"TAINTED" MONEY.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 311, 25 September 1908, Page 7

"TAINTED" MONEY.

"MACHINE" POLITICIANS AND TRUSTS DEMOCRATS'TREASURER. MR". BRYAN OFFERS HIM FOR TRIAL. (BY• TLII'GRAPH' —PRESS ASSOCIATION—COPYRIGHT.) New York, September 23. Tho ' moment that Sir. W. R. Hearst (founder of the now Independence party) launched his attack on Messrs. Foraker and Sibley' (Republican politicians), and Bailey ajid Haskell (Democrats), alleging financial and' other. dealings with the' Standard Oil Trust,, Mr. Foraker -withdrew from his engagements to speak at Mr. Taft's meetings. lii declining to do soj ho said he thought his own defenco was quite adequate, but ho did not wish to do anything that might damage Mr. Taft's candidature for tho Presidency. Mr. W. J. Bryan, .tho Democratic candidate for tho Presidency, declares that Mr. Haskell, who is treasurer of tho Democratic National Fund, is willing to appear before any tribunal Mr. Roosevelt may namo. Mr. Bryan adds that he is willing tliat Mr. Haskell should do so, and declares that ho must oust Mr. Haskell if Mr. Roosevelt, after investigation, supports. Mr. Hearst's accusation—that he (Haskell) is .a tool of the Standard Oil-Trust. , MR. BRYAN AND HIS TREASURER. -PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT'S ATTITUDE LAST YEAR. The bombshell which tho: founder of the third.party, the new Independence League, has thrown into the camps of both his political opponents means possible political ruin to several'prominent persons, including Senator Foraker,, for many years a leading figure at tho Republican Conventions, and Governor Haskefl£who .at tho recent Democratic Convention wis appointed the new Treasurer of the DemocraNational Fund. ■ Mr. Bryan, who now offers Mr. Haskell for trial, and, if necessary, for • judgment, recently endorsed his appointment in the following cordial terms :— . "Governor Haskell, the treasurer, is one of the new men, but he has made good as a leading, 'member of the Constitutional Convoption of Oklahoma and as Governor. His organising ability will bo valuable tot tho committee. His as treasurer is especially appropriate because ho comes from the only btate in which depositors are absolutely secured, and the Democratic platform has a plank advocating tho adoption of a national system similar to that , now in operation in Oklahoma. We do. not know how much our campaign fund will be, but wo know it will not be lost by any 'hank failure." The impeachment of the Treasurer of the Democratic National Fund must, therefore, directly involve Mr. Bryan, especially in view of the way in which ho has made campaign funds arid .publicity of contributions a special plank. On July U, at Mr. Bryan's instance, the Democratic National Committee decided to accept no contributions whatever from corporations, to accopt'no individual contributions above 10,000 dollars (.£2000), to publish before tho Presidential olection all individual contributions abovo 100 dollars (.£2O), and to accopt no contributions above 100 dollars within three days of the election. In a speech, Mr. Bryan remarked that-the Republicans by a largo majority had excluded a publicity plank from their plat-form,-and ridiculed their subsequent action in attempting to avoid censure by promising "to publish tho contributions after the elections." On-July 18 Mr. Taft announced that the Republicans would not accept contributions' from corporations. This competition between Demo-crat-and. Republican to mount a purist pedestal makes. Mr. Hearst's indictment of their "machino" manipulators tho more effective. Mr. , Foraker's career, the cablegrams have indicated, appears to be ruined. A lawyer, and formerly (1579-82) a Cincinnati Judge, Mr. Foraker is best known as an Ohio Republican senator and ex-Governor, and as chairman of various Republican Conventions.' His impeachment, too, , affects the'higher Republican powers. A ■ short time ago he. became "reconciled" to Mr. Taft, and agreed to actively support the latter's candidature—an .'intention-? which is now, according to the cablegram, rudely interrupted.- President Roosevelt has attacked both Messrs; Foraker and Haskell,_ and seems to be ■anxious-to. prove that'the existence of tainted campaign money is no .fault, of- his. This recalls'; his. passage-at-arms last year with Mr. Harrimari, "who was the author of a letter asserting that in 1905, in order to collect Republican campaign funds, it was agreed, at President Roosevelt's request, that Mr. Chauncey M. Depew, should be appointed Ambassador to Paris ; and on this understanding Mr. Harriman collected £40,000 in "three hours: A controversy followed, and a lengthy correspondence came to light, in the course of which President Roosevelt wrote that Mr. Harriman's statements were "deliberate and • wilful untruths, which should be characterised by a shorter and ugiior word." President Roosevelt is also reported to have declared, apropos to this incident, that any man who subscribed campaign funds for the Republican-party, in the hono of securing political immunity for himself and his friends, was a fool. ■ 'The "Daily Mail's" correspondent —who was by no means pro-Roosevelt—ob-served:—"'While people generally are laughing at the President's eagerness to denounce as a liar everyone who disagrees with him, they-ad-mit that he is scrupulously honest: he has given the 'captains of finance' absolutely no political roturn for' the immense sums they gave to the paTty campaign fund."