Your TR Source
President Roosevelt encloses several letters from Secretary of War William H. Taft to explain the current situation in Idaho.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-11-08
President Roosevelt encloses a letter he has sent to Governor-elect Charles Evans Hughes. Roosevelt asks Lyman Abbott if he can have lunch or dinner with him soon to see Roosevelt’s message. He mentions articles in the New York Times and the Sun that “represent the capitalist element which has been most bitter about me.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-11-07
On behalf of President Roosevelt, Latta Maurice sends Lyman Abbott a letter for Harold Howland to the American representatives in Cuba.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-09-27
President Roosevelt thanks Lyman Abbott for the poem. He encloses a letter from William H. Fleming that he feels “is worth your while.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-09-05
President Roosevelt cannot give Lyman Abbott a definite answer until closer to the end of his term in office, but believes that he will be able to give a favorable answer when the time comes. Roosevelt comments about his upcoming message to Congress, and highlights some of the legislative measures he wishes for Congress to pass.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-08-06
President Roosevelt comments on the ongoing furor surrounding the trials of Charles H. Moyer and Big Bill Haywood, looking down on he support they are receiving from socialists and anarchists from across the country. He reflects that he has had an odd presidency, and that “a goodly number of the things I have done which i regard as most important will probably never see the light and will be known to only a few people,” including the situation in Idaho, the Russo-Japanese peace negotiations, the Algeciras conference, and the Alaska boundary dispute.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-07-10
President Roosevelt hopes that Lyman Abbott makes it clear in his editorial that he disapproves of several corporations acting in the Rocky Mountains, and remarks that people often have difficulty understanding that it is imperative for people to “disprove equally of the murderous lawlessness of labor unions which degenerate into thugism of the Molly McGuire kind, and of the practically as arrogant and greedy lawlessness of quite as noxious a type shown by certain big corporations.” Roosevelt considers it important to be against lawlessness wherever and whenever it is found. He compares his actions with those of several other figures, and says that while former president Grover Cleveland acted both against corporations and labor unions, William Jennings Bryan and Senator Robert M. La Follette refuse to attack labor.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-07-01
President Roosevelt does not feel that it would be wise to publish Assistant Attorney General Charles Henry Robb’s report yet, both because Roosevelt is still personally investigating some issues relating to the case in Idaho, and because he does not feel it is wise to participate publicly in the matter at this time. He acknowledges that Abbott is likely right concerning whether to print Philip Battell Stewart’s letter, but suggests that the circumstances surrounding the situation may be extraordinary enough to permit it.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-06-21
President Roosevelt asks Lyman Abbott to look over an article by Philip Battell Stewart to consider it for publication in The Outlook. If he decides to publish it, Roosevelt asks Abbott to not use Stewart’s name, as he fears being that it could put him in danger of an assassination attempt by the Western Federation of Miners. He would like to see Abbott in Washington, D.C., sometime to discuss matters that have come up in Congress.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-06-16
President Roosevelt emphasizes that he wrote to Lyman Abbott because he trusts the Outlook more than other periodicals, listing a number of other problems and biases he sees in other prominent periodicals. Roosevelt thinks they should make it clear that “we war on the evil of human nature, whether shown in the labor man or the capitalist,” and illustrates this statement by describing how he is fighting both against capitalist organizations in enforcing government inspection of meat packing plants, as well as fighting labor unions in his prosecution of Charles H. Moyer and Big Bill Haywood, who have been accused of the assassination of ex-Governor Frank Steunenberg of Idaho. Both sides, in their respective cases, claim to want justice while working to prevent it.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-06-18
