The Washington times., 1912-04-25

the final adoption OF this policy be mad
public"
in another portion of the letter Con
missioner smith reported Mr.. Perkin
az having said sttbstantiellV that til
STANDARD oil people in New. York weT
giving him the laugh for having though
hc was trying 10 be good and kee
solid with the Administration, and tha
he was now going to get the same dos
ss the others"
Roosevelt to Bonaparte.
Mr. Roosevets letter to the Attorne
General follows.
oyster Bay, N. Y,
Aug. 20, 1907,
My Dear Mr.. Attorney General
Mr.. George w. Perkins, of the
International Harvester Company,
has just called upon me and submit
ted to me certain papers, of which i
enclose copies. According to these
papers and Mr.. Perkins' statement 1t
would appear that the Harvester
Company has repeatedly on Its own
initiative asked that its business be
Investigated by. the Department Of
Commerce and Labor through the
Commissioner OF Corporations; that
three years ago the Interstate Com
nIerce Commission decided that It
stantially to rebates: that Mr., Moody,
the then Attorney General, was
about to take action on this report.
but the Harvester Company at once
promised to rectify the practices and
see that nothing contrary to the rul-
ing of the commission was again
done. This was satisfactory to the
Attorney General and the suit was
dropped. =. 4
The Harvester company, says it is
in position to prove that 1t has lived
up to this agreement made In May,
1904. The Harvester company ad-
vances this as a proof that II any
illegal action is pointed out II will
itself rectify the matter on its being
pointed out 1t further appears that
got the Senate to pass a resolution
directing the Department OF Com
merce and Labor to make an early
investigation into the character and
operation and its effect upon inter-
state commerce of the international
January. last. Messrs. Garfield and
Smith met various representatives
of the Harvester company In New
York and conclusion. was reached
that the department would begin the
examination as speedily as possible:
publicly in the press. On March l.
Commissioner Smith notified the
Harvester company that the In
quiry would be into the corporation
value of its property. securities and
the general management of It's busi-
ness. 1t appears by is letter of
August 8, that Commissioner Smith
had begun the investigation. but has
not made such progress with i as he
would like to on account or being
crowded with work.
Mr.. Perkins request to me Is that,
before the company be exposed to
the certain loss and damage that the
mere institution of a suit would en-
tail, this investigation by Mr.. Smith,
as required by the Senate resolu-
ton, should be carried to. compile
ton. He explicitly stated TO me
that there would be no intention to
plead the examination by the De-
partment Of Commerce and Labor as
comforting any immunity from pro-
ceedings by the Department or JUS
tice. VIII you see Mr.. Perkins and
Commissioner Smith. go over the
matter in full, and report to me
thereon?
Please do not file the suit until I
hear from your. Sincerely yours:
THEODORE ROOSEVELT.
Hon. Charles J. Bonaparte. Attor-
OK, Mass. Unclosureso
Position Outlined.
Commissioner Smith wrote the Presi
lent that Mr.. Perkins outlined the posi-
ION of the Harvester Company as hav
ng committed no violation of law o
which It knew, and only wished tina
he Investigation then urfder way by th
Department of Commerce and Labor b.
continued. The company was willinl
@ stand prosecution II found In viola
ion of any statutes. he said.
The commissioner wrote TO the Presi
dent, in part, as follows:
edge I am satisfied tSat the facts ar
Ds stated by the company, with tn
single exception that I do not hav
definite knowledge as to the nature o
the case now in the hands OF the De
partment of Justice: but from the ex
inclined to believe that It IL as MI
Perkins stated, a purely technical lega
question.
As to the principle of fair dealing ar,
good policy involved, I also concur EN-
phatically with the attitude Of the com
pany. It is certainly true that this com
pany has been most open with the bu
-eau.
Furthermore the attitle of the Nor
gan interests generally, which contro
his company. has been one OF actiV
In the investigation o
the steel industry the United State
Steel Corporation has already spen
thousands of dollars in compiling 70
the bureau the most complete and int!
mate information as to the business
and its officers have gone to immens
trouble and loss OF time to facilitate Il
every way our work.
In ny interview of August "a wit
Mr.. Perkins. he set forth a number o
which seems to me O
great weight. He stated that his com
oany had endeavored to obey the lay
n every respect, and had carefully pu
tself in line with the policy of the Ad
that the interests that h
including not only the In
ernational Harvester Company, bu
llso the farreaChing Morgan interest
had originally favored tn
creation OF the Bureau of Cooperation
md the policy of the President whic
hat bureau represents, and that bot
n their attitude toward the bureau an
ntheir conduct and management Q
heir various concerns. including tn
United States Steel Corporation, the
lad adopted a similar policy of frank
less and publicity: that SO far as the
we're aware they had not been guilt
IF any violations of the law certainl
hone involving a moral consideration
hat, as he phrased it, he was bein
aughed at in New York by the Stand
lrd Oilpeople. who were saying that il
lad tried to be good and keep solid wit