The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-03-05
NEW DEVELOPMENTS IN BATTLE IN RANKS
 .OF THE REPUBLICANS
LaFollette Headquarters In- sinuates Wall Street Is
 Backing Roosevelt
WARM STATEMENT
 IS MADE PUBLIC
Roosevelt Said Last Year He Would Not Be Canddate-He Sees
 Nothing Contradictory in His Attitude at the Present


 Nothing Contradictory in His Attitude at the Present
 Washington, March 1.-The national La Toilette headquarters in Washington 1o- day gave out the following statement:
 Senator Joseph NJ Dixon of Montana, the new chairman of the Roosevelt ua- tional executive committed today took formal charge of the campaign of the former President forsrenomnatIon hy of- fcialy opening spacious headquarters n the Mupsey building in Washington This building Is owned by Frank A. Mnnsey. the well known publisher of Munseys magazine and owner of a string of news papers in eastern cities. He is the per- sonal and intimate friend of Georoge M. Perkins of New York, director and sor- merly. chairman of the finance committees of the International Harvester e6mpany. Mir Perkins is given credit by Walter l.. Houser, drector of Senator LaFolettss campaign h. being the good angel of the Roosevelt~ residential boom, which means that he isSshe campaign collector, as well as a substantial contributor to the Roosevelt campaign fund.
 Roosevelt "Well Heeled''
 That the Roosevelt committee. through the personal campaign contributions of such gentlemen as Messrs. Perkins and Munsey and their associates, IS well heeled either by financial contributions or the gratuis of the headquarters rent, | Is manifested by tis various activities. | Because of his close association with hr. | Perkins, who personally financed, in large | part, the beginning of the Roosevelt boom | for the presidency, MT. Munsey is now l part and parcel of the Roosevelt move ment and the location of the national Roosevelt headquarters in his fine building | in the national capital therefore becomes especially significant.
 | The enthusiasm with which the Roose- | welt boomers took possession of their new | headquarters today led one of them, in an l unguarded moment, to say that a iei,er | purporting to have been written by d head of the steel trust to it's employees ordering them to work for Taft was n l the possession of tbe Roosevelt managers, | and would he spruAg as an offset 10 the undenied charge of MT Houser that l men high in the councils of the United States Steel corporation and the Inter- national Harvester company were openly supporting MT. Roosevelt.
 Imply Letter Is Mythical
 "The remarkable fact about this alleged | letter Is that the only copy in existence, if 1t exists at all seems to be in the sole | posses s4on of MT. Roosevelt's campaign managers. Of their ability. by reason | of their intimate connection with MT. Per kins and others, to know what the United | States Steel corporation is doing or con- templates doing. to ask the charges made openly by MT, Houser, representing sen- | ator LaFollette, there can be no dispute. So far as Mir LaFollette's campaign man. | agers are concerned, they would have re- | malned in total ignorance of the frame 1 up had not one of Mir. Roosevelt's boomers | let his enthusiasm get the better Of his l judgment
 William B. Mckinley. director of the Taft headquarters, made an optimistic statement to newspaper men today, de- ! carinE President Taft's nomination and l election were certain.
 'I am thoroughly convinced of Mir. 1 Tafts success at the convention in June and at the polls in November he said. l our preliminary canvass of the country shows that the President is gaining con stantly in the confidence of the average citizen.
 "T am satisfied that MT. Taft will have more than two-thirds of the delegates to the Chicago convention. He has already l election"
 l Correspondence Given Out
 The Star today prints under a New York date what purports to be the full | text Of the letter written by Col Theodore Roosevelt, saying that he would not be a candidate for the presidential nomination this year. The letter ad dressed to Managing Editor Van Val kenburg of the Philadelphia North Ameri- | can reads:
 Van Valkenburg Letter June 27. 1911, 1 My Dear MT. Van NallSenburg: I am really obliged to you. Now will you 1 not give Mir McClatchy for me copy of this letter that I am writing to you. and also send a copy of the letter to MT. Frank B. Noyesy MT MeClatchy states that Mir Moves informed him anent the story sent out by the As- sociated Press that MT. Roosevelt had pledged himself to support MT. Taft l for a second term; that he (Mr. Noyes) had the same information from sources entirely independent of those from which the Associated Press received the story.
 MT. Moves stated that he understood that I did so express myself to a mem Der of the cabinet and also to in- surgent senator. and says that he be- lieyes that President Taft thinks that | he has assurances of support from me, Mir. Moves adds that he explains my denial on the theory that 1 had wound ed myself in changing my attitude and | felt 1t incumbent upon him to deny it. Will you tell MT. McClatchy and Mir. Moves from me--or send them copies of this letter-that Mir. Moves | is absolutely and completely misin- | formed: and that there is not one par ticle of truth in the statements made to him which he thus repeated to MT. McClatchy
 Talked to Meyer and StimsOn
 "The only two members of the cab linet to whom I have recently spoken are Messrs. Meyer and Stimson. The former wrote me and the latter in- formed me verbally what in each case IT knew already-that neither of them Ihad made any such statement to Mr. Taft--or to anyone else, and that both of them understood perfectly clear that II was not going to support any man for the nomination in 1912-neither Mir. Taft nor anyone else. The insurgent senator. of whom MT. Moves speaks. is as wholly mythical character as I.. .E..Ia F h.