The times and democrat. [volume] (Orangeburg, S.C.) 1881-current, 1911-11-30
BOUGHT TEDDY
PHILADELPHIA Banker Tells a Sensational
Story About Election.
STARTLING STATEMENT

Saws Roosevelt Made Corrupt Bar
gain With the Railroads and Big
Business for Their Support In His
Race for President of the United
States. .......
Wharton Barker, a. retired banker,
of Philadelphia, sprang a sensation
On the State committee on Inter-
State commerce Tuesday, when he
alleged that a New York financier
told him in 1904 that the financial
interests would support Theodore
Roosevelt for President, because
Roosevelt had "made bargain with
them on the railroad question"
Mr.. Barker's statement came in the
midst of a vigorous attack on the
Money Trust" in which he alleges
also that President Roosevelt had
been given the details of the impend-
ing panic Of 1907 several months be-
fore it happened, but took no action
to prevent it.
Mr.. Barker also declared that the
Aldrich currency plan was the handi-
work, not of former Senator Aldrich,
but OF Mr.. Warbu", of the banking
firm of Kuhn, Loeb &, Co., of New
York, and that q fund Of 100000
had been started to secure its adop-
ton.
"Three or four weeks before the
election in 1904" said Mr.. Barker,
Il was walking down Broadway when
I met one Of the most distinguished
money kings in New York, man now
dead. He said to me: we are going
10 elect Roosevelt I expressed sur
prise and asked if he had given up
the support of Parker. He said yes,
that they had frightened Roosevelt
so he had made a bargain with them.
"He is to holler all he wants to-,
he told me, but by and by railroad
bill will be brought in by recommen-
dation of the President, cutting off
rebates and free passes, which suits
US who own the railroads, perllttlng
the railroads to make pooling ar
rangements and providing for maxi
mum rates.
The railroad man added, said Mr..
Barker, that under the latter authori-
ty it would be possible to add from
$500, 100000 to $500, 100000 to the
total freight charges paid by the
American public.
81 told him l did not believe
Roosevelt had made any sucn agree
ment," said Mr.. Barker, "Dut when
the annual message of 1905 went to
Congress he recommended most OF
those things. I wrote to President
Roosevelt and told him what had
heard, and that l had thought the
man lied, but now / must believe he
had not. 1t was the only letter OF
mine Mr.. Roosevelt ever failed to
answer"
Members of the committee asked
Mr.. Barker to give the name Of the
financial man who had told him that
Roosevelt was to be elected.
81 cannot do it, said Mr.. Barker,
"but subsequently somebody was al
legged to have stolen some CORE
spondence between Mr.. Hartman and
the President, telling Of $3.50, 900 put
up for election expenses in the city
of New York"
Referring to the panic Of 1907, Mr.
Barker said a man who was present
at conference at ]. p. Morgan s
house IN May, came to him III Phila-
delDhia and wanted him to use his
influence with President Roosevelt to
stop a plan that had been mapped
out, he alleged, by the financial lead
ers. This man was a captain in the
Rough Riders, he said, and had used
his own influence with the President,
but without avail.
"The plan," said Mr. Barker, "coI'
templated the curtailment of loans,
the withdrawal Of credits, the putting
away of money by those Interested
where they could get it when they
needed it to stop the panic, and the
enforcement of the various State laws
regarding the holding Of cash re-
serves by the banks and trust COM
panies.'
Mr.. Barker said that In October,
when the financial upheaval reached
it's crisis, he urged President Roose-
velt to distribute the S145, 100000
of cash in the treasury among the
banks of Chicago, Philadelphia, Bos-
ton and other large cities.
"He wanted to do it," he said, but
he called in Mr.. Knox, Mr.. Cortelyou
and Mr.. Root, and instead OF deposit
ing in the outside cities, he plunged
the whole amount into Wall Street.
II broke the counry, but it saved the
gamblers"
The Philadelphia man, whose bank
ing house at one time was fiscal agent
| for the Russian Government, declared
that those who backed the Aldrich
monetary plan had been "propa'
ganda" in which it was proposed tc
spend 100000 to secure the en-
dorsement Of the proposed currency
legislation.
Yesterday a banker in Philadel-
phia started to collect that city's