Chargé d’Affaires of Britain Spring Rice details to First Lady Roosevelt the economic and political climate in Russia. While Spring Rice sees no immediate stirrings of revolution there, he hints that revolution may still be in Russia’s future because of the unsustainable, poor economic conditions in the rural areas and the dearth of strong, reform-minded leadership within the government. While Spring Rice sees Russia’s Interior Minister, Vi︠a︡cheslav Konstantinovich Pleve, as a capable leader, Pleve opposes reform, and though S. I︠U︡. Vitte, the chairman of the Committee of Ministers is “a strong man, too, and might be a reformer,” Emperor Nicholas II strongly dislikes him. Spring Rice also perceives Russia’s slights of other nations and its aversion to making treaties as hindrances to its government. Additionally, Spring Rice tells Roosevelt of a Russian folk story he has recently translated into English.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1903-12-09

Creator(s)

Spring Rice, Cecil, Sir, 1859-1918

Recipient

Roosevelt, Edith Kermit Carow, 1861-1948

Language

English

Period

U.S. President – 1st Term (September 1901-February 1905)

Repository

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Page Count

12

Production Method

Handwritten

Record Type

Multi-image

Resource Type

Letter

Rights

These images are presented through a cooperative effort between the Library of Congress and Dickinson State University. No known restrictions on publication.

Citation

Cite this Record

Chicago:

Letter from Cecil Spring Rice to Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt. [December 9, 1903]. Library of Congress Manuscript Division.
https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o43023. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.

MLA:

Spring Rice, Cecil, Sir, 1859-1918. Letter from Cecil Spring Rice to Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt. [9 Dec. 1903]. Multi-image.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University. January 22, 2026. https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o43023.

APA:

Spring Rice, Cecil, Sir, 1859-1918., [1903, December 9]. Letter from Cecil Spring Rice to Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
Retrieved from https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o43023.

Cite this Collection

Chicago:

Library of Congress Manuscript Division. https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/collection/library-of-congress-manuscript-division. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.

MLA:

Library of Congress Manuscript Division. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University. January 22, 2026. https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/collection/library-of-congress-manuscript-division.

APA:

Library of Congress Manuscript Division. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University. Retrieved from https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/collection/library-of-congress-manuscript-division.