The daily telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1901-1926, 1911-08-17
On What He Told the Prob
ing Committee on the
Steel Corporation
APPEARS IN OUTLOOK
Ex.PresIdent Adds Some
Very Pointed Remarks to
His Original Statement.


Ident Roosevelt has an article on
esThs steel Corporation and the
panic OF 1907 in the Outlook APP
Lpearfng to-day Mr.. Roosevelt dis
eusses his recent appearance before
che congressional committee fnvestt-
eating the Steel Corporation. re-
lpeatfnz the written statement he
then presented and dealing with the
lines OF inquiry and his response.
it4e says:
'On Saturday, August 5, in com
piiance with the request of the
chairman of the congressional COM
mittee investigating the absorption
OF the Tennessee Coal and Iron
Company by the Steel Corporation,
d appeared before that body. 1 had
nothing new to which to testify.
There was not fact of the slightest
Importance or of the slightest bear
ing upon my action which was not
already known, and which had not
been from the time I acted; and in
!cidentally 1 may mention that this
is also true as regards Panama, the
dealings of my administration with
the sugar trust or any other trust,
and as to any other action Of my adj
ministration. Nobody need feel
either concern or hope as to whether
anything done by my administra-
ton will be discovered for the ex>
cellent reason that there is nothing
hidden.
II made to the committee the
statement which follows. Several
questions were then asked by diff
ferent members OF the committees,
Most of these questions dealt with
matters not of SUFFICIENT moment to
warrant alIusion to them here.
Many of them were as to what my
belief was concerning the motives Of
the Steel Corporation people in ac-
quiring the Tennessee Coal and Iron
Company's propNrty; to which Of
course, my answer was that 1t was
not my business, and neither was III
in my power. to search the hidden
domain of motive, and that my &C
ton was conditioned, not upon what
I believed to be the motives actu-
ating the steel Corporation, but
upon my belief that the action which
they proposed taking would bel
enormously to the benefit OF the
community at large at that particu-
lar moment whether the chief mo-
tive for their action was desire to-
absorb the Tennessee Coal and Iron
Company, or whether their chtef
motive was to save the threatened
New york firm from failure, and
thereby stop the panic. was of no
concern to me.
.'That both motives were in their
minds 1 thought possible, and now
think possible. What was the pre-
dominant motive was of no conse-
uuence. Ny concern was that the
action should be taken and the sit
uation saved in the interests OF the
people of the United States Most
individuals have short memories
and the events in question took
place nearly four years ago; but II
any one will look back and think the
matter over seriously and in good
faith, he will understand that 1t was
not a question of saving any bank or
trust company from failures; the
question was OF SdNlhS .Gho P
people, the common people, in all
parts of the United States from
dreadful misery and suffering, ana
this was what my action did.
lone of the questions put to me
indicated disbelief, or, to be more
accurate, perhaps i should say that
it was meant to be understood as in
dicattng disbelief, that the action
taken was really efficient in stop
ping the panic. At the Time and
for some months after the panic had
been stopped, no man would have
ventured to express such disbelief
unless prepared to be greeted with
derislon by every human being who
knew anything whatever OF theI
actual facts. The question Is not tol
be treated seriously, for it can not
be so treated. The action taken
was, in my judgment, the only
action that could stop the panic
and it most certainly was of enor-
nous, and in all human probability
of decisive influence in actually stop
ping 1t.
Certain other questions related
to the alleged fact that during the
last four years the ore lands for
CONTINUED on page Ska