Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1911-08-15
ROOSEVELT STAND
FORMER PRESIDENT DEFENDS
HIMSELF BEFORE STEEL ln-
VESTIGATING COMMITTEE.
STOPPED PANIC, HE DECLARES
ssserts His Approval of Tennessee
Iron Merger by Trust Averted Dis
aster - Tells of Gary-Frick
Conference.

New York.-Col. Theodore Roose-
Felt took the witness stand in the
congressional inquiry into the United
States Steel corporation to tell what
ne knew regarding the absorption of
the Tennessee Coal and Iron company
by the Steel corporation during the
panic of 1907.
Mr.. Roosevelt's intention to appear
had been kept secret, but few mo-
ments before his arrival police Off
GERS were stationed in the aldermanic
chamber and at its approaches.
Mr.. Chairman, | wrote out the
statement l should like to make" said
the former president, after Mr.. Stan
ley had asked him to explain what
knowledge he had of the Tennessee
Coal and Iron absorption by the
United States Steel corporation. Il
would like to read the statement"
You may read it," said the chair
man, certainly, just as you choose. -
Mr.. Roosevelt then began reading,
introducing his subject with 9 de.
scrlption of the financial panic condi.
lions in the fall of 1907.
1T was the utmost duty of the ad.
mlnlstration," he read, Ito prevent by
all means the spread of the panic
before 1t became a disaster"
The secretary of the treasury and
me- Mr.. Roosevelt said, were constant
~ IN touch with the situation. Dur
Ing that time hn ha4 fuyC
members Of the United States Steel
corporation wished to see him in the
morning. At breakfast the next day
he was informed that E. H. Gary and
II. q. Frick were waiting to see him.
Mr. Bonaparte, then attorney general
ne continued, had not yet arrived from
baltimore
sent a note to Secretary Root to
come over" the former president
read, and he arrived at the White
House."
The conference was brief, Mr..
Roosevelt explained, and later he
wrote note to Mr.. Bonaparte stating
all the facts of the conference.
Mr.. Roosevelt went on, going into
details about the serious financial
conditions in New York, and told how
he had taken the responsibility to
permit the transfer of the steel
company, and did it on his own initia-
tive.
1t was necessary Tor me to act at
once" said the former president, be
fore the stock exchange opened, or
the transaction might prove useless. q"
He said he was convinced that &C.
quirement by the steel corporation of
the Tennessee Coal and Iron company
did not change the legal status of the
corporation.
Furthermore, l believed it would
be for the public good" continued Mr..
Roosevelt. Il answered Messrs. Gary
and Prick that if matters were in such
a state did not want to stand IN the
way, and the results proved that the
act was a good one. because the pan
ic was stopped
IF had not acted at once In that
extraordinary crisis l should have
been mere title, and would have
proved an unworthy public officer, il
l had not done as l did. Every step
| took was as open as the day"
Then Mr.. Roosevelt launched into a
general discussion with Chairman
Stanley of the general trust question
saying that the United States had
something to learn from Germany.
Colonel Roosevelt, on finishing his
testimony received the thanks oil
the committee and expressed his sat
isfaction that as "a plain American
citizen" he had been able to assist he
committee.