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*2
REPLY TO THE CHARGES
MADS BY PRESIDENT
, ROOSEVELT.
Hit.. _
snsd When He Bnsmc
i Wintern Lands and
Wfcf He Failed so Bay Any?Ac
HU Langnage In Senat?
r i Bean Basing ennona, and
on Meaning of n Word
And His Use of It?Claim* His
an a Cittern to Bay the Land
He Still Want* It?Hhovrs
nasicU'w Investigation of
Mam m Froan Prasnaanl Hesra Uncut
Of Mat Course and m Doing Bo
rans MM Pitchfork Freely.
Washington. Jsn. 11-Senator Till
today replied to charges made
against him ?y the president of the
?^United mates of having exerted hit
sM?sl Influence aa a senator, end frr
als own benefit, to bring suit agninat
railroads of the Northwest in order
ho might be able to purchase land
--, by the Southern Oregon Gam
gSanny and granted to the State of ?re
gea In Ufa for the construction of
% salutary road.
tfca appearance of Senator Til I man
oa*?lb?r c- rolputes
baaors 11 o'clock, gav? the galleries
aa opportunity for u demonstration of
^bead-clapping and a round of ai>
pUnse was given the South Carolna
senater.
Mr. President. I rise to a question of
persons) privilege.
For the flr?t tlras In the history of
this govsrnmt nt. se far as I have been
pabls t" learn a member of this body
has been i -ought to the bar of pub
Mo opinion, before the senete Itself, t >
bo judged under Indictment by no less
a person than tho president of the
United States. The manner of the do?
ing of It and the ailmus snd seal dls
|play?<l by tie chief executive are
^?Worthy of considerstlon.
The pspers In the csse were sent
' o fernntor Hsle us acting chairman
? >f the committee on appropriations
site on Tuesdsy lsst. I had no Intl
acatioa In regard to it until sfter the
f seaats met on Thursday. By that
time the air was thick with rumors,
evidently coming from the Whlto
House, directly or Indirectly, that a
Southern ssnstor was In the tolls of
the secret service; and soon It was
understood that Senator Tlllman was
^ the man.
Having been Informed by Senator
Halt of the character of the charges
Tbursdsy afternoon, snd that he
would os 11 a meeting of the appro
. nrlatlons committee on Saturday to
e>>n?lder the pspers relating to llv
secret service sent him by the presi?
dent, I expected to have opportunity
to "xssntrte fully Into the esse und
make sue!, defense or explanation in
the senate Itsslf as 1 thought prope*
I u? derstand the president had noil
fled rfettntor Hale that there was no
need f< - hurry, and that he would
not give the papers to the press before
Monday; but on Friday morning he
changed hU mind notified Senator
Hale thst he had determined to give
all the facts to the newspapers that
evening, and they appeared Saturday
morning It Is well to remember that
the universal custom heretofore, and
th. u teny due by any executive to
n legislative body demanded that hav?
ing sent t pan to the mo?t Im?
portant commutes of the senate, they
were in the possession of that body
and It wrs s gross breach >>t propriety
H make them public. This weP illus?
trate the executive attitude towardi
Ihli body. He gave the oommunlcs*
Msa to the press before the comi
fee had seen the papers and >?
Into the matter.
II la well understood that the presi?
dent le an adept at advertising
that hs has used the press with m >rt
skill then any man In American poll
tics He realises the iMiOftaiMl gl
-getting In ths frrst bio v," though It
was below the belt and might well
oonvtct him of oowardlce. But he
I nothing for slther courtssy, cus
died April, 1M0. 'Be Jiut u
I.
SUMTEI
torn, or decency, thus treating the
committee and the senate with that
contempt which has been his wont.
Another probab'e reason for his
great haste was that he sought to dls
tract attention from the action of tho
ho ose of representatives on Friday in
laying part of his menage on the
table by the sensational accusations
against a man who has had long ser?
vice In the senate. I could have made
my* statement to the senate and to
the country just as easily on Saturday
aa I make it now. for I have nothing
to conceal and there was no great
need for delay or preparation; but
realising that the great Influence and
power of the chief executive was be?
ing exerted to the limit of his ability
to blacken my name and destroy my
character, and that his words and
the exhibits which he sent would be
given the widest publicity, while my
own statement would probably be
epitomised on account of the pressure
on the wires. I decided to wait until
today, with the hope that my defense,
without being unavoidably mutilated,
would reach the people in good time.
