor General, dis
rrict attorneys and marshals in New York
safe. and their recommendations were fol-
lowed"
Washington, March civilian T. Curtis,
I'm z letter which appeared in Chicago
newspaper Tuesday mornin.,. published
7Ilat purported TO be a statement intrlst-
70 20 him by the late Senator Platt, Of New
York 10 Be published after Mr.. Platt and
Benjamin Harrison were both dead. In the
statement Mr. Piatt said that he had the
promise of the appointment Of Secretary OF
nc Treasury in Pesident Harrison's cab
'net from the Harrison managers in return
for delivering the New York delegation to
Harrison ana thereby nominating him.
Senator Elkins Of West Virginia, accord
irg 10 The statement. figured in the deal as
tae representative Of General Harrison.
Senator Elkins yesterday denied that he
bad promised Nr. Platt that he should be
Secretary II the Treasury, but admitted
Lat he carried letter from General Har-
rison addressed 70 Ny Plat which he read
To- hin ~ the Chicago convention. The
senator declared that this letter simply
assured NJ. Plat that he should be con
S.aered IN the matter Of the New York
Hai7onage and that his recommendation