The Idaho Springs siftings-news., 1910-09-17

npany- All RiKhtS Reserved
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 X Il
will turn to 1t and read the eighth and
ninth commandments, 1t will see that
bearing false witness IL condemned
as strongly as theft itself To take but
one instance out OF the many IN this
article. the Evening Post says: ut
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 wrete
to My Dear Sherman'-yes. the sams
Sherman-reviling the capitalist to
whom he had previously written. say.
ing: You and are practica; men. I"
Not only Is every important statement
in this sentence false. but the writer
who wrote 1t anew It was false. As
visited the White House openly. and
Mr.. Hartman among the others. l
took no money from Mr.. Hartman se.
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 had written TO Mr.. Har.
riman as follows: What I have to
say to you can be said to you ~ we'll
after election as before. but would
like to see you some time before I
write my message" I am quoting
without the letter before me. but the
quotation is substantially. II 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 II ID OF
course out OF the question that could
tell him equally we'll what I had to
say after election If It referred In any
possible way to getting money before
election This is so clear that any
positive of the basest dishonesty in
whoever wrote the article in question.
AS a matter OF fact. when Mr.. Harri-
man called 1t 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.
telyou is familiar with the facts. In
other words, the statement OF the Eve
ming Post is not only false and mall
cious, is not only in direct contradic-
ton of the facts. but is such that II
could only have been made by man
who. knowing the facts. deliberately
intended to pervert them. Such an
aet stands on a level of fnfamy 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.
I have seen only telegraphic alb.
stract of the article, apparently con-
tanning quotations from It. Practical
ly every statement maze IN tnese
quotations is falsehood.
To but one more shall I allude. The
article speaks of my having attacked
corporations, and, referring directly to
my Ohio speeches, Of my having
sought to inf1ame the mob and make
mischief" In those speeches the
crime stand I 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
10 put down disorder and to put down
mob violence, and that after such
action had been taken, then 1t was the
duty of Off cials to investigate the cor
poration. and if 1t had done wrong to
make it pay the penalty Of Its 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 1t should pervert the
truth in SO shameless a fashion.
THEODORE ROOSEVELT.
Cheyenne Wyo, August n, 1910.