President Roosevelt would like to be able to “get off into the woods somewhere for a holiday,” but does not think it will be possible for him to do so for a variety of reasons. Among other reasons, Roosevelt is cognizant of his time in the presidency growing shorter, and wants to make sure he is able to accomplish what he wants to. He believes Lyman Abbott is correct in his view of the Allison amendment, and says that it simply lists what Roosevelt has always maintained that the Hepburn bill contained. Recent discussion of the inheritance tax has amused Roosevelt, as there is already a law on the books which had been deemed constitutional by the Supreme Court several years ago.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-05-09
President Roosevelt responds to Outlook editor Lyman Abbott’s comments on the sections of Roosevelt’s recent “muck-rake speech” dealing with the inheritance tax. Roosevelt did not mean to suggest that such a tax would be the only measure necessary to deal with the amassing of large fortunes, but wished to bring attention to the fact that it would help. He believes that a progressive income tax would also be good, but feels that it is harder to frame such a measure, while modifying the tariff would have a minimal effect on such fortunes. Roosevelt is puzzled by Abbott’s comments about taxing land, and asks if he is trying to revive the theories of Henry George, or if he is referring to something else. Regardless, Roosevelt feels the language is too vague to be useful, while he was trying to bring attention to specific measures that could be accomplished. He was surprised the portion of his speech dealing with labor leaders has received little attention; while he feels that the amassing of great fortunes is harmful to the United States, so too is the sort of violence resulting from “unhealthy sentimentality and morbid class consciousness” like that of socialist leader Eugene V. Debs.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-04-23
President Roosevelt tells Outlook editor Lyman Abbott that “William Dudley Foulke is as good an Outlook man as I am,” and that Foulke was struck by Abbott’s editorial about Roosevelt’s “muck-rake speech.” Roosevelt believes that the Outlook is working for the same goals he is, and was therefore disappointed in the article because “it was hammering just at the moment when it ought to have helped.”
President Roosevelt tells Lyman Abbott that his speech will be released to the press for publication in the Saturday evening papers, and that if The Outlook is published after 3 P. M. on Saturday April 14, 1906, he is welcome to use it.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-04-10
President Roosevelt has received both of Lyman Abbott’s notes, and hopes that he liked his recent speech. Roosevelt has heard good things about Everett W. Lord, Assistant Commissioner of Education in Puerto Rico, but says that in the matter of selecting a new Commissioner of Education he is inclined to listen to the opinions of those on the ground, such as Governor Beekman Winthrop, or current Commissioner of Education Roland P. Falkner.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-04-10
President Roosevelt praises The Outlook for its truthfulness and commitment to true social, civic, and political reform He contrasts this with writers in Cosmopolitan, whom he believes are enemies of genuine reform.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-03-16
President Roosevelt asks Lyman Abbott about the enclosed materials, which were given to him by Senator Henry Cabot Lodge. Roosevelt notes that Lodge has many political enemies, but defends him as one of the best men in politics.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-02-23
President Roosevelt thinks the article Lyman Abbott sent is one of the funniest things he has ever read, and he will enjoy showing it to Secretary of War William H. Taft. He agrees with Abbott about the bill and says he should write Taft himself.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-02-10
President Roosevelt encloses letters that he would like returned, and in particular draws Lyman Abbott’s attention to Judge Frank G. Finlayson’s letter regarding the reasons Franklin K. Lane’s appointment to the Interstate Commerce Commission is opposed. Roosevelt would like to speak with Abbott about The Outlook’s treatment of Senator Henry Cabot Lodge. Though he tries not to let his personal friendship with Lodge cloud his judgment, and although Lodge opposes him on the railroad rate issue, Roosevelt believes that Lodge is a good political leader in Massachusetts.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-12-19
President Roosevelt complains to Lyman Abbott about a number of matters that are being affected by partisanship. In particular, he is upset about partisan opposition to two of his nominations: Franklin K. Lane to the Interstate Commerce Commission and Joseph Bucklin Bishop as Secretary of the Isthmian Canal Commission. He is also frustrated that Democratic Senators are blocking the ratification of the Santo Domingo treaty “on mere partisan grounds,” and would normally favor the treaty if he were not a Republican president.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-12-14