This, the newspaper men tell me,
would not have been possible on Sat?
urday. Thta is sufficient explanation.
I trust, tor the delay.
An examination of the president's
ietter to Mr. Hale, which might just
el well have been a special message
of the type with which we are so fa?
miliar, will show that the president's
chsrges, boiled down, amount to two
!n number.
First. He promotes me to mem?
bership in the "Ananias Club," and
charges. In effect, that I have delib?
erately lied to the senate.
Second. He charges thnt I have ex?
erted my official Influence and worked
as a senator for my personal benefit
alone to secure the passage of a reso?
lution end to press the department of
Justice tc bring sul: against the corp?
orations which hold so much of the
public domain tht West and w*li not
sell it to settlers under the terms of
their grants from the government.
He has prepared his indictment
with consummate ability and skill. He
Leven cunning in the apparently in?
nocent pretense that in making a
search through the secret service for
one kind of malefactor he had run
down another, and the case of that
one of such serious importance that
his sense of official obligation compell?
ed him to prompt action. Mark you,
he has been In the possession of all
the facta in this case since July last,
and men will be curious to know
why. If his seal was honest, he did
not make them known then.
The president announced In his
special message to the house on Jan?
uary 4:
I have made no charges of corrup?
tion against congress nor against any
member of the present house. If I
had proof of such corruption affecting
any member of the house in any mat?
ter as to whichk the federal govern?
ment has jurisdiction, action would
at once be brought.
This would simply be doing my
duty in the execution and enforce?
ment of the laws without respect to
persona But I do not regard It as
within the province or tie duties of
the president to report to the house
"alleged delinquencies" of members,
or the supposed "corrupt action'* of a
member "in his official capacity." ?
It therefore follows that he has
found no grounds for Indicting me In
the courts, which, no doubt, would
have rejoiced him overmuch, and all
this fuss, fury, and fustlun about the
seriousness of the case and the grav?
ity of the offense with which he
charges me can be attributed to per?
sonal malice alone.
On January 4 the president de?
clared what he conceived to be his
relationship to the housje and that
he would not do certain things. On
January 5 he wrote a letter to Senator
Hale, doing the very thing In regard
to a senator which he had declined
to do toward a member of the house.
Why this difference? In my public
work here I have not hesitated to
criticise and comment on the official
actions am. utterances of President
itooy v? It, and I have doubtless given
him good cause to seek rOVSgtgS, I
have at various times arraigned him
In the senate for tyrannical Invasion
of the rights of congress, for usurpu
tion of uuthontv n<?t given him by the
constitution, for disobodlsnos of the
law and m gl I t ->f duly, and partlcu
larly In the case of Mrs. Morris, for
I.tu?al and CTUOl conduct toward a
he'pb- < w.on.iti I wa- not nwn'e
that these darts of sajsjs had Qulvsrt d
In tbf ? \. < uiiv?- hldi and stung him
SO, but the eagerness und Intensity
with which he has presented his case
ugalnst me, his making a precedent
where none has existed heretofore, hi*
taking from the committee to which
he had forwarded them the papers
id Pear not?Let all the ends Thou Ail
I. S. C WEDNESDi
j and giving them to the press before
that committee had considered them,
indicate that Theodore Roosevelt en
Joys to the limit the feeling of getting
even with Ben Tillman, and lays on
the big stick with the keenest relish,
doubtless believing that the pitchfork
has gone out of business.
In his letter to Senator Hale I find
on page 3 the following:
But a case has Just arisen of a dif?
ferent kind, which it seems to me I
should put before you as illustrating
in striking fashion the way in which
Investigations begun by any of these
various agents in the strict line of
their duty may develop facts of high
importance, which the investigators
would not in the first instance have
sought to discover, which, when dis?
covered, ought not to be hidden or
suppressed, but the development of
which may tend to create an erron?
eous impression that the agents in
question were being used for purposes
not wlihln the line of their lawful
duty.
