Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1912-10-18

the facts thus far brought to light have
little or no bearing on the present cam
paign, they continue to accord to the
investigation the tribute of head lines
and the front page. 1.-The committee
may make lot of campaign thunder,
but nobody will be seriously hurt"
predicts the Washington Post, an indie
pendent journal which is supporting
President Taft.
Among the facts brought out at the
first days hearing were the amounts of
the Republican campaign funds of 1892,
1896, 1900, and 1904, which were re-
spectively 81, 600, 600, So, 500, 900, SO, 000,-
900, and So, O88, 900. These figures were
supplied by Cornelius N. Bliss, jr.,
whose father was treasurer of the
Republican National Campaign Com
mittee in 1904. Mr.. Bliss submitted
letter in which his father expressed the
conviction that 1.-THE right to refuse to
make public these contributions is as
sacred as the right of man to cast
secret ballot in the election.
On the following day George R.
Sheldon, who in 1908 succeeded Cor
nelius N. Bliss as treasurer, testified
that the records of 1904 showed contri-
buttons to Colonel Roosevelts campaign
of 500, 600 each from ]. P. Morgan,
H. c. Frick. John D. Archbold and
George j. Gould. Asked what per-
centage of the entire campaign fund
was contributed by corporations, Mr..
Sheldon answered.: ITO be frank, 73 1-2
per cent" He corroborated the Col
onel's statement that the S240, 600 raised
by E. H. Hartman in 1904 was used
solely in the New York State campaign,
and did not figure in the national cam
paign fund. A number of letters which
passed between Colonel Roosevelt while
President and E. H. Hartman were
submitted by Mr.. Tegethoff, who was
Mr.. Harriman's private secretary.
These letters, which cover a period of
about five years, beginning in 1901,
show that during that time the Colonel's
relations were fairly cordial with the
man he denounced in 1907 as an "unde-
sirable citizen"
Special interest attaches to the testi-
mony of j. P. Morgan, who told the
committee that his firm contributed not
500, 900 but $3.50, 900, to the Roosevelt
campaign fund of 1904. To the Nc
Kinley campaign of 1900, he said, he
had given 100000, and to the Taft
campaign of 1908, $4,000. In the
course of his testimony he said that his
contributions were made "for the good
of the country" and with no expecta-
ton of anything in return.
"There is one statement that | would
like to make. | want it distinctly
understood that j. P. Morgan & Com
pany never made a single subscription
to any election with any promise or
expectation of anything or return in
any way, shape, or manner, and we
never made it without we deemed it
advantageous for the Government and
the people. We never had a commu-
nication from any candidate. We never
had an application from any candidate
for money, and anything that we did
or that was done under my suggestion
and we were all in harmony-was that
it was necessary for the good of the
country and the business of the people,
and it was done, and there was never a
commitment of any expectation of any
return, and we never got any return,
either, from anybody, if | may be
allowed
On Friday Colonel Roosevelt himself
took the stand. He stated that he had
had no knowledge of the Morgan and
Gould contributions until he read Mr..
Sheldon's recent testimony before the
committee. He insisted that he had
assurances that the Archbold contribu-
ton, if made, was returned. At the
end of the morning hearing he sum-
married. his own testimony as follows:
dohcd iiO man " W Tic
campaign fund when | was elected
President of the United States, and |
wish to reiterate that Mr. Bliss and Mr..
Cortelyou both assured me that no
promise had been made as return for
any contribution. Neither they nor any
one else having authority asked me to
act or refrain from acting in any mat
ter while | was President because any
contribution had been made or withheld.
Gentlemen, could put it more sweep
ingly?"
In regard to the much-discussed Har-
riman fund, the Colonel pointed out that
at the time the contribution was made
there was no doubt about the national
ticket carrying New York, but that the
State ticket was in difficulties,