24
 

Jean Witter
 

a thorough investigative reporter. The drafts of his articles and edi¬
torials that appeared in the World, letters from informants, copies of
supporting evidence in his case against Roosevelt, and personal
 

William McMurtie Speer, 1865-192 3, revealed the Panama
Canal scandal in his 1908 New York Wvj-Ay editorial
 

notes are important sources of information relating to the Panama
Canal scandal and reveal the mood of an era in American history
when a journalist's yellow pen confronted a president's big stick.
To understand Speer's role in the Panama C^anal affair, it is neces¬
sary to be familiar with the political and cultural climate out of