It Is w.ell to note that the president
recognizes the extraordinary charac?
ter of his action as well aa the un?
lawful use he has made of the secret
service. He pretends that his case
against me has been worked up by
accident, by reason of the discoveries
of the inspectors In investigating the
fraudulent transactions of one Bry?
an R. Dorr, and that the facts "ought
not to he hidden or suppressed." The
president srys:
8ena.or Tillman denied the state?
ments of this circular, and expressed
a wish for an Investigation; and upon
his request the post office department,
through its Inspectors, made such an
Investigation. He stated in reference
to this circular:
"I have not bought any land any?
where In the West nor undertaken to
buy any. I have made some inquiries,
as one naturally would, In roaming
through the We3t. I simply want the
people of the country to be put on
notice that this swindler at Portland
has no warrant whatever for endeav?
oring to inveigle others into his game."
The president'then goes to state:
This Is a confidential report of a
type usually not furnished, but in this
case the maj^er is so serious that I
feel I should put it before you. I
Inclose you also as exhibits Dl, D2
D3, D4, 'and D5, photographic fac?
similes of letters and envelopes and
telegram from Senator Tillman and
his agent, William E. Lee.
I do not deny the authenticity of
the letter or the telgram, of which
photographs were made. I presume
the letter from William E. Lee Is also
a correct copy, but I was not aware
of Its existence until now, and I am
not In anywise responsible for Mr.
Lee's ideas expressed in it. The presi?
dent says:
On October 20, 1907, Senator Till?
man wrote a letter (Exhibit D 3) to
Messrs. Reeder St Watkins, of Marsh
field, Oreg., who were attorneys repre?
senting -people who were applicants
for the purchase of certain wagon
road and grant land; Dorr was a land
agent making his filings through
Reeder & Watkins. Senator Tillman's
letter runs, in part, as follows:
"1 wired you from Wausau, WIs.,
as follows, and write to confirm it:
?William E. Lee, my agent, will see
you about land. I want nine quarters
reserved. Will forward signed appli?
cations and money at once. Members
of my family are entrymen. Letter
follows. (Signed) B. R. T. I write
now to say I wired Mr. Lee, who re?
sides at Moscow, Idaho, to go at once
to Marshtleld and see you about the
land, to locate quarters for the seven
members of my family who are of
age, and one for my private secretary,
J. B. Knight, whom I desire to let
Into the deal, and, of course, he wants
a quarter for himself."
The letter continued, stating in de?
tail what was to be done, in order to
enable the senator to get the land.
It will be noted that I accused Dorr
In the senate of being a swindler, and
asked the post office department to
Issue a fraud order against him. Dorr
diclared In his circular:
So sure Is Senator Tillman of our
success that he has subscribed an 1
paid the necessary fees for a quarter
section for himself and 10 other quar?
ter lections for io of bis neaest rela?
tives.
It was this bold and OUtragSOUl
falsehood, mainly, thai oaused ms to
denounce Dorr as a swlndlsr, ai well
t.? declare in tin- i nate thai he
bad no warrant for ths assertion. The
Hieuthi which the president put upon
my trail have made their report, and
a perusal of It will show to any fair
mind that so far from endeavoring to
Justify the fraud order against Dorr,
they were really put to work to in?
vestigate me, and endeavor, if pos
Otto
ria't at be thy Country's, Thy God's an
LY. JANUARY 13. 19
slble. to discover something to my
discredit, while the president directed
the Investigation. I say this because
it is hardly possible that a post office
inspector would set about getting pho?
tographic copies of the letters of a
United States senator and trying to
convict him of lying if the orders did
not come from a high source.
Let us suppose for a moment that
I was guilty of a falsehood in declar?
ing that I had not undertaken to pur?
chase any land. What did that have
to do with Dorr's transparent and
open use of the mails to induce men
to send him money to purchase land?
