Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1912-03-07
Issues Statement Giving His
Version of Affairs.
The VANVAtK ENBURGH LETTER
Defines His Attitude as to His CandE
dacy for Presidential Office and
Reiterates Things He Has
Said Before.

Oyster Bay, ~ Y, March 5.-Col-
onel Roosevelt decided to explain his
letter, written to Mr.. Van Valken-
burgh, excerpts Of which were pub
lished yesterday, which contained the
statement that he had assured Secre-
tary of War Stimson and Secretary OF
the Navy Meyer that he would not be
a candidate in 1912.
The colonel made his statement
after being told that the full text of
the letter was to be printed in the
afternoon papers in New York.
AS he dictated the statement in ex-
PLANTATION of the circumstances which
led him to write to Mr. Van Valken-
Lurgh, Colonel Roosevelt paced up and
down at his library at Sycamore Hill,
sitting down at times when the
phrases came easily and beginning
his tramp again as he sought for a
telling expression to emphasize his pc
sition.
He said it was perfectly true that
he had said that he would not be a
candidate in 1912 but that he had not
asserted tfat he would not accept the
nomination if it was offered to him.
He made it clear that he saw nothing
in his letter to Van Valkenburgh to
conflict with his recent statement that
he would accept the nomination If
rendered to him.
The statement concerning his rea-
sons for writing to Mr.. Van Valken-
bursh is as follows:
"To all who were at that time writ.
ing me if I was a candidate, an.
swered that I was not. To all who
then asked me If l would accept ii
nominated, I answered yes
eff knew them sufficiently well ia
be sure they would absolutely under
stand me, answered that I would &C
cept, If nominated Otherwise I sim
ply told them I would not cross that
bridge until | came to it.
I'm most cases, if my correspondents
were close personal friends, I told
them that | counted upon them doing
everything possible toward preventins
any movement looking toward my
nomination
at was not until within the last
three or four months that was finally
obliged to come to the conclusion that
there was a real demand among the
people as a whole for my nomination
which did not come In any way from
any friends of mine and was neither
inspired nor engineered by them
When I became convinced that this
country's demand was real and was
considerable, and when the govern
ors of seven states Increased by this
time to ten, may mention incidental
! ly), asked me if I would accept il
nominated, I answered yes
81 added an expression of my wish
that wherever possible, presidential
preference primaries might be held
so as to find out whom the Republic
an voters wished to have nominated.
IF the people do not wish me to
serve, most certainly do not wish to
serve. If they do desire me to under
take. in their interest, great task,
| shall certainly do so, and shall per-
form it with whatever courage and
ability | possess.
Whether there will be such an ex.
preston Of popular will I cannot say
as where there are no presidential
preference primaries, it unfortunately
seems too often to be the case that
the efforts of the political leaders are
not to give expression to the popular
WILL but to thwart it in every way
possible"