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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.