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Secretary of Agriculture Wilson reports to William Loeb on President Roosevelt’s standing in Ohio, based on the opinion of W. I. Chamberlain, a farm journal editor who has visited every county. Wilson asks Loeb to inform the Roosevelt that he will be visiting whiskey distilleries and will be gone for a week.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-01-02
Secretary of Agriculture Wilson explains that the Department of Agriculture promoted planting a kind of wheat that needed little rain in the semi-arid west. Farmers are planting it and bringing it to millers in Minnesota and Iowa, and the millers are complaining because this grain is damaging their machinery. Though Wilson met with the millers, they continue to complain about the introduction of a new grain in their “millers’ paper.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-12-06
Secretary of Agriculture Wilson updates President Roosevelt on his visits to states and campaigning for the upcoming election. He has recently been in Wisconsin, and believes that Roosevelt “may dismiss all concern from your mind about the electoral vote.” Wilson has also observed the effect of William Jennings Bryan’s visit to Indiana, and comments on the strength of the Republican Party’s organization there.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-10-30
James Wilson writes to President Roosevelt to discuss politics in South Dakota, focusing on railroad legislation.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-09-19
As per Theodore Roosevelt’s conversation with Seth Bulloch, Secretary of Agriculture Wilson will organize the transportation of a Morgan stallion to one of the Department of Agriculture’s farms.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-05-20
Agriculture Secretary Wilson asks William Loeb to send him statistical tables and other materials from 1903 for use in the trial of Edwin Sanford Holmes.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-06-07
Secretary of Agriculture Wilson asks William Loeb for a letter Wilson sent to Theodore Roosevelt regarding Edwin Sanford Holmes’s allegations that the Bureau of Statistics manipulated cotton statistics.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-05-25
Secretary of Agriculture Wilson reports to President Roosevelt on the appropriations of the 57th Congress for the Department of Agriculture. Wilson also presents a breakdown of how these funds will be divided among the various different bureaus and projects managed by the department.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-04
Secretary of Agriculture Wilson refutes criticism made by Sir Horace Curzon Plunkett against the United States Department of Agriculture. The topics include research efforts, education, and communication in the field of agriculture.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-07-06
James Wilson recommends nominating the Chief of the Bureau of Animal Industry A. D. Melvin in order to regulate and improve the image of the meat packing industry in the United States.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-05-29
James Wilson states Upton Sinclair’s staff gave out many dispatches related to the meat packing industry in order to promote Sinclair’s book.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-04-12
Secretary of Agriculture Wilson regrets that information about the department’s investigation of beef packers in Chicago seems to have been leaked to the press. Wilson assures President Roosevelt that he will ascertain whether any of his employees had anything to do with it, although he also notes that the Chicago Tribune article contains errors and large portions of it may have been based on guess work.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-04-11
James Wilson outlines the last six months of advertising costs for the Department of Agriculture.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-04-06
Secretary of Agriculture Wilson reports to President Roosevelt on grazing fee policies in National Forest reserves, especially in light of cattlemen protests. Wilson informs Roosevelt that grazing fees are only a third of their value, and that there is a fee reduction this year from home-builders and small stock owners. Wilson notes that Department of Agriculture will allocate the limited number of reduced fee permits to small stock owners, reserve range occupants, and transient cattle owners, in that order. Wilson also touches on policies related to reserve land division, improvements, and law enforcement.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-12-20
Secretary of Agriculture Wilson encloses a letter from E. E. Knott that he feels is full of misstatements regarding the cotton crop report. Wilson also encloses a report to explain the complaints.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-11-15
Secretary of Agriculture Wilson says that neither of the men are fit for the Department of Agriculture. He is looking into old stories about Dr. Salmon.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-08-08
Secretary of Agriculture Wilson would like to talk to President Roosevelt about the Bureau of Statistics, which is now running smoothly.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-07-26
Secretary of Agriculture Wilson describes the reorganization of the Bureau of Statistics on the departure of Edwin S. Holmes and John Hyde. He has identified four men with statistical ability who will form a board to do the work. He is continuing to push the investigation, to ensure punishment follows wrongdoing, and has delayed a trip to the forest reserves because of the crisis.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-07-21
Secretary of Agriculture Wilson responds to two letters recently received from President Roosevelt concerning scandal surrounding the cotton report leak. Wilson describes Edwin Sanford Holmes, assistant statistician in the Department of Agriculture, as a “scoundrel.” Holmes has been accused of leaking information to New York brokers who used it to speculate on the market. Wilson provides background information concerning the status of the case. He discusses potential guilt and the possible removal of John Hyde, chief of the Bureau of Statistics in the Agriculture Department.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-07-17
Secretary of Agriculture Wilson thanks William Loeb for the inauguration medal.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-07-13