The Washington times., 1911-08-08
ANGERED
BY STATEMENTS Of
CHAIRMAN STANLEY
Political Contributions Are
Drawn Into the Inquiry
Today.
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CONTINUED from First Page.)
were frequently receiving requests of a
similar character from many sources,
was the gist of the explanation.
You were in the chair, as chairman
of the executive committee at that ur'c,
were you not?"
Yes" admitted Perkins. ''Oh. / re-
member this in a general way; no de-
tails
Perkins admitted that the two law
yers who furnished the opinion were
of excellent standing. Then came the
sensation.
Perkins faltered, spluttered, and
finally answered:
Il do not doubt that they did"
S'Did you contribute out of the funds
of the Steel Corporation for the pub
lication of documents for a political
the operations Of the company"
Perkins could not remember.
Schwank Letter.
Chairman Stanley produced a letter
dated Philadelphia, January u. 1911
from James NJ. Schwank. secretary OF
the American Iron and Steel Associa
ton, asking for money to finance the
publication of an edition of Protection
and Prosperity" by George B. Curtiss
of Binghamton, n. Y. a high tariff
volume. The letter read in part:
Mr.. Curtiss called to urge DIR asso-
citation to assist him in publishing a
second edition of his book-this time In
two volumes. He said, which I. myself
Glso firmly believe, that our protective
policy, upon which the whole prosperity
of the country rests. Is in darger OF
going down TO defeat If extraordinary
efforts are not now made to educate the
people to sustain 1t, and particularly
the leaders OF the Republican party
This can be done only through the lib
erll Use o. printers ink, the lack OF
which liberal use in recent years is one
leading cause OF the demoralized state
OF the public mind today on the tariff
question, another cause being the evil
influence of men who have been elected
or appointed to high office as protec-
tionists. but who are at heart free
traders, so far as free trade is possible
in this country.
Payment Not Guaranteed.
I'm my interview with Mr.. Curtiss III
November l frankly told him that ]
could not guarantee the payment of the
5000 that would be necessary to publish
the 1900 copies of his book-that we had
no fund that we could draw upon for
this purpose. The history of this asso-
citation from the beginning has always
embraced the care of our tariff inter
ests. For many years we compiled and
printed tracts which were systema atically
distributed in all the States that were
doubtful on the tariff question. We en-
the preparation OF text books
dealing with the doctrine of protection.
and have paid for their publics tion-by
books by Henry C. Carey, Judge Kel-
ley. DR.. William Elder. Prof. Van
Buren Denslow. Prof. R. L. Thomp-
son, David H. Mason, Giles B. Steb-
bins. and Gov. Henry NJ. Hoyt
These books We placed IN libraries
and sent to Congress. or course, all
the work l have mentioned cost many
conjunction, with that done by other
trade organizations, has kept our pro-
tect!ve policy practically unharmed 10
the present time. We had in cur asso-
citation for many years what was called
a tariff fund. We have had no such
fund for a number of years; else ]
would not have brought to your atten.
ton the special work done for me by
Speaker Reed and the needs Of the
Home Market Club.
Approaching Issue.
"A protective tariff or a virtual free.
trade tariff is the issue to be settled ir
1912. l suppose II is useless to take AM
steps TO prevent the present Tarir
Board from being made a permanent
tariff commission, but we do not want
its recommendations or conclusion:
looking toward free trade to be ap
proved by Congress or to be embodied
in the Republican national platform II
1912. I mention this partly because ir
thirty-eight years spent in this office
have many times witnessed the disas
trous effects upon the iron trade of low
duties, or the efforts OF our enemies tc
enact them.
what would like to have you do 4.
TO ask your finance committee to ap,
prove a contribution of 1900 toward the
publication Of Mr.. Curtiss' two volumes
II the committee will do this, I will ask
the following companies to contribute
81. .OO0 each: Republic, Pennsylvania
Iackawanna, Jones & Laughlin, and
Cambria, making altogether 5000. This
Is 81, 900 more than the S,OO mentioned
but the packing, eXpressage, and other
charges on 5000 sets Of two volumes
each would cost a large sum, all to be
accounted for, of course. All checks to
Mr.. Curtiss when the books are ready
for distribution"
Never Saw Letter.
Perkins declared he never saw the
Schwank letter and that he remem-
bered nothing about 1t.
'I never knew of this request"
he declared.
Thereupon, Stanley pulled out the
damning record.
Here is a record Of the meeting
of the fianance committe at which
this letter was referred to the chair
man with powers Was that money
ever paid?" demanded Stanley.
"I don't know. II 1t was 1t was
charged TO the welfare fund We
do a good deal of welfare work
This publication was for a widespread
educational purpose and might prop.
erly be so charged"
The chairman said the records
showed that the payment of $4,000
had been made.