Republican news item. [volume] (Laport, Pa.) 1896-19??, 1910-08-26

TAFT DID NOT
OPPOSE 7. R.
In Letter to GriSc0nl Denies
Charge Of Plotting.
lis COUNSEL TO SHERMAN
Declares He Favored Roosevelt For
Temporary Chairman In New York
surgents.

|
and Suggested Concessions to In
surgents.
President Taft not only had no
| hand in the trickery at the meeting
! of the New York Republican state
committee, whereby Billy Ward Tim
| Woodruff, Billy Barnes and Jimmy
| Wadsworth succeeded in having a mo-
| ton adopted naming Vice President
| Sherman as the temporary chairman
OF the Republican state convention in
| place of Mr.. Roosevelt, but in a letter
which was received by Chairman Girls
com, of the Republican county com
mttee, it was made plain that Mr.
Taft insisted that before any choice
was made by the committee, Mr..
Roosevelt should be consulted. MI
Roosevelt was not consulted.
Mr.. Griscom after the meeting stated
that Mr.. Taft had told him that he
would do nothing that would seem to
apply antagonism to Mr.. Roosevelt,
and Mr.. Griscom states further that
he was sure that the statements made
by Mr. Woodruff. Mr.. Barnes and the
others who led the movement for the
choice of Mr.. Sherman, that their ac-
tiOn had been sanctioned by Mr.. Taft,
was entirely without foundation. When
Mr.. Woodruff was told what Mr.. Girls
com had said the state chairman in
sinuated that Mr.. Griscom ought to be
enrolled as a member of the Ananas
club. He said that Mr.. Sherman with
whom he had a long talk the night be-
fore, had spoken with Mr.. Taft over
the telephone, as had also Mr.. Ward,
and that both had been assured by the
president that it would be announced
at the meeting that the selection of
Mr. Sherman had his approval
So far from Mr.. Taft sending any
such message to either of these men,
he sent a telegram to Mr.. Sherman in
sisting that before any action was
taken by the committee Mr.. Roosevelt
should be consulted with and that if
there was need reasonable conces-
sions should be made with the pro
gressives both with regard to platform
and candidates.
The letter from President Taft to
Mr.. Griscom does away altogether with
the wild stories which have been float
ing around TO the effect that there is
break between Mr.. Taft and Mr.
Roosevelt. AS this letter shows, the
president had nothing to do with the
turning down of Roosevelt by the state
committee and that it was in fact his
hope that there should be harmony at
the meeting. When the news of the re-
suit of the meeting reached the presi-
dent he was told that Mr. Roosevelt
was inclined to blame him for what oc-
Cured and Mr.. Taft was advised by
some of his closest friends to come out
with statement showing that so far
from doing anything which might split
the Republican party in this state, he
had on the contrary advised that moth |
ing should be done which would tend
to show that there was even a sem |
blance of a possibility of a break be
tween himself and the former presi |
dent. Mr.. Taft told friends that to do |
so would put him in the light of TAX
ing an active interest in the party af |
fairs of this state
Until about Friday or Saturday last |
Mr.. Taft intended to stick to this pol |
icy, but in response to suggestions |
made to him that if the idea should |
be allowed to continue that he was |
even indirectly responsible for the re- |
lection of Mr.. Roosevelt as temporary
chairman of the state convention the |
result would be that the Republican
party would be in an even worse con
dition when the campaign opened than
it is now.
1t was then that Mr.. Taft consented
to make it clear that he had never
raised so much as a finger to defeat
Mr.. Roosevelt for the temporary
chairmanship of the convention that
he had always been opposed to any
suggestion of a contest at the meeting
of the state committee against Mr.. |,
that he had made this plain
to Mr.. Sherman; that Mr. Sherman in
the presence of Representative Mich
olas Longworth had promised him that
nothing would be done with regard to
the selection or rejection of Mr.. Roose
welt until in the interest of harmony
Mr.. Roosevelt had been consulted Mr..
Taft in his letter to Mr.. Griscom states
that Mr.. Sherman agreed to this stip-
ulation, but. according to Mr.. Roose-
welt and Mr.. Griscom, the promise was
never carried out