Omaha daily bee., 1911-08-18
STEEL AND The PANIC OF OF
Theodore Roosevelt Writes Article on
Subject for Magazine.
ACTION NECESSARY AT THE TINE
Subsequent Control of Business
Through ore Property Does Not
AhsoIvc Company from Nio-
IntIon OF sherman Act.


NEW YORK. Aug. lex President
Roosevelt has an article on The steel
Corporation and the Panic OF 1907 in the
outlook appearing today. Mr. Roosevelt
discusses his recent appearance before
the congressional committee investigating
the steel Corporation, repeating the written
statement he then presented and dealing
with some Of the lines OF inquiry and his
responses. He says:
ION Saturday. August 5. in compliance
with the request OF the chairman Of the
congressional committee investigating the
absorption of the Tennessee Coal & Iron
company by the steel corporation. | APP
peared before that body. l had nothing
new to which to testify. There was not
a fact of the slightest Importance or Of
the slightest bearing upon my action which
was not already known, and which had
not been known from the time acted
and incidentally | may mention that this
is also true as regards Panama, the deal
ings Of my administration with the Sugar
Trust or any other trust. and as to any
other action of my administration. No
body need feet either concern or hope as
to whether anything done by my admins
tration will be discovered" for the ex-
celent reason that there is nothing that
was. hidden.
Did Not Inquire About Motives.
Il made to the committee the statement
which follows Several questions we're
then asked by different members OF the
committee. Most of these questions dealt
with matters not of sufficient moment to
warrant allusion to them here Many OF
them were as to what my belief was con-
corning the motives of the steel Corpora
ton people in acquiring the Tennessee Coal
a. Iron company's property; to which, OF
course, my answer was that II was not
my business, and neither was II In my
power to search the hidden domain OF mo-
tive, and that my action was conditioned,
not upon what | believed to be the mo-
tives actuating the Steel Corporation, but
upon my belief that the action which they
proposed taking would be enormously to
the benefit OF the community at large at
that particular moment Whether the chief
motive for their action was a desire to
absorb the Tennessee Coal & Iron com
pany, or whether their chief 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
thought possible. and now think possible.
What was the predominant motive was OF
no consequence. My concern was that the
action should be taken and the situation
saved to 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 apd in good faith, he will under
stand that II was not a question OF saving
any bank or trust company from failure;
the question was of saving the plain people,
the common people. in all parts of the
United States from fearful misery and SUI
fering; and this was what my action did.
Action Was Necessary.
"One OF the questions put to me indicated
disbelief, or, to be more accurate, perhaps,
l should say that 1t was meant to be under
stood as indicating disbelief, that the action
taken was really efficient In stopping the
panic. At the time, and for some months
after the panic had been stopped, no man
would have ventured to express such dis
belief unless prepared to be greeted with
derision by every human being who knew
anything whatever OF the actual facts The
question is not be be treated seriously, for
II cannot be so treated. The action taken
was. in my judgment, the only action that
could stop the panic, and II most certainly
was of enormous, and in all human prob
dDlity OF decisive, influence IN ACTUALLY
stopping II.
Certain other question related to the
alleged fact that during the last four years
the ore lands formerly owned by the Ten
nessee Coal and Iron company have been
developed until they are of such enormous
Importance as TO give to the steel corpora
ton nearly complete control of the steel
business, through control OF the sources
of the raw material. Whether or not this
is so has no bearing upon the action taken
four years ago The purchase as made
did not by itself, one way OF the other, sf-
feet the status OF the steel corporation so
far the Sherman law was concerned; and
this statement is not affected by consdera-
ton of what may not be a totally different
state of affairs four years later. ] dealt
with facts as they were not with facts as
they might or might not afterwards be-
come. I believe that this coyers every point
of any consequence raised In the questions
4 haA a..