Your TR Source
President Roosevelt thanks Ray Stannard Baker for sending his article and will read it with care and attention.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-08-22
President Roosevelt invites Ray Stannard Baker to lunch on November 14 so he can explain why Baker cannot use his letter. Roosevelt may need to make an official statement about the Brownsville affair and does not wish for his personal opinions on the matter to be shared.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-09-24
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-06-03
Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919
President Roosevelt is impressed with Ray Stannard Baker’s article and the call for drawing a line on conduct. Corporations and labor unions are here to stay and are necessary for industry. However, when corruption or “brutal indifference” develops it must be fought.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1903-10-21
President Roosevelt was surprised to learn that David Grayson was Ray Stannard Baker’s pseudonym. He is grateful for the book, and looks forward to reading it.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-06-22
President Roosevelt takes issue with Ray Stannard Baker’s recent article in American Magazine. He states that Senators Benjamin R. Tillman and Jeff Davis, and Mississippi Governor James Kimble Vardaman do not represent championship of the Many over the Few on principle, but rather are motivated by self-interest. Roosevelt states that the conflict of race runs deeper than other divisions. He asserts that he is “a democrat of the democrats” and fights equally against the privileged and the mob.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-06-03
President Roosevelt cannot give Ray Stannard Baker the letter he suggests. He has made such a request to an ambassador only one time, and the it proved impossible and put him in an embarrassing position. As such, Roosevelt does not attempt to grant anyone access to heads of state if there is a chance they will write about the interview.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-05-19
President Roosevelt was pleased with Baker’s article on the Atlanta riots. He has been depressed over the Brownsville riots–not so much the attitude of the troops involved, but the response of the African American citizens in protecting the perpetrators. Had the troops and citizens involved been white, he does not believe they would have responded the same way. Roosevelt believes Ohio Senator Joseph Benson Foraker has declared his support of the accused troops not because he questions their guilt, but either because he disagrees with Roosevelt on the control of corporations or because he wishes to secure the African American vote.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-03-30
President Roosevelt thinks Ray Stannard Baker’s article is interesting. Roosevelt does not want his opposition to conservatives to result in a complete review of the facts of the Commission’s decision by the courts.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-04-10
President Roosevelt explains his reasoning for wishing to make a speech to Ray Stannard Baker, saying that, “people so persistently misunderstand what I said that I want to have it reported in full.” While Roosevelt is in favor of reporters investigating and shining a light on corrupt practices and businesses, he feels that when yellow journalism attacks “good men or even attacks bad men with exaggeration or for things they have not done,” it is counterproductive. Roosevelt specifically notes William Randolph Hearst’s publications as examples of “yellow journalism.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-04-09
President Roosevelt sent Ray Stannard Baker’s letter to Attorney General William H. Moody, who is going to take charge of the bribery case in the Chicago trial himself. Roosevelt and Moody agree that the facts of the bribery should be made public. He also believes that District Attorney Charles B. Morrison has done well, in spite of what the press says.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-01-29
President Roosevelt responds to Ray Stannard Baker’s letter about the proposed maximum rate laws for railroad shipping. While Roosevelt agrees that a minimum rate law may benefit more people, he is unsure if such a law would be upheld by the courts. He stresses the importance of writing a law that will not be overturned in court, even if it cannot meet the demands of the people.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-11-28
Although President Roosevelt is willing to speak with Ray Stannard Baker about his thoughts on the bill establishing a maximum railroad rate, he believes that not much good will come of it. He explains to Baker why he prefers first trying to get legislation setting a maximum rate before adding a provision giving the Interstate Commerce Commission the power to set definite rates.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-11-22
President Roosevelt explains why he is not in favor of Ray Stannard Baker’s suggestion that the Interstate Commerce Commission should be given the power to condemn railroad shipping rates. Roosevelt believes his maximum rate plan is the best option.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-11-20
President Roosevelt tells Ray Stannard Baker that while he agrees that it would be better to give the Interstate Commerce Commission the power to fix definite, rather than maximum, railroad rates, Attorney General William H. Moody believes that this power is unconstitutional. Roosevelt believes it is better to pass a constitutional law allowing for maximum rates, and then, if it is a success, to pass the definite rate law as an amendment. Then even if the Supreme Court declared the amendment unconstitutional, the maximum rate law would still stand.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-11-13
President Roosevelt thanks Ray Stannard Baker for sending him the details on John Revelstoke Rathom. He also sends Baker the first proof of his message about corporations.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-10-16
President Roosevelt has no criticism about the article in question and says that Ray Stannard Baker has given him food for thought for his own message. He believes now that railroad men should be treated as ordinary Americans, rather than “exceptional villains.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-09-13
President Roosevelt would like to see the proof of Ray Stannard Baker’s November article because he has learned review Baker’s writing for “real help.” He is impressed with Baker’s determination to tell the truth and be balanced in his journalism.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-09-08
President Roosevelt informs Ray Stannard Baker the District of Columbia is better off than the rest of the country regarding homicides. The president includes a copy of a letter from United States District Attorney Morgan H. Beach to William Loeb listing the number of homicides, acquittals, and convictions in the District of Columbia during the past ten years, and adds his own handwritten note that there were no lynchings.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-01-05
President Roosevelt praises Ray Stannard Baker for his article in McClure’s Magazine about lynching. Roosevelt has admired Baker’s pieces about labor, but believes the recent piece on lynching is the best discussion he has seen of the topic anywhere, and is even better than to his other work.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-01-02