The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1915-04-27
ROOSEVELT HAD
PLATT FOR GUIDE
Consulted Boss While Governor on Ap
pointment and Bills, as Numer-
Gus Letters Show.

SYRACUSE, N. Y, April 81. = The
political history of New York state
was considerably rewritten at the
Barnes-Roosevelt trial for libel yester
day.
Several score letters dealing with
two periods of state politics, that of
1899, when Colonel Roosevelt was gov
ernor, and that of 1908, when a faction
of the Republican state organization
headed by William Barnes, tried to
keep Governor Charles Hughes from
being renOminated, were read into the
court record. These letters gave the
colonel by far the most uncomfortable
day of the five he has had ON the
stand
The 1899 letters were furnished by
the executors of the estate of the late
Senator Thomas G. Platt, and it took
most of the day to read them. They
showed that Platt, then the Easy
Boss of the state, and the colonel,
then governor, enjoyed the closest po-
litical relations, and that Mr.. Roose-
welt scarcely made an appointment
without consulting Platt about it. Even
bin the matter of judicial appointments
Platt S advice seemed absolutely neces-
sary to the colonel The Barnes
lawyers tried to show that an arrange
ment existed between Roosevelt and
Platt whereby Platt as senator would
look after the colonel s friends who
sought federal positions, in return for
which Platt $ cronies were taken care
of III state jobs.
Colonel Roosevelt squirmed. growIed
and snapped his teeth in suppress sed
| rage as the musty documents Senator
Platt had 50 carefully kept were shaken
| before his face, and the old confident
grin was almost entirely missing The
colonel s. discontinue was due in part
to the fact that entirely new tactics
were adopted in CROSSE examination. The
suave, sarcastic WINS, who had let the
witness ramble at his own sweet will
into realms of philosophical discussion
gave place to William L. Barnum
the Syracuse attorney assisting Mr.
Barnes s New York lawyers Nj. Bar
mum is built on the burlv lines OF
Barnes, and he treated the colonel witt
scant courtesy. Appeals to Justice An
drews by both the colonel and his
counsel, John NJ Bowers, brought nC
relief, for the justice invariably rulej
that the colonel s discursive answer.
shanld be stricken out.
More correspondence that passed be
tween Theodore Roosevelt and forme1
United States Senator Thomas Plat
was read when the colonel resumed tn,
stand in the supreme court today. Tn,
first were written while Colonel Roose
lvelt was governor.
i Counsel for Mr. Barnes also had il
possession some letters written whit,
the witness was vice president. A
Telegram in which former Unitet
States Senator Platt urged Theodor,
| Roosevelt TO sign a bill to exemp
from the franchise tax bill grad
crossings of steam railroads, sayin,
our friends of the New York Cen
tral" and Senator Depew were anx
ious, was read. In reply the colone
wrote Senator Platt that he had re
ceived telegram too late.
a series of private letters that pass
ed between Mr.. Barnes and Col Roose
: welt were introduced into the record.
) These covered the period between 100
| and 1910. They were to be read a
the afternoon session.
The reading of correspondence be
tween Col. Roosevelt and forme
! United States Senator Platt, in whic
the colonel. freely discussed all manne
of legislative, political and admin.
, trative affairs, was completed today.