The Washington herald., 1912-03-05
MEYER PROMISED
TO SUPPORT TAFT
con,lalea from Page one.

II
contIaued from Page one.
story sent out by the Associated Press.
that Mr.. Roosevelt had pledged himself
to support Mr. Taft for a second term
that he (Afr. Noyes) had the same in
! formation from sources entirely inde-
pendent OF those from which the Asso-
ciated Press received the story. Mr..
Noyes states that he understood that I
cid so express himself to a member of the
tor. and says that he believes that Presi-
dent Taft thinks that he has assurances
Of support from me. Mr.. Moves adds
that he explains my denial on theory
| that l had explained my attitude conf
dentialy, and felt entitled 70 deny II
when IL was given publicity.
"W.lI you tell Mr.. McClatchy and Mr..
Noyes for me Tor send them copies Of
this letter. that Mr.. Moves is absolutely
and completely mislnformed. and that
there is not one particle OF truth In the
statements made to him which he thus
repeated TO MIR. NcClatehy? The only
two members OF the Cabinet TO whom
/ have recently spoken are Messrs.
Meyer and Stimsou. The former wrote
me and the latter Informed me verbally
what in each case I know already, that
neither of them had made any such
statement TO Mr.. Taft, or TO any one
else. and that both of them understood
perfectly clearly that / was not going
to support any man for the noupination
in 1872, neither Mr.. Taft nor any one
else.
No Assurances to Anybody.
"The insurgent Senator of whom Mr..
Noyes speaks Is as wholly mythical n
character as the -abinet minister Of
whom he speaks. He cannot give the
name OF that insurgent Senator. OF find
it out, for he will find that his informant
will not give IL. I made no such state
ment to any insurgent Senator. or 70
any Cabinet minister. or to any other
human being. The simple fact Is that
these stories are not misunderstanding;
they are deliberate inventions.
Mr.. Noyes Is entirely in error in stat
ing that President Taft thinks he had
assurances OF support from me- Mr..
Taft thinks nothing of the kind. He
knows --e has no assurances of support
from me, and neither Mr.. Noyes hor
any one else has one least little particle
OF ground for the opinion thus expressed.
at first thought that the story In
question was given out from the White
House, but / am now assured that II
WAS gotten up and given out by the
Associated Press representatives at the
White House, and from Mr.. Noyes'
state -cnt should gather that this was
true.
- Deliberate Invention"
Il wish Mr.. Noyes, as president OF the
Associated Press. to know :hat the story
was not misunderstanding. was not
based upon misinformation. but was a
deliberate invention. made out OF whole
cloth, without one particle of a basis be-
yond the imagination OF the man who
made II. / have expressed myself per-
fectly freely 10 n large number OF men
In this matter, always to the same ef-
feet. telling you. for instance. personally.
at my house. and telling Clifford Pinchot,
Jim Garfield. and Congressman Madison,
and Billy Loeb. and Secretary Meyer
and Secretary Stimson. all alike. Just
exactly what j have said always, that I
would not be candidate In 1872 myself.
Gnd that l had no intention of taking
any part In the nomination for or against
any candidate. Sincerely yours
THEODORE ROOSEVELT"
Col. RoOseVeIt's Statement.
Col Roosevelt dictated a bristling
statement tonight to explain the above
letter, in which he declared he had no
intention Of becoming a candidate for the
Presidential nomination. The ex-PresI-
dent said that political circumstances
led him TO write to Van Valkenburg."
His statement follows:
AT that time persistent efforts had
been made from Washington 10 convince
the progressives that ! was really sup
porting Mr.. Taft. On this particular oc-
casion the statement was made with the
greatest eXplicitness. l promptly denied
the statement, and was then assured on
the one hand that II had been inspired
from the White House. and assured on
the other hand that II had not been. but.
the Initiative OF the Associated Press.
The Associated Press people assured me
that they were not responsible for the
false statements. and as Il will be seen
by reference to the letter itself, Mr..
Moves was quoted as having got the in
formation from Independent sources.
do not know who gave out this letter,
but / am certain that It was not Mr..
Van Valkenberg, for / know him to be
an honorable man.
Made His Position Plain.
ITO all who were at that time writing |
to me to ask me to be a candidate
answered that would not be. To all |
who then asked whether 1 would accept |
II nominated 1 answered yes, il 1 knew |
them sufficiently well TO be sure that |
they would understand me. Otherwise !
l said simply that / would cross that |
bridge when ] came TO il, and in most |
cases IL the man were at all a close per- |
sonal friend / told him that I counted |
on his doing everything possible to pre-
vent any movement looking to my nomi- |
nation.
'Tt was not until 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 1
come in any way from personal friends /
Of mine and was neither inspired nor |
engineered by them. When / became con- |
,1nced that this popular demand was |
real and was considerable, and when the /
governors OF seven States-increased by |
his time TO ten, may mention incidental
ly-asked me whether 1 would accept II l
nominated. I answered yes. 1 added an
expression of my wish that wherever
possible open preferential Presidential
primaries might be held. so as to find
cut whom the Republican voters wish to
have nominated.
HIS Present Attitude.
L