The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1911-08-17
Colonel Roosevelt Goes Over His
Recent Testimony
Given Before the Steel Trust
Investigating Committee.
ACTED FOR PEOPLE
Did Not Consider the Motives the
Corporation Had
In Wanting to Buy Tennessee
Coal and Iron.

New York. Aug. 17.-Ex-President
Roosevelt has an article ION the steel
CORPORATION and the panic OF lSO1,
IN the outlook appearing today MI
roosevelt discusses his recent APP
pearance before the congressman
committee investigating the steel cor
poration repeating the written state
nnent he then presented and deahng
with some of the lines OF inquiry ana
his responses. He says;
ION Saturday, August 5th. in com
pliance with the request OF the cnar-
man of the congressionai com nm W. ~
investigating the absorption OF ne
Teunessee Coal & Iron company DS
a. steel CORPORATION, / appeared be-
FoTa that body. l had nothing new
81 which to testify. There was not
fact of the slightest importance OF u
a. siipbtest bearing upon my action
which was not already known anu
which had not been known from the
+ir,e acted; and, Incidentally, may
mention that this is also true as re
cards Panama. the deaHb Ss OF my au-
ministration with the sugar rust, y
anv other trust. and as to any other
ortion Of NV administration. Nobody
need feel either concern Ct nope as u
-,,bether ANYTHING done by my admin
tstratfon will be discovered, for the eA-
calIent reason that there is notnlhs
that was hidden. -. toto
q made to the commlIfee the s'0'0
rnent which follows.
Question OF Motive.
..e.o,-a~ai Questions were then asked
~ different members of the commit
fee Most of these questions dealt WIN
matter, rot of sufficient moment 10
warrant allusion to them here. Many
Of them were as to what ny pehei was
concerning the motives of the steer
Cornoration people in acquiring the
Tennessee Coal and Iron company
property: to which of course my an
sv,er was that it was not my pusl-
ness. and neither was 1t IN my power
10 search the hidden domain OF mo
+i,e and that my action was conan
.i,,,.d not mon what I believed to be
me motive actuatinE the steel corpor-
alton but upon my belief that the ac
+ion which they proposed taking would
be enormously to the beneiH OF Ine
community at large at that partlcuial
7nornent Whether the chief motive
for their action was desire 10 az
sorb the Tennessee Coal and Iron com
many or whether their chief motive was
Ia save the threatened New York hrm
from failure and thereby stop the
manic. was of no concern to me-
ssThat both motives were IN sneIL
mind 7 thought possible and now irtlr m
nossible What was the predomlhall
motive was of no consequence. MY
concern was that the action Should pc
taken and the situation saved IN ths
interests of the people or the OnlCeu
States Most individuals have snort
memories and the events III question
took place nearly four years ago; put
if any one will look back ana thlhk
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 failure; the ques-
ton was of saving the plain people, the
common people in all parts OF the
United States from dreadful misery
hi V4-1e
action did.
As to Efficiency of Action.
zone of the questions put to me in
Dictated disbelief. or to be more aecu-
rate. perhaps, I should say that 1t was
meant to be understood as indicating
disbelief. that the action taken was
really efficient in stopping the panic
At that 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 derision by every human
being who knew anything whatever of
the actual facts. The question is not
to 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 GER
tainly was of enormous and in all hu-
man probability of decisive effect in
stopping it.
the alleged fact that during the past
four years the ore lands formerly
owned by the Tennessee Coal & Iron
company have been developed until
they are of such enormous Importance
as to give the steel corporation 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
p s made did not by itself. one way or
the other. affect the status of the
steel corporation so far as the Sher-
man law was concerned and this state
ment is not affected by consideration
Of what may now be a totally different
state of affairs four years later"
Honduras Candidates Named.