Dorr's declaration that' I had paid
the fees is an absolute falsehood, and
the post office Inspectors, while they
searched the records for entries at
Coquille and noted that Reeder &.
Watklns had filed "several hundrei
applications," nowhere mentioned
that any had been filed In my name
I or for me. Therefore the falsehood
I Sa proven on Dorr, and yet the presl
I dent declared:
I The assault which Senator Tillman
made upon Mr. Dorr was, according
I to the report of the inspector, a wan
I ion assault made to cover up Sena
I tor Tlllman's own transactions.
No such statement was made by the
I inspeoior. In fact, so earnestly Intent
I on convicting Senator Tillman Is the
I president, he actually commits hlm
Lself to this proposition, to wit: Till
I man voluntarily and without any
I compulsion from any source and with
I nothing to conceal brought up a mat
I ter in the senate which he need not
I have done to cover up transacti ons
I which were absolutely unknown to
I anyone except himself and his cor?
respondents, Reeder & Watklns, and
I were entirely honorable and clean.
I My exposure closed out the swindlers.
I Dorr, when his mail was not deliver
I ed, retired from the land business and
I became a fruit grower, as reported
I by the inspectors.
I The swindlers had secured a good
I many thousands of dollars before the
I exposure in the senate stopped people
from being duped, and yet Tehodore
I Roosevelt, who poses as the only re
I malnlng honest man In public life, in
I the face of these facts has felt called
I upon to attack the character of a man
I whose Intergity has never before been
I questioned, and whose official posl
I tion is second only to his own.
In doing this he makes false dec
I laratlon for the Inspectors nowhere
I say any such thing as above quoted,
I which can be proven by an examlna
I tion of their report.
Now, about the lying: My letter of
February 16, of which the president
I secured a photographic copy, ante
I dates by four days my statement in
I the senate that I had not bought any
I land, or undertaken to buy any, and
I the president considers this positive
I proof of falsehood. I did not say I
I had not considered the purchase of
I land: I did not say I had not contem
I plated the purchase of land, because
I had done both. In my conversation
with the attorney-general In regard to
J the resolution which I Introduced, and
which he himself prepared after we
had talked over the whole land situ?
ation, I distinctly remember telling
him that my interest In the matter
I had been first aroused by my desire
I to purchase some of the timber land,
and that my coming to him was due
I to the fact that I discovered upon
investigation that I could not buy It
through any agency whatsoever; that
I could not buy it even by a lawsuit,
because I was advised by very able
lawyers In the West, among them the
Hon. George Turner, of Washington,
that In attacking the holders of those
land grants no one would have any
standing in the court except the
grantor, the government itself. (See
Nichols v. Southrn Oregon Co., Fed
I eral Reporter, vol. 135, p. 234.)
I I was perhaps disingenuous; but a
moment's thought will convince any
honest-minded man that?as I had
I not signed any papers, had not paid
any money, had taken nobody's re
ceplt, the usual processess by which
one "undertakes" to buy land?1 W8 I
speaking accurately and not falsely.
Everything hinges on the meaning of
the word "undertaken" and my OSS
of it. Did I mean to conceal the faol
that I was auxloug to buy some of
this land? Not at all. Did 1 moan
to attack Dorr as B swindler when I
myself was engaged In ;i dishonest and
I dishonorable transaction? That is
what the president would have the
people believe. Can i be justly charg*
led with falsehood when If l had told
the senate of the entire transaction tt
would have made no difference what?
ever, while l would have been charged
with intruding my privat.' affairs Into
In public discussion? Just what law
did I break? What wrong did I do
or contemplate. According to the re?
port of the attorney-general, In an
swor to the resolution which I intro
id Truth's."
