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the JEFFERSONIAN
Vol. 111. No. 7.
Ananias Club Giben a ‘Boost by 'Roosebelt
Washington, February 9. —President Roose
velt today made answer to the recent public
statements that he has made use of federal
patronage to further the presidential interests
f‘l Secretary Taft. The answer is in the form
of a letter addressed to William Dudley
Foulke, of Richmond, Ind., and includes a let
ter from Mr.'Foulke to the president suggest
ing the need of such a statement.
The president begins by characterizing the
charges as “false and malicious.” He fol
lows this with an analysis of all appointments
sent by him to the senate for its action to
show that in no case has the proximity of
a presidential contest influenced his action.
Roosevelt’s Letter.
The President’s letter to Mr. Foulke fol
lows:
White House, February 7, 1908. —The state
ment that I have used the offices in the ef
fort to nominate any presidential candidate is
both false and malicious. It is the usual im
agination invention which flows from a desire
to say something injurious. Remember that
those now making this accusation were busily
engaged two months ago in asserting that I
was using the offices to secure my own renomi
nation. It is the kind of accusation which
for the next few months will be rife. This
particular slander will be used until explod
ed, and when exploded those who have used it
will promptly invent another. Such being the
case, I almost question whether it is worth
while answering; but as it is you who ask
why, the answer you shall have.
Roosevelt Reviews Nominations.
Since the present congress assembled two
months ago, I have sent to the senate the
names of all the officials I have appointed for
the entire period since congress adjourned on
the 4th of March last, that is, for eleven
months. Excluding army and navy officers,
scientific experts, health officers, and those
of the revenue cutter service, I have made
during this period about thirteen hundred and
fifty-two appointments subject to confirma
tion by the senate, eleven hundred and sixty
four being postmasters. Os these, appoint
ments in the diplomatic and consular services
and in the Indian service have been made
without regard to politics; in the diplomatic
and consular services more Democrats than
Republicans having been appointed, as we are
trying to even up the quotas of the Southern
States. In nominating judges I have treated
politics as a wholly secondary consideration,
and instead of relying solely upon the recom
mendations of either senators or congressmen,
have always conducted independent inquiries
myself, personally through members of the
bench or the bar whom I happen to know, or
A Weekly Paper Edited by THOS. E. WATSON and J. D. WATSON.
Atlanta, Ga., Thursday, February 13, 1908.
through Attorney-General Bonarparte, Secre
tary Taft, who has himself been a judge; Sec
retary Root, because of his great experience
at the bar, or Senator Knox, who was form
ly attorney-general. In a number of the
officers, chiefly assistant secretaries or 1 q *
of bureaus here at Washington, but also fe
ernors of territories, or men holding peculiar
positions—such, for instance, as that of com
missioner of education in Porto Rico —and
also in a few other cases, notably those of
marshals in certain of the Western states, but
including, various offices also here and there
throughout the Union, I have either felt that
the position was of such a character that the
initiative in the choice could only with pro
priety come from me, or from one of the cabi
net officers, or else I have happened person
ally to know, or to know of, a man of such
peculiar qualifications that I desired to ap
point him on my own initiative.
Senatorial Rights Not Recognized.
There remain the great bulk of the offices,
including almost all of the post-offices, the col
lectorships of customs, the appraiserships, the
land offices and the life, numbering some 1,250
or thereabouts. It js, of course, out of the
question for me personally to examine or have
knowledge of such a multitude of appoint
ments, and therefore as regards them I nor
mally accept the suggestions of senators and
congressmen, the elected representatives of
the people in the localities concerned, always
reserving to myself the right to insist upon
the man’s coming up to the required standard
of character, and also reserving the right to
nominate whomever I choose, if for any rea
son I am satisfied that I am not receiving
from senator or congressman good advice, or
if I happen personally to know some peculiar
ly fit man. Where the man has done well in
office I prefer to reappoint him, and do so
when I can get the consent of the senators
from his locality; but if they refuse, the re
appointment can not be made. Ordinarily, as
a matter of convenience, the appointment can
best be settled by consultation beforehand, the
advice of the senator or congressman, who is
elected and has peculiar means of knowing the
wishes of his constituents being taken. But
where a senator treats this not as a matter
of consultation or mutual agreement, not as a
matter of convenience and expediency, but a§
a matter of right on his part to nominates
whomever he chooses, the custom is necessarily
discounted.
Appointments in the South.
In the South Atlantic and Gulf States,
which have contained neither senators nor con
gressmen of my own party, I have been
obliged to seek my advice from various
sources. In these states I have appointed
large numbers of Democrats, in certain states
the Democrats appointed outnumbering Re
nublicans. For advice in appointing the Re
■'•qns I have relied, wherever possible, not
too®. * Mers at all, but upon men of stand
n who would not take offices
Oq "integrity I could depend. As
instar ely, I will refer to Colonel Cecil
A. Lyon, of Texas, commanding one
of the Texas national guard regi
ments, and a man of independent means,
engaged in active business; and to Air.
Pearl Wight, of Louisiana, and to Mr. Coombs,
of Florida, also men of independent means,
and of large business affairs; all of them be
ing among the most respected men in their
several states. These men. and most of the
others upon whom I rely, could not be per
suaded to take any office in my gift; and I
could no more coerce or control their political
action than I could, for instance, that of presi
dents of chambers of commerce or colonels of
national guard regiments in similar states in
the North. In all of these states I have done
my best, when I came to appointing Republic
ans, to put the best men in office —those whom
the people of the locality accepted as such, and
regarded as leading citizens; and I have every
reason to believe that the average of my ap
pointments is very high.
At present various efforts are being njade
to get up bolting delegations from the South
ern States, and the meetings at which these
so-called delegates are chosen are usually an
nounced as “non-offiee-holders” conventions.
As a rule, this means only, so far as it means
anything, that they are held under the lead
of persons who wish to be put in office, but
whose character and capacity are such that
they have not been regarded as fit to be ap
pointed under this administration. In these
cases be it remembered that the failure to se
cure offices is not the result of the political
action of the men in question; on the con
trary, their political action is due to their
failure to secure offices.
Took Advice of Outsider.
So far as I know the only other accusations
that have been made as to the use of pat
ronage have been in connection with the pen
sion agent in New Hampshire and a collector
of internal revenue in Ohio. In the case of
the pension office, the senators and congress
man could not agree on a nominee, two for one
man and two another. I decided to send in a
man recommended to me by outsiders, whom
I believed to be better than either. The sen
ator rejected him. His name would have been
sent in if there had been no personal canvass
(Continued on Page Five.)
Price Five Cents.