Page:The Presidents of the United States, 1789-1914, v. IV.djvu/180

144 failure), nevertheless he felt it to be no public duty of his to interpose any objection. That such a purchase offered no ground for proceedings against the Steel Corporation was the opinion given to Mr. Roosevelt by Mr. Bonaparte, the attorney-general. It was seen that Mr. Roosevelt s conversation could be twisted into something that would look oblique; a secret support of trusts while openly denouncing them. The trust people themselves, through their politicians in the Senate, requested information from the president regarding this transaction. He refused to give it, referring to Mr. Bonaparte's opinion. Two days later the Senate ordered its judicial committee to investigate the matter—on the very same day (January 8, 1909) that the president's private letter to Senator Hale about there being members of Congress whose transactions needed watching by detectives was made public. It is not surprising that on February 20 the committee's report found that the president had exceeded his authority. This affair of the Tennessee Coal and Iron Company was used against Mr. Roosevelt in later circumstances, as was the matter of the Harvester Trust. Obliquity on his part was again sought to be established. Why, when in office, had he not prosecuted this trust? He replied that at a full cabinet meeting Mr. Bonaparte had given his opinion there was not sufficient evidence upon which to base