Antitrust investigations

Letter from Leslie M. Shaw to Theodore Roosevelt

Leslie M. Shaw is glad that President Roosevelt will be meeting with a committee of railroad men. Shaw notes that “at least three-fourths of the accumulated wealth of the United States has been unearned,” referring to value increases of land and real property over time. The difficulty is in how to “adjust matters that every man who has contributed capital or effort toward the development of our country shall have his fair share of the results of American effort.” Shaw identifies the corporate evils in the railroad industry as rooted in granting rebates and special privileges, and corporate control of corporations.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-03-14

Creator(s)

Shaw, Leslie M. (Leslie Mortier), 1848-1932

Extracts of letters from Theodore Roosevelt

Extracts of letters in which Theodore Roosevelt discusses the silver sentiment, the resentment of some working class people for the wealthy and the part of organized labor in the upcoming election.

Collection

Harvard College Library

Creation Date

1896-07-26; 1896-09-13; 1896-09-27

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

United States of America, complainant, v. Northern Securities Company, the Great Northern Railway Company, the Northern Pacific Railway Company, and others, defendants

Petition from the United States government laying out an antitrust case against the Northern Securities Company.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1901

Creator(s)

Purdy, Milton Dwight, 1866-1937; Knox, Philander C. (Philander Chase), 1853-1921; Richards, John K. (John Kelvey), 1856-1909

Letter from Secretary of Theodore Roosevelt to Samuel May

Theodore Roosevelt’s secretary writes to Samuel May with a rebuttal to the arguments made by Winslow Warren about Roosevelt’s actions in establishing a third party following the loss of the Republican nomination.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1912-09-12

Creator(s)

Secretary of Theodore Roosevelt

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Charles J. Bonaparte

Theodore Roosevelt asks Charles J. Bonaparte if Bonaparte was Attorney General when they began the suit against the Standard Oil Company and the American Tobacco Company.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-07-21

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Herman Henry Kohlsaat

President Roosevelt is in support of sending Herman Henry Kohlsaat going as a delegate. Roosevelt cannot promise the consequences of the Department of Justice’s investigation one way or the other, despite his personal feelings for the people involved, because “the action of the Government must be impersonal in these matters.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-06-03

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter to Joseph M. Dixon

Several months ago a petition was prepared alleging that International Harvester was in violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act but President Taft prevented the petition from being filed. Taft’s action was supposedly to provide more time for negotiations to voluntary dissolve the company but negotiations have achieved nothing.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1912-04-24

Creator(s)

Unknown

Letter from Herbert David Croly to Theodore Roosevelt

Herbert David Croly sends Theodore Roosevelt a chapter of his biography of Marcus Alonzo Hanna, requesting that Roosevelt read over Croly’s account of the Republican National Convention of 1900. The chapter also contains statements made by Roosevelt during interviews with newspaperman James B. Morrow and letters Roosevelt had written to Hanna, all of which Croly asks Roosevelt to approve. According to Hanna’s son Daniel Rhodes Hanna, Roosevelt could possibly speak to Hanna’s involvement with the Panama Canal. Croly closes by asking about Hanna’s reaction to Roosevelt’s suit against the Northern Securities Company. Croly is open to meeting with Roosevelt at Sagamore Hill if needed.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-12-04

Creator(s)

Croly, Herbert David, 1869-1930

Letter from Charles J. Bonaparte to Theodore Roosevelt

Charles J. Bonaparte confirms some details of antitrust suits that occurred against Standard oil and the Tobacco Trust around the time he was Attorney General in Theodore Roosevelt’s administration. He asks Roosevelt if he knows anything of the details surrounding a proposed political organization that claims to stand for the principles of Republicanism, as he is somewhat skeptical of it.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-07-26

Creator(s)

Bonaparte, Charles J. (Charles Joseph), 1851-1921

Memorandum from the Office of the Attorney General

The Office of the Attorney General reports that Attorney General Charles J. Bonaparte advised President Roosevelt that there is no reason to prosecute the United States Steel Corporation under the Sherman Act for its proposed acquisition of the Tennessee Coal and Iron Company. However, if this transaction were to be preceded or followed by similar acquisitions, the Department of Justice would need to reexamine the situation for antitrust violations.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1909-01-09

