The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-03-06
Made Public to Clear U Conflicting Statements
 About Nomination
1 GIVES REASONS FOR
 KEEPING SILENT
His Creed Is Not Seeking Personal Benefits But Only Those for the People, He Said.
 Scores the Press

 dental nomination cot Theodore Roose- velt made public a letter which hs wrote last January to Frank A. Mun sey, publisher.
 Colonel Roosevelts object in giving out the communication he said was b refute the charge that he was break ing a promise in agreeing 10 accept ti1a nomination if 1t were offered to the edi- tor. He called attention To the pas sage in the letter which stated he would not he a candidate. lie declared that he would not go on record as be- ing unwilling to accept the nomination.
 Letter to Munsey
 The letter 10 Mr. Munsey. which Cel- one Roosevelt gave out. reads:
 January 16. 1912.
 My Dear Munsey: l have received your long and cordial letter, together with the editorial. Permit me in the first place to thank you very warmly for the editorial. If seems to me hat in the editorial you have stated the case exactly: so exactly. my dear Mr. Nun sey, that to my mind fl in itself fur nishes the answer 10 the request you make that I should openly announces that if nominated, l would not refuse the nomination.
 Your great kindness and the dis.a- terested friendlines of Your action ea- title you to receive rom me in full A statement of the reasons why l do not feel that at the prcsen. time. II Would be wise or proper for me To make any such statement What the needs of the future may demand l cannot tell
 Silence Misleading
 You say that my keeping silence leads to misconstruetion and gives op- portunty for my enemies To make every kind Of false statement about me and to create in the minds of the people u false impression of me, some good peo- pie being led by my silence Into tho belief that it is useless 10 try 10 nom mate me because l would certainly re- fuse, and others being misled into tha Ibeltef thaf am nndefhandettis antefssaz ing for what 1 daro not ask so that the impression of the public fs detri= mental to me
 My dear sir. I entirely agree win you that my silence Is deliberately mis- represented by my enemies with the pur- pose of deceiving good people and get ting them to take q wrong Niew, and, moreover l entirely agree with you that this purpose is a, least at present achieved. The trouble is that, HIS SD often happens, this is case where any course pursued would result In just such misrepresentation, just such mis- judgment just such puzzling of inc
 
 l think that any other course than the one l am adopting would at present lead to even more misrepresentation and misjudgement than actually exists.
 Glad to Be Frank
 "As have again and again said am delighted to state my position fully and frankly. not only to any sincere and honest supporter, but 10 any sincere and honest opponent What I have said 10 you and am about to say to you, I have. for instance, said not only to other friends who say l ought to be nominated: but to friends (and even foes) who think 1 ought not to be nominated. provided only could trust their sincerity, intelligence and truthfulness. For instance, l have said the same things To Secretary Stim- son. Secretary Never and Congressman Longworth who are supporting Taft to Mir. Pinchot and Congressman Lem root and Kent, who are supporting La Toilette. | have said them to editors, like MT. Nelson. MT. VanNalkenhnrg and MT. Wright practically said them to the entire Aldne club--democrats re- publcans. everyone.
 "G am not and shall not be cand- date. l shall not seek the nomination or would accept 1t if fl would como to me as the result of an intrigue. But will not tie my hands by a statement which would make 1t difficult or impos- Sible Tor me 10 serve the plDllG Dy un- dertaking a great task if the people as whole seemed definitely 10 come to the conclusion that I ought to do that task. In other words. far as in me lies [ am endeavorlng to look at this matter purely from the standpoint of the public interest or the interest Of the people as a whole and not in the least from my own standpoint.
 Personally Reluctant
 "If l should consult only my own pleas ure and interest l should most emphat- icaly and immediately announce that I would under no circumstances run. have had all the honor that any man can have from holding the office of Pres dent. From every personal standpoint there is nothing for me to gain either in running for the office or holding the of flee once more. and there is much to lose.
 "Irnder such circumstances, if I con- suited only my own interest the obvious thing to do would be to announce that would not obey any public mandate: that should not run If nominated But shall not follow this couse. as [ am sincerely looking at the matter from the standpoint of the peoples interests. It is only necessary for the people to have the right instrument, the right tool with which 10 work in any given emergency but it Is necessary that they themselves shall choose and shall believe in the suf- ficiency of that instrument If at this particular crisis. with the particular problems ahead of us at this particular time, the people feel that I am the one man in sight to do the job, then I should regard myself as shirking a plain duty if refused to do 1t.
 His Creed
 What I am interested in, remember. is not in the least holding the office. but doing job that Is actually worth doing: this is the position that 10 the best of my belief l have always taken and always shall take. If the people should feel that was the instrument to be used at this time, I should accept even although I kr ow that I should be broken and cast aside in the using The right motto for any man is Spend and be spent" and If in order to do job worth doing from the public standpoint he must pay with his own life actual life on the field of bat tle or political life in civic affairs, he must not grudge the payment. In short. | am not concerned with the welfare of .~~-~~~~~~~~S~~~~~~>
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