The Marion daily mirror. (Marion, Ohio) 1892-1912, 1911-03-07
SECRETARY
BALL|NGER
Continued from Page one.

Stant action ana watching incident
to the close of short session. Then
I'll take 1t up and answer you al
length
On March 6, Ballinger addressed
letter to the president relterating
his request for immediate considera-
tion of his resignation.
Today the president wrote him as
follows:
Dear Mr. Secretary. accept
your resignation with great reluc-
tance. | have had the fullest oppor-
tunity to know you, to know your
standards of service to the govern
ment and the public. to know your
motives, to know how you have adj
ministered your office and to know
the motives of those who have as
sailed you. do not hesitate to say
that you have been the object of one
of the most INSCRIPTIONS conspiracies
Tor the defamation of character that
history can show | have deemed it
my duty not only to the government
but to society in general to fight out
this battle to the end, confident that
In the end your fellow citizens would
see that the impressions of you as a
man and as the administrator of a
high public office were false and
were the result of malicious and
unprincipled plan for the use of the
press to misrepresent you and your
actions, and to torture every circum-
stance, however free from detrimental
significance into proof Of corrupt mo-
tive.
with the hypocritical pretense
that they did not accuse you of cor
ruption in order to avoid the neces-
slty. that even the worst criminal is
entitled to, to-wit: That of a definite
ly formulated charge of some miscon-
duct, they showered you with sus-
picion and by the most pettifogging
methods. exploited to the public mat
ters which had no relevancy to an
issue of either corruption or eff
cheney in office, but which paraded
before an hysterical body of headline
readers, served TO blacken your char
acter and to obscure ti,e proper issue
of your honesty and effectiveness as
a public servant.
! The result has been a cruel trag.
edy. You and yours have lost health
and have been burdened financially
The conspirators who have not hest.
tated in their pursuit of you to re-
sort to the meanest of methods, in
cluding the corruption of your mos
| confidential assistant plume them
selves like the Pharisees of old, a.
the only pure member of society. ac
| tuated by the spirit of self-sacrific,
for their fellow men.
Every fibre of my nature rebels
against such hypocrisy and nerves m'
to fight such a combination and sucf
| methods to the bitter end. lest sue
cess in this instance may form a de;
moralizing precedent. But persona
| consideration for YOU and yours
| makes me feel that l have no righ
to ask you for further sacrifices. o
course. IL has been made evident tha
| was and am the ultimate object O.
the attack; and TO insist against youi
will. on your remaining in office. with
the prospect of further efforts against
you Is selnshly 10 impose on you more
of q burden than | ought TO impose
"As | say farewell to you, let me
renew my expressions of affection an6
sincerest respect for you, and of my
profound gratitude for your hard
work. your unvarying loyalty, and
your effective public service. | hope
and pray that success may attend you
In your profession, and that real hap.
piness will come to you and yours
| when you return to that community
where you live and where members
know your worth as a man and u
citizen, and who will receive you
again with open arms.
sincerely yours.
(Signed) william II. Taft"
Ballingers letter to the president
dated January 10. was as follows:
my dear Mr.. President: have
thought over the talk we had last Sat-
urday. / am exceedingly grateful for
your kind expressions appreciation
for my work and they centainly COM
'pensate me in the largest measure for
what | have suffered.
"Your attitude throughout has been
a great source of comfort to me. and
you'll feel that the condition of health
Is such that ! must ask to be relieved
from office. 1 therefore, again tender
my resignation and ask you 10 accept
1T.
81 should be untrue to all my i'm
pulses If / did not seize the occasion
TO say that / have, at all times, striv-
EN- conscientiously to meet the obllga-
tions imposed upon me, and to serve
you the administration and the coun-
try to the best of my ability l am
deeply sensible of the unfailing con-
fidence that you have imposed in me,
under circumstances which have nee
essarily been trying to you. and the
support and respect whic hyou have