Creator(s)

United States. Department of Justice. Office of the Attorney General

Message from Medill McCormick

Medill McCormick has said there is a belief that the Standard Oil Company controls the paper trust, which would be significant if true.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-11

Creator(s)

Unknown

Letter from Henry Clay Frick to Theodore Roosevelt

Henry Clay Frick and Elbert H. Gary have an idea for how to handle the antitrust suit against the Standard Oil Company, which Frick maintains is contributing to the current financial insecurity in the United States, and would like to discuss the matter with President Roosevelt.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-11-30

Creator(s)

Frick, Henry Clay, 1849-1919

Memorandum by the Attorney General

Attorney General Bonaparte is not clear how seriously the attached letter should be taken, and as such cannot fully comment on it. The letter’s author, Benjamin B. Hampton, is an advertising agent unfamiliar with the laws related to the American Tobacco Company and has obtained his information primarily through communications with management of said trusts, but is certain that President Roosevelt has violated the law in his administration’s prosecution of the trusts and is acting on incorrect information. Bonaparte dismisses these allegations and does not believe Hampton to have any of the contextual or legal knowledge necessary to speak on the issue.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-11-11

Creator(s)

Bonaparte, Charles J. (Charles Joseph), 1851-1921

Letter from Paul Morton to Theodore Roosevelt

Paul Morton recommends that all antitrust cases and investigations should be put on hold until the current financial crisis has been resolved. The condition in New York City is slowly improving but hindered by continuing problems in the rest of the country.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-11-13

Creator(s)

Morton, Paul, 1857-1911

Letter from Judson C. Clements to Theodore Roosevelt

Judson C. Clements replies to President Roosevelt’s questions about the Union Pacific Coal Inquiry report. Clements clarifies the phrasing of the report’s last sentence and offers to make any further explanations Roosevelt requests.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-10-14

Creator(s)

Clements, Judson C. (Judson Claudius), 1846-1917

Report from Judson C. Clements to Theodore Roosevelt

Judson C. Clements, acting chairman of the Interstate Commerce Commission, reports to President Roosevelt the principal facts established in its investigation of the Union Pacific Railroad. Upon interviewing competitors of the Union Pacific Coal Company, “every dollar of whose stock is owned by the Union Pacific Railroad Company,” the Commission finds that a monopoly on coal production and transport has been established in the area. Further, the Commission recommends remedial legislation as a result of its investigation.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-10-13

Creator(s)

Clements, Judson C. (Judson Claudius), 1846-1917

Letter from William M. Stewart to Theodore Roosevelt

William M. Stewart thanks President Roosevelt for his efforts to correct the issues with the railroad trusts. Stewart states this economic system will destroy constitutional government and he hopes the American people will see the dangers of trusts.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-06-13

Creator(s)

Stewart, William M. (William Morris), 1827-1909

Letter from James Rudolph Garfield to Theodore Roosevelt

Commissioner of Corporations Garfield replies to President Roosevelt’s letter regarding William Miller Collier’s letter about anti-trust work at the Department of Commerce and Labor. Garfield notes that there is no opportunity for work against corporations in his department and that Collier should contact the Attorney General. Garfield goes on to outline the duties and responsibilities of the Department of Commerce and Labor as he sees them and how they relate to the anti-trust investigation of the beef industry.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-10-01

Creator(s)

Garfield, James Rudolph, 1865-1950

Letter from James Rudolph Garfield to William Miller Collier

Commissioner of Corporations Garfield writes to Solicitor of Commerce and Labor Collier to suggest a change in Collier’s statement regarding the fact that “the function of the Bureau of Corporations is not to enforce anti-trust laws.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-09-19

Creator(s)

Garfield, James Rudolph, 1865-1950

Letter from William H. Moody to Theodore Roosevelt

Attorney General Moody writes President Roosevelt to inform him about an anti-trust violation complaint against an Ohio tire company and asks for direction as to how to proceed.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-08-31

Creator(s)

Moody, William H. (William Henry), 1853-1917