Evening Republican, Volume 19, Number 96, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 23 April 1915 — Colonel Roosevelt On the Witness Stand for Five Hours. [ARTICLE]

Colonel Roosevelt On the Witness Stand for Five Hours.

Theodore Roosevelt, former chief of the United States, spent five strenuous hours on the witness stand in Syracuse Thursday, in the supreme court. He was subjected to a rigid cross-fire examination and admitted unhesitatingly that he had verbally and in writing discussed .with bosses the question of securing the nomination for governor of New York. Mr. Roosevelt identified a letter as being his, which he wrote to Lemuel E. Quigg, a republican leade in New York, in which he acquiesced in Quigg’s assurances to former U. S. senator Thomas C. Platt, that he would, in the event of his election, respect the senator’s position as head of the republican party and would consult with him freely and fully on all important matters. He testified further that he did -confer with Mr. Platt, the so-called easy boss, but he added that he did so with regard to the interests of the party with a genuine desire to keep the republican party together. The colonel stepped from the stand at the end of the five hours amid tne roars of laughter he had caused. He had been answering questions and incidentally asking a few of the attorneys cross examining him about Mr. Platt’s opposition to a bill in the New York legislature, providing for a tax on franchises. The witness told how he had finally secured a passage of the bill against the wishes of Mr. Platt and other leaders of the party. Then he was asked whether upon the final passage of the bill, causing the break between he and Senator Platt, he had sent to a senator in Washington a telegram containing the two words: “Three Cheers.” “I don’t remember the telegram,” the colonel solemnly replied, “But it is characteristic”, and smiled. The colonel remarked during the day that he believed that he had written 150,000 letters upon various subjects while he was governor. This was only the first day of the cross examination.