THE TKU
09. Sew Serie
? duced and which passed the senate,
I Harriman, the president's dear friend,
still holds In defiance of law upward
of 2,000,000 acres of the best lands of
Oregon and California and refuses to
sell them at any price. I never ex?
pected, and could not under the terms
of the law as I construed it, get more
than seven quarter sections for myself
and family, one for my private secre?
tary, and one for Mr. Lee, making
nine in all. This, in the aggregate,
would mean that I would obtain
through my activity here, as the pres?
ident's charge is, nine quarter sec?
tions, or fourteen hundred and forty
acres, at a cost of $4,500. Will the
president undertake to say that I have
lost my right to buy land because I
am a senator? Can the president
deny that my activity secured the
passage of the resolution instructing
the attorney-general to bring suit for
the recovery of this land for the use
of actual settlers? If Harriman and
others like him are made to disgorge
by reason of these suits, shall the fact
that I was endevaroing to buy a little
pittance of the land be used as the
basis of a charge of being a liar and
a corrupt senator?to be disgraced?
To sum up, this is a brief resume
of the entire transaction: While in
Spokane, Wash., in October, 1907, I
first he&rd that there were timber
lands in Oregon which were being
bought through Reeder & Watkins, of
Marshfield. On October 5 I wrote to
Reeder & Watkins, asking for In?
formation, telling them of my desilre
to purchase some of the land if pos?
sible. Desiring to find out if the con?
ditions of the grant to the State of
Oregon made it possible for "pur?
chasers" and not "actual settlers' to
buy at $2.li0 per acre, I wired the
librarian of the senate for a copy of
the act. Finding that that part of
the statement received from a gentle?
man in Spokane was correct, I notified
Reeder & Watkins on October 20 that
I Mr. Lee, whom I had seen at Moscow,
I Idaho, in t he meantime and -ulked
I with on the subject, would go to
I Marshfield and investigate in person.
II authorized Lee to draw on me if he
I found that the lands were what they
I were represented to be. Lee's au
I thority as my agent never went beyoW
I an examination of the land and, if
I the application was filed, to see that
II would get good timbered lands ln
I stead of rocks and marshes. He wired
I me not to be in a hurry, as there
I were obstacles in the way. In tha
I meantime I had talked with lawyers
I who were familiar with the military
I road land grants, and they informed
I me that under a decision of the circuit
I coqrt private parties were not permlt
I ted to sue for these lands. Still
I doubting whether I could purchase
the lands with any hope of successful
I litigation, [ wrote to Senator George
I Turner, of Washington, to get his
I opinion and incidentally to make ln
I quiry about lands on the Columbia
I River, in that State. He gave the
I same opinion that I had already re
I ceived from the other lawyers.
I Realizing after I got to Washington,
I D. C, in December that it was a very
I doubtful proposition, I let the matter
drop until Mr. Lee showed me a let
I ter from Reeder & Watkins, which
I has been stolen from my desk in my
I committee room along with othor
papers In this case, probably by some
I of the secret service sleuths, and when
they indicated their desire that I
should exert my influence in the sen?
ate, I wrote the letter of February 15,
I of which the president obtained a
photographic copy. In the meantime
and before that letter was written,
from my investigations and after a
conference with the attorney-general,
I introduced the two resolutions of
January 31, one calling on the attor?
ney-general for information, and the
other (the Joint resolution), which
became a law, Instructing him to in?
stitute suits. My official activity then
Is shown to have taken form in the
senate before I knew anything about
Reeder & Watkins' attitude or expect?
ations and I was In no way Influenced
by them.
; I was still anxious to obtain some
of the land If it could be done legally,
and wrote Reeder & Watkins to that
effect, but my faith In them in tin
whole scheme dlad when i received
the circulars of Dorr, which came to
me on February it and 18 from three
different dlections, showing the wide
spead distribution mads ol them.
Also Mr. Lee's report to me bad led
me to believe that Reeder & Watkins
were not of the caliber and character
to be employ. (1 in a matter of such
magnitude, except possibly as to their
familiarity with the local conditions
and their ability to loc ate quarter sec?
tions which were well timbered, as
they were in the possession of a cruis?
er's map. DOIT, of whom I had never
beard before, was evidently pushing
I his scheme of getting suckers to in?
vest and using my name, as I have in
E SOUTHRON, Established June, I KM
??Vol. XXVIII. No 23 *
dicated, without authority, beceaee I
had not paid any fees to him or writ?
ten fx> him or filed any applleatione.
