Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1912-12-21
Il Made the Exposure the
Standard Oil Letters
Disclosed a Matter of
Patriotic Necessity"
in These Letters There Is
Nothing Written of the
DeadThey DidNotWrite
in Their Own Hands,"

emphasize it would merely interfere with its Of
feet
Perhaps this estimate Of mine was corroc+ o.
regards the whole public of the United States b,+
1t was apparently not correct as far as if rofros
to this particular Columbus audience. Thew ~
pected campaign speech and they received +bo
letters with very little interest There was annor
emily no unusual excitement about the letters and
out Mule curiosity concerning them among the an
dlence or among the newspaper men after the moot
ing was over 1t was not until arrived in ST Toni;
on the forenoon of the next day that the tremendous
Importance of the letters had become fully real;1oa
by the press and the public When [ got off tbo
train at St Louis it seemed to me that all the news
paper men in America were there to inouire about
the Foraker letters and to ask how many and what
KIND OF letters still remained to be read
Foraker had admitted the genuineness of tIt
letter published Not knowing however that there
were other letters to further convict him. he had
attempted explanations which, in the light Of the
other letters, were obviously false These state
ments OF Foraker | refuted with documents at hand
and Foraker retired from the discussion overwbeIm
ed by the evidence from his own correspondence
1t was unfortunate for any one during that cam
palgn to attempt to deny or explain the impHcs
ton of those Standard Oil letters because the evi
dence contained III them generally sufficient 70
refute all details or explanations
Will not discuss further however the letter,
as they appeared in the campaign, but will allow
Mr. --, the writer Of this series of articles. to
take them up, consecutively and chronoogcally
and completely. The first letters go back to the
time of Mark HaoDo onJ M,+4l,o... a..
tend to show the intimate relations of these Re
publican bosses to the Standard Oil Company and
their dependence upon the Standard Oil Company
for the funds necessary to conduct their campaigns
vi course those who were distressed not by the
commission of an act of treason but only by the
exposure of the act; those who were disturbed not
by the writing of the Standard Oil letters but ONLY
by their publication will now be outraged and Of
Tended that anything not wholly complimentary
should be printed of Standard Oil statesmen who
are dead
DE mortus nil nsi bonum will be quoted free
~ by many who are not as anxious to paliate the
faults OF the dead to conceal the evil acts of the
living.
Nil nlsi bonum sounds very we'll but if all men
who are dead were to be esteemed equally, and if
nothing but good were to be spoken of all of them
then Aaron Burr would stand as high as Thomas
Jefferson, and Benedict Arnold would be as much Of
a hero as George Washington.
Aaron Burr and Benedict Arnold are Just as
dead as such Standard Oil statesmen as Mark Han
ma or Matthew Stanley Quay.
In point of fact, Aaron Burr and Benedict Ar
mold are deader, or at least have been dead longer
and should therefore be entitled to more considera
ton and greater protection. Yet history does not
hesitate to tell the truth about them to relate facts
frankly and to express opinions freely and to de-
duce conclusions relentlessly.
All history is about men who are dead, and if we
not to have accurate estimates of men who are
dead and not to tell the truth about men who are
dead, we are not to have knowledge which is aCcu
rate or history which is truthful
Let nothing be spoken about the dead except
that which is good should be modified to read
Let nothing be spoken about the dead except that
which is TRUE
The advantage Of this latter phrase is that it can
be applied with equal justice and benefit to the iy
ing also Too many good men are traduced merely
because they are alive, too many bad men are e1
cused merely because they are dead
And If all men, living or dead were known al
their true worth and in their true character, were
praised only for what is good and condemned only
for what is bad men would live more worthy lives
and endeavor more earnestly to deserve and obtain
the good opinion of their fellow men. ...
Still IN these articles, as far as have seen them
there is nothing written of the dead that they die
not write themselves in their own words and Il
their own hands. And there is nothing related o.
the dead pXcPDt that which 10 bo7,ad ,y DrOYe