Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1915-05-05
RELATIVE HELPS
CASE OF COLONEL
Franklin D. Roosevelt Corrobo-
rates Loeb's Testimony of the
Barnes-Murphy Agreement.
PlATT LETTERS ARE READ
They Show That Barnes Com
planned About His Share of
State Printing.
PLATT LETTERS ARE REA
Especial to The Times-Dispatch. ]

Assistant Secretary OF the Navy, and
ex-Democratic State Senator, came all
the way from Washington this morn
ing to help Theodore Roosevelt, ex-
President of the United States, in the
$4,000 libel suit brought by William
Barnes, Jr, against Theodore Roose-
velt.
Franklin ID. really helped. He en-
phatcally corroborated the testimon:,
OF William Loeb, Jr.. that Barnes had
an agreement with Murphy to keep Re-
publican hands off in the Democratic
night for the senatorship in 1911. Loeb
testified that Barnes had told him of
this agreement.
JURY GETS INFORMATION
FROM TWO DIRECTIONS
Franklin testified to-day that Grady,
the Democratic leader, had told him
about 1t. Thus the information was
conveyed to the jury from two different
directions.
And Roosevelt. sitting alert and
smiling as his NTH cousin by blood
and nephew-by-l law" gave his testi-
mony, appeared to think that his bi-
partisan charge against Barnes was
fully established through the tie that
binds Roosevelt to Roosevelt
Young Roosevelt. who is tall. slim
and erect, with a pair of Roosevelt
eyes. made good witness. He was
the insurgcnt leader of the State SEN
ate when Murphy tried TO elect william
r Sheehan TO the United States Sen
ate. He was trying to get an inde-
pendent elected. He wanted Republi-
can votes And he went to Barnes for
them. 1t was to Barnes he told what
y
partisan agreement.
Barnes. according to Roosevelt.
neither affirmed nor denied what
Grady had said
Supplementary Of the testimony of
FRANKLIN. letter was read, written
by Barnes on March 81, 1911, the day
before the two months deadlock was
broken by the election of James A..
OGorman. In this letter. which was
addressed to the two House Republi-
can leaders. Backett and Merritt.
Barnes deprecated coalitions with the
opposing party, but gave his permis-
sion TO his followers to support some
good conservative Democrat The re-
suit OF this letter was that the Repub-
lfcans continued to vote for Chauncey
NJ. Depew.
1t Is the theory OF the defense that
Barnes continued to keep his hands Off.
as agreed. till the last moment, then
released his followers when the Zig
was already up.
BARNES-PLATr LETTERS
INTRODUCED IN COURT
Next in Importance to the testimony
OF the NTH cousin by blood" of the
defendant was the production OF six
letters passing between Barnes and
Plat.
Barncs's part of the correspondence
was filled with complaints to PIatt,
then in Washington. that Barnes
wasn't getting anything like what he
considered his share OF the State print
ing. In one of them he spoke of q
"characteristically insolent and insuf
ferabie' telegram from Quigg This
suhterranean gentleman, according to
Barnes. was Interfering with Barnes's
plans to get State work for his presses.
The letter intimatcd that Platt could
call Quigg off If he would Apparent
ly Platt. with characteristic foxiness.
turned this letter over TO Quigg, for
the next Barnes letter reproached tho
easy boss" for permitting Quigg to
learn his (Barnes) state of mind.
BY way of proving that Barnes was
In complaining mood ut that time
1S9o to 1900, Thomas Saulisburp
Housh, Platt's secretary in those yeors
was called to the stand. and gave as
his best recollection that he had seen
number Of letters from Barnes To
Platt besieging the Senator's assist
ance in the printing matter. Houch
was called after Edward T. Platt. son
OF the dead Senator. had testified thar
some of his fathers correspondence
had been destroyed.
While the Plat letters did good SER
vice for Roosevelt. they proved at least
a potential two-edgcd sword When
the younger Plat was on the stand
WINS extracted from him the state
ment that in the grip at his feet were
many letters written to PIatt while
Roosevelt was President.
These letters, if what WINS seer,s
to think they are, will be sprung on
Mr.. Roosevelt Tomorrow
DECIDES NOT TO CALL
BARNES TO STAND
On resuming the job this morning.
Mr.. Bowers decided not to call Barnes
The admission that Barnes is the
largest shareholder in the ALBANY
journal Company was made by tho
Barnes side. And that was all Bowers
wanted to find out from the plaintiff AT
first hand.
The Colonel was called in the after-
noon lie was about to testify, when
the justice informed him that IL he
cared to he would be given an oppor-
tunity to examine and correct Tho
record of his testimony. Not only did
he care TO. but when he gave tho record
the once over, he was sure that he
had been incorrectly reported. The
jury was dismissed. and he spent the
remainder of the session picking flaws
In the typewritten report of his words.
The Justice and lawyers for both sides
remained In court while he engaged
painstakingly and energetically upon
this task
Tomorrow morning he will resume
the stand to give new testimony as to