Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1914-03-02
IN SHARP
RETORT TO BORAH
Accuses Senator of Political
Straddling and Gross Mis-
representation.

VerSy between George w. PERKINS ano
Senator William E. Borah yielded
another chapter yesterday, when Mr.
Perkins, in an open letter to the
Idaho senator, hurled back the accu-
sation of political straddling. and &C
cused Mr.. Borah of blowing hot and
cold on the trust question.
Mr.. Perkins asks the senator if he
does not temper his utterances on this
subject to the section of the country
in which he speaks, and wants 10
know if the public is to accept "the
sy-footed speech you made when
you sat at the speakers table with
William Barnes, jr., in New York on
Lincoln Day or the attack on big
business you made at Columbus, o.,
two weeks later"
Mr.. Perkins denies that he made
81, 900. 900 or anything like such a sum
out of the organization of the Har-
vester Company He accuses Senator
Borah of many untruths in regard to
the Steel Corporation and other or
CARNATIONS with which Mr.. Perkins
has been connected from time to time.
The letter in part follows:
you say that | thrive on profits
made out of business that employs
women at So a week. This is another
gross misstatement. The Interna-
tional Harvester Company so far as |
know. was the first large industrial
to adopt minimum wage for women,
and that wage is IS per week
Not Connected with New Haven.
"You accuse me of having been con-
nected with the New York, New
Haven and Hartford railroad. You
have absolutely no ground for any
such charge. | never had the slight
est connection with that property.
never in any way negotiated or knew
of any of its financial or other trans
actions. Absolutely the only knowl-
edge l have or have ever had about
the difficulties of the New Haven
road 1 have gathered from the news
papers. You seem to overlook the
fact that l have been out of the bank
ing business for more than three
years.
you make another glaring mis-
ging me into the Alaska coal situa-
ton; and again you are circulating
false statements. | went to Alaska
nearly four years ago and looked over
the railroad and coal situation there.
Immediately on landing at Seattle on
my return / made public statement,
which was printed in the newspapers,
to the effect that in my judgment the
United States government should
control the coal lands in Alaska and
operate them on a royalty basis, and
/ have not changed my position one
iota in this regard.
you make another glazing mis-
statement in coupling me with the
original formation of the Steel Cor
poration. AS q matter OF fact, at the
time of it's organization had no con-
nection whatever with any banking
house, with any steel company, or
/ with any concern that was in any
way related, or afterward became re-
lated, to the Steel Corporation. Short
after the company was formed l went
on its board Of DIRECTORS and sub-com-
mittees and took an active part in
perfecting the working organization.
| / was particularly interested and
active in the establishment and de-
velopment Of the profit sharing, bene-
| fit and pension plans that have be-
come so well known throughout the
/, country.
! Praises steel Corporatio-.
at is very evident from your letter
to me that you are in favor of break
ing up the Steel Corporation. You
may be interested, therefore to know
that IL you succeed you will be break
ing up company in which a very
| large percentage of all the men who
are working in its mills and factories
are stockholders. In the month of
January just past 1888 employees
subscribed, as separate individuals,
for an aggregate of over $4,000 shares
! of stock in that company.
! you may say that the Steel Cor
poration's abuse of its labor is no
torious; that it works people seven
days a week, etc. This is another
one of your false statements, and
defy you to produce any tangible
proof of your assertions. As a mat
ter OF fact, the Steel Corporation was
the first industrial of which / have
| knowledge that voluntarily estab-
lished the siX-day week in eontinu-
Gus industry. | ask the public il it
is likely that year after year for sew
eral years-each year in increasing
numbers-the employees Of the Steel
Corporation would invest their saw
ings in the stock of a company for
which they are working if they be-
lieYed that said company was brow
beating and misusing them?
"At Columbus last week you said
you never could subscribe to the Pro-
gressive party's policy of regulating
large interstate industrial units; yet
only short while ago, before q great
solemnly pledged yourself to exactly
such a course for the Republican
| party.
Calls Borah q straddIer
"As a leader of the Republican
party, man who wishes to be con-
sidered by his party for the presi-
Dental nomination in 1916, l ask you
to tell the country where you stand
on this question. Is the country to
accept the pussy-footed speech you
made when you sat at the speakers
table with william Barnes, jr., at the
Lincoln Day banquet of the Repub-
1ican party held in New York on
February IL, OF is 1t to accept the at
tack on big business that you made
at Columbus, Ohio, two weeks later
Does what you believe depend on the
section of the country in which you
are speaking? A propensity to
straddle seems to be the dominating
characteristic of your political make
up.
you raise your voice in the Senate
in favor of large battleship units with
which our country can fight in greai
international wars. You raise your
voice on the stump against large in.
dustrial units with which our coun.
try can fight in international indus
trial wars. If we need battleshiI
units as large as the battleship unit:
of other nations, in order to protec
ourselves in case of war, can Their,
be any question about our needing
as large industrial units as thos,
possessed by other nations, in ordel
to protect ourselves in internationa
industrial wars %