New-York tribune., 1919-10-19
A Correction in Be-
half of Gou. Allen

To the Editor of The Tribune.
Sir: Inclosed herewith is q clipping
from The Tribune of September q
which has been brought to my attention.
In fairness to Governor Henry J. Allen,
allow me to state the facts concerning
the matter referred to in this article.
In the first place, President Wilson
was invited TO speak at Wichita by the
Wichita Board Of Commerce, and pre-
sumably the meeting here was to be
entirely non-partisan in its character.
As president of the Board OF Commerce
! was authorized to name the commit
tee which would have charge of the
arrangements for the Wilson Day pro-
granime.
In view Of the fact that Colonel 8. B.
Amidbn is Democratic National Com
mitteeman from Kansas, both Democrats
and Republicans agreed with me that
it would be only fair to name him as
chairman Of the committee. The bal
ance of the committee in charge con-
sisted of the executive committee of
our Wichita Board Of Commerce. The
only member OF this committee, there
fore, who is in politics in any sense Of
the word was the chairman, Mr.
Amidon.
As the President was to be the guest
Of the Board Of Commerce while in
Wichita, our directors authorized me to
invite Governor Allen and his staff to
meet the President in Wichita.
As there is no love lost between Gov
ernor Allen and Mr.. Amidon, which is
due to some personal misunderstanding
of many years standing, I took the lib
erty to call up Governor Allen, after
VIC had received his acceptance to our
invitation, and ask him if he had any
objection to riding in the same auto
mobile with Colonel Amidon.. The Gov
ernor was eminently fair in the mat
ter, and stated that he would let no
personal feelings interfere with the
arrangements made by our Board Of
Commerce and that he was entirely in
our hands while in the city.
On the other hand, when the subject
was broached to Colonel Amidon he re-
fused fatty to ride in the same automo-
bile with the Governor and was SO dis
agreeable about the matter that | per-
sonally called the Governor again and
explained the situation 70 him. After
hearing our explanation he stated that
he did not want TO embarrass our com
naittee in any way, and would therefore
withdraw his acceptance OF our invita-
ton on behalf Of himself and his staff.
know personally that there was no
conversation between Governor Allen
and Colonel Amidon in this matter The
Governor did not state to Colonel Amidon
or to me, as president Of the Board of
Commerce, that he desired to ride in
the carriage with the President and
introduce him at the Forum meeting,
and the attitude of the Governor in the
whole matter was entirely dignifed.
The Governor was willing to ride in
any automobile we might designate,
but being chief executive OF our state
and host Of the Chief Executive of the
United States during his visit to Kan
sas, we thought that Governor Allen
should ride with the President or not
at all.
The question as to who should intro
duce the President at the Forum meet
ing was never discussed, as Colonel
Amidon desired the honor and it was
so granted to him and was advertised in
this manner from the time Of the first
meeting Of our committee.
Whether or not Colonel Amidon made
the statements as quoted by your !ocs,
correspondent I am unable to say, but
If he did make such statements they
are untrue and not in accordance with
the facts.
AS president Of the organization that
was responsible for getting President
Wilson to come to Wichita and was
responsible for inviting Governor Allen
to come, think it is only fair to the
Governor that you be put right in this
matter, as your article, we feel, not
only stultifes Mr. Allen personally,
which he does not deserve, but it also
reflects on the dignity Of the chief
executive of our state
The directors Of the Board Of Com
merce unanimously condemned the atti-
tude of Colonel Amidon in this matter
and had only words of commendation
for the stand taksn by Governor Allen.
GEORGE II. HAMILTON.
President Wichita Board Of Commerce.
Wichita. Kan. Oct l5. 1879.