Speech 37
CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS FROM CORPORATIONS
STATEMENT ISSUED FROM THE WHITE HOUSE, NOVEMBER 4, 1904

CERTAIN slanderous accusations as to Mr.  Cortelyou and myself have been repeated time and again by Judge Parker, the candidate of his party for the office of President.  He neither has produced nor can produce any proof of their truth; yet he has not withdrawn them; and as his position gives them wide currency, I speak now lest the silence of self respect be misunderstood.  Mr.  Parker's charges are in effect that the President of the United States and Mr.  Cortelyou, formerly Mr.  Cleveland's executive clerk, then Mr.  McKinley's and my secretary, then Secretary of Commerce and Labor and now Chairman of the Republican National Committee, have been in a conspiracy to blackmail corporations, Mr.  Cortelyou using his knowledge gained while he was Secretary of the Department of Commerce and Labor to extort money from the corporations, and I, the President, having appointed him for this especial purpose.  The gravamen of these charges lies in the assertion that the corporations have been blackmailed into contributing, and in the implication, which in one or two of Mr.  Parker's speeches has taken the form practically of an assertion, that they have been promised certain immunities or favors, or have been assured that they would receive some kind of improper consideration in view of their contributions.  That contributions have been made to the Republican Committee, as contributions have been made to the Democratic Committee, is not the question at issue.  Mr.  Parker's assertion is in effect that such contributions have been made for improper motives, either in consequence of threats or in consequence of improper promises, direct or indirect, on the part of the recipients.  Mr.  Parker knows best whether this is true of the contributions to his campaign fund which have come through his trusted friends and advisers who represent the great corporate interests that stand behind him.  But there is not one particle of truth in the statement as regards anything that has gone on in the management of the Republican campaign.  Mr.  Parker's accusations against Mr.  Cortelyou and me are monstrous.  If true they would brand both of us forever with infamy; and inasmuch as they are false, heavy must be the condemnation of the man making them.  I chose Mr.  Cortelyou as Chairman of the National Committee after having failed successively to persuade Mr.  Elihu Root, Mr.  W.  Murray Crane, and Mr.  Cornelius N.  Bliss to accept the position.  I chose him with extreme reluctance, because I could ill spare him from the Cabinet.  But I felt that he possessed the high integrity which I demanded in the man who was to manage my campaign.  I am content that Mr.  Parker and I should be judged by the public on the characters of the two men whom we chose to manage our campaigns; he by the character of his nominee, Mr.  Thomas Taggart, and I by the character of Mr.  Cortelyou.  The assertion that Mr.  Cortelyou had any knowledge, gained while in an official position, whereby he was enabled to secure and did secure any contributions from any corporation is a falsehood.  The assertion that there has been any blackmail, direct or indirect, by Mr.  Cortelyou or by me is a falsehood.  The assertion that there has been made in my behalf and by my authority, by Mr.  Cortelyou or by any one else, any pledge or promise, or that there has been any understanding as to future immunities or benefits, in recognition of any contributions from any source, is a wicked falsehood.

That Mr.  Parker should desire to avoid the discussion of principles I can well understand; for it is but the bare truth to say that he has not attacked us on any matter of principle or upon any action of the Government save after first misstating that principle or that action.  But I can not understand how any honorable man, a candidate for the highest office in the gift of the people, can take refuge not merely in personalities, but in such base and unworthy personalities.  If I deemed it necessary to support my flat denial by any evidence, I would ask all men of common sense to ponder well what has been done in this campaign by Mr.  Cortelyou, and to compare it with what Mr.  Parker himself did when he was managing Mr.  Hill's campaign for Governor; and to compare what has been done as regards the great corporations and moneyed interests under this Administration with what was done under the last Democratic Administration while Mr.  Olney was Attorney General; I would ask all honest men whether they seriously deem it possible that the course this Administration has taken in every matter, from the Northern Securities suit to the settlement of the anthracite coal strike, is compatible with any theory of public behavior save the theory of doing exact justice to all men without fear and without favoritism ; I would ask all honest and fair minded men to remember that the agents through whom I have worked are Mr.  Knox and Mr.  Moody in the Department of Justice, Mr.  Cortelyou in the Department of Commerce and Labor, and Mr.  Garfield in the Bureau of Corporations, and that no such act of infamy as Mr.  Parker charges could have been done without all these men being parties to it.

The statements made by Mr.  Parker are unqualifiedly and atrociously false.  As Mr.  Cortelyou has said to me more than once during the campaign, if elected I shall go into the Presidency unhampered by any pledge, promise, or understanding of any kind, sort or description, save my promise, made openly to the American people, that so far as in my power lies I shall see to it that every man has a square deal, no less and no more.