ROOSEVELT LIBEL CASE.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LXIX, Issue LXIX, 26 May 1915, Page 4

ROOSEVELT LIBEL CASE.

BEHIND THE SCENES

A recent cable message from NewYork sr ates that the ju^y fouS thLT Colonel Roosevelt did not libel Wiltfam Barnes, and that the verdictw_£ kS, arss kit-; u4^^^ writing o a April 27,^ P°St > wh °' some^^^.SeSrSi.* 0--tisto ry of th 6 site of N ?S gYork %S that may have far-reaching JMd quences on future nation . 1 - + ?onS^ proceeding in the rit^_!f P?* lc* * N.Y. Before^ a j u V WiiK f flni S3S aCaße ' former chairman oFthe St^f **"& can Committee and wi<tw J? epabhthe "boss" o?t?B fchown!» in NmvT.l • i Republican party J-ftAon i° rk: ls endeavoring to obtam •§&?£«£_* Roie/eH _o te>T nt b/ Col°n«* £«■+£ -* he press kst July, durPS the gubernatorial election, in Vhfch he named Barnes and Charfi F Mmphy the notorious Tammany leadeS as the controllers of "rottei g^eS ment" m the State, of New Yof£ The t'hl°t ne fb S T7 er t0 eomplatt 5 that the statements are true, and he pieads justification. Should ____££ bt discredited by an adverse verdict it probably would settle tho fate of the £_? g_^ Ve T*pfarty K the Vnited S^tes, tor, wjth Barnes eliminated from th 4 Republican party, the way would bo left clear, for the colonel to get lack .W predicted that if tho jury decides in favor of Roosevelt, negotiations already under way for him to return to the Republican fold whien he left in order to run against Taft and Wilson for the Presidency m 1912, will be quickly brought to a conclusion.

For more than a week Mr. Roosevelt hi. ill Gn the witness stand telling ai xt 6 ™offs, of Barnes in justification ot the alleged libellous statement, and under grilling cross-examination as to his own political past. It has been established that the colonel was not always so bitter against the "bosses" as he is to-day. Senator Piatt wa» for years'the absolute dictator in the political affairs of New York, and when Mr Roosevelt was. Governor of that State he frequently and freely consulted with Piatt. The latter apparently had his way in dictating appointments that Governor Roosevelt should make. Many letters that passed Between the* two, supplied, it is said, by the son of the late Senator Piatt,, hay© been read in Court, and they have been perused with delight by the many political enemies of Roosevelt. Most of them have to do with appointments. In a letter to Pfcitt, discussing variouscandidates for the position of surrogate, Governor Roosevelt wrote in a postcript—"All right; 111 change the whole board of tax commissioners.*1 * Senator Piatt "wrote advising the appointment of a New York jeweller named Stern/ Asked if there were times ; when he relied entirely uoon Piatt, the_ colonel answered: 'T relied upon hiiuunless there was reason not to." Again* he admitted: "I consulted Senator Piatt upon all matters he wished.to he consulted about, and then did what I thought best." Other, letters reveal the colonel writing to Senator Piatt, tellihghim he would lik^ to be 're-elected Governor of New York, and " orote. tingagainst being nominated for Vice-Presi-dency of the United States, as therewas nothing to do in that position. In the Courtroom, as everywhere -else, Col-o-iel Roosevelt has dominated the^scene. frequently he" addresses counsel on both sides and the Judge, and more "t-han once he had the entire Courtroom in an uproar. Sometimes the Judge> has had 10 place his hand over his mouth to hid. a smile. The trial is rifling foTowed.". in this country with l-jj^ner interest than anything- else, excent the European war. It orohqbTT will las+ severaT-jvvep1.. . os {_!"**_ sMe is said to have at least fifty: witnesses.