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Sinclair, Upton, 1878-1968

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Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Upton Sinclair

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Upton Sinclair

President Roosevelt thanks Upton Sinclair for the two letters, and informs him that since Sinclair last wrote, he has decided to send in the report. Roosevelt would have preferred to not publicize the report, but because of the delay in passing legislation on the issue, Roosevelt believes that it is necessary to make the report public and put it before Congress in order to make headway.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-06-02

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Upton Sinclair

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Upton Sinclair

President Roosevelt tells Upton Sinclair that Sinclair has not done anything wrong by giving the interviews or making the claims he has, but chides him somewhat that Sinclair does “not seem to feel bound to avoid making and repeating utterly reckless statements which you have failed to back up by proof.” Roosevelt explains that he, on the other hand, is bound to make sure that only the truth appears, and that harm to innocent parties is minimized. The government report will be released when it is finished, and it will only be released early if it will yield a significantly positive result.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-05-29

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Upton Sinclair

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Upton Sinclair

President Roosevelt believes Upton Sinclair is more agitated than the facts warrant, and reassures him that there is “no official whitewash or official anything else sent out from Washington,” and suggests that Sinclair’s Chicago correspondent is untrustworthy for suggesting such a thing. Commissioner of Labor Charles Patrick Neill or James Bronson Reynolds are too well known to be able to investigate internal conditions of the meat packing industry as Sinclair describes in The Jungle, and assigning a man to go undercover will likely take months. Roosevelt again admonishes Sinclair that he and his correspondent must “keep [their] heads” for their work to be of value.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-04-11

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Upton Sinclair

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Upton Sinclair

President Roosevelt tells Upton Sinclair that he is glad that Sinclair is able to put Charles Patrick Neill on the correct track in his investigations of the meat packing industry. Roosevelt comments that he has asked Neill to report to him on both the treatment of the workers and the conditions of the meat, but remarks that “as I have the power to deal with one and not with the other, it is more my duty to look after the one than the other.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-04-09

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Upton Sinclair

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Upton Sinclair

President Roosevelt disagrees with the contents of a letter that a preacher sent to Upton Sinclair in which he compared him to Leo Tolstoy, Émile Zola, and Maksim Gorky. Roosevelt believes that if the type of socialism advocated in Sinclair’s book were implemented, one of the first efforts made would be to eliminate starvation. He sites a work by Walter A. Wyckoff in which Wyckoff traveled the country doing physical labor and found that in many cases, it is possible to quickly gain a position with steady work that allowed him to save. He agrees with Sinclair that radical action must be taken to end the “arrogant and selfish greed” of capitalists. However, he thinks that it is more important to develop the hearts and minds of the working class.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-03-15

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Upton Sinclair

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Upton Sinclair

President Roosevelt heard about Upton Sinclair’s book from Commissioner of Corporations James Rudolph Garfield at the Department of Commerce and Labor. Garfield believes that some of Sinclair’s conclusions are too pessimistic, but he sympathized with Sinclair in much of what he had done. Roosevelt would like Sinclair to come to Washington to see him and Garfield, and asks if he has further suggestions.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-03-09

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919