I therefore felt it incumbent on me to>
expose the swindle in the senate,,
which I did on the 19th of February,
and asked the post office authorities
to issue a fraud order.
I pressed the passage of the Joint
resolution in the senate, and on April
30 It became a law. March 18 I waa
taken ill, and ok May 16, after a par?
tial recuperation, I sailed for Europe
returning October 31.
The president's sleuths, set to do>
the dirty work of spying on a senator
when that senator had exposed a
fraud which was being perpetrated oi
the public, reported to him on July
27. I had nothing whatever to do witb
the change in the law of which the
president complains in regard to the
secret service.
So the president's animus is not
against me on the same ground for
which he has attacked Messrs. Taw
ney, Smith and others in the house*
but one of personal malice engender?
ed by hatred because of my course 1?
the senate during the last seven years.
I have not attempted to deceive
anybody; I have not told any false?
hoods; I have not broken any law;
I have not been guilty of any im?
moral conduct. I had the right to
purchase the land if I could, but mjr
judgment told me it was unsafe as art
investment. I would like to get some
of it yet, and if the attorney-generaL
and his successors shall not die of olefc
age before anything is done It ssayr
be possible that I will have the op?
portunity to purcahse some of those
timber lands of which he made men?
tion In his report. (S. Doc. No. 279,
60th Cong., 1st seas.) Through my
action attention has been directed inr
a compelling way to the need of
prompt action by the department of
Justice. Whether I ever get any of
the land or not does not matter if
Harrlman and others' of that Ilk are
made to disgorge the large holdings
which they have stolen and are at?
tempting to hold.
The president says:
On October 20, 1807, Senator Till?
man wrote a letter to Messrs. Reed?
er St Watklns, of Marshfield, Ores ,
who were attorneys representing peo?
ple who were applicants for the pur?
chase of certain landgrant land. Dorr
was a land agent making his filings
through Reeder & Watklns.
This statement is misleading and
calculated to deceive. The report of
the post office inspectors gives the ac?
tual truth. It says:
Among the most active agents Irs
this matter is the firm of Reeder &
Watkins, of Marshfield, Orcg. Mr.
Reeder Is a real-estate agent and Mr.
Watkins an attorney. They have as?
sociated themselves together in lo?
cating applicants on these lands.
Further, Reeder & Watkins, by cir?
culating a shre vdly worded circular
long before Dorr appeared on the
scene, sought to make money by hav?
ing persons pay them $21 in cash for
filing an application with the clerk
of the court and tendering to the com?
pany $400 per quarter section* which
the law originally contemplated as
the price of the land. They were tc
receive $100 additional whenever the
Southern Oregon Company should
convey the title, and they anew that
no one could compel this conveyance
except the United States government.,
because a similar case had been ^l*J-~
cided in the United States court so
(Uclaring. (See Nichols vs. Southern
Oregon Co.. Federal Reporter, voL
135, p. 234.)
I commenced to investigate on tm?
5th of October, and I made direct
application to Reeder & Watkins, by
telegram and by letter, on the 20th
of October. Dorr did not appear until
early In 1908, as shown by the report
of the post office inspectors, and his
career as a swindler was brief, gej 1
exposed the whole thing In the *?*?
ate on February 19. The president
had the papers and knew all this.
Reeder & Watkins were receiving !?21
for the Insignificant work of mak nss
a tender to the holding company and
filing a notice with the clerk sf the
court. Dorr was to share in this com?
mission, or whatever ><>u te:m it, for
whatever business he lv ought, ami yet
the president would convey the imprrs
si on that these filings were merely
I
seeh as ate usual m purchasing "?
ei nment land, when he lyu w, or could
have easily found out from the itttor
ney-genaral, that all such propose*!
purchasers could not thus bring anr
suit. In the light of the evident .** ?
presented to the president him^eif, ifto
scheme was a swindle to nbCaiu f-1
in cash, as must bo apparent to alt.
Hut the president acquitted Dorr - ^v
convicted me. By this timo T tmS
found out the legal status, and dexi<l
(Contlnued On Page Eight)