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President Roosevelt intends to appoint a Catholic to the Philippine Commission when a vacancy occurs. Roosevelt also explains that the movement against the friars in the Philippines is entirely driven by Filipinos and the United States is simply attempting to meet the wishes of the Catholic population.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1902-07-16
President Roosevelt defends his administration’s attempts to settle the friar question in the Philippines. Roosevelt claims that the friars are very unpopular even among the Catholic Filipinos and that William H. Taft’s negotiations in Rome were meant to satisfy Catholic Filipinos and church authorities. The administration was unprepared for the adverse reaction of Catholics outside the Philippines and Roosevelt has been surprised at the spreading of many rumors regarding his intentions.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1902-07-12
Both pages marked as “Canceled.” There has been a great deal of pressure to retain Terence Vincent Powderly and Edward F. McSweeney. President Roosevelt is replacing McSweeney with Joe Murray even though he doubts any legal charges can be brought against McSweeney.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1902-03-27
President Roosevelt praises Eugene A. Philbin for his excellent work as district attorney of New York County. He offers to secure a letter of introduction from the State Department for Philbin’s travels abroad.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1901-12-30
John J. Wynne is pleased with the appointment of McDonough to the Manila Bench and feels that the issue of church property in the Philippines is being settled satisfactorily.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1903-02-01
John J. Wynne believes that Americans are currently wary of Freemasonry due to exposure of the principles and tactics of Freemasonry in France. According to Wynne, the Masons in France are “destroying the very notion of liberty.” He thinks that President Roosevelt will not be overly happy about some of the remarks he makes about Roosevelt’s speech on Masonry.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1902-11-11
John J. Wynne is pleased that Judge Smith has been appointed to the Philippine Commission and thought that President Roosevelt reacted well to Catholic protests over the friar question. However, Wynne does not favor Roosevelt’s support of Freemasonry.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1902-11-07
Bishop McFaul would like Eugene A. Philbin to assure President Roosevelt of the good will of the American Federation of Catholic Societies. McFaul favors a public school system in the Philippines but wanted it to be adapted to the Catholic majority with religion as part of the curriculum. He also believes that the friar question would have resolved itself without government intervention.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1902-08-20