Arbitration, International

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Albert Apponyi

Theodore Roosevelt forwarded Albert Apponyi’s article to The Outlook but cannot guarantee its publication. He has felt out of sympathy with the pacifist movement and agrees with Apponyi that not all questions are suitable for arbitration or international inquiry. Roosevelt is “inexpressibly saddened” by the war in Europe and states that both sides have sincere convictions. He has no doubt that Belgium has been wronged, which must be addressed if “treaties are ever to amount to anything.” Roosevelt has many European friends and laments what is happening.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1914-09-17

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to William II, German Emperor

President Roosevelt urges German Emperor William II to enter into a treaty of arbitration with the United States as an expression of goodwill. Acceptance of such a treaty would provide evidence of friendship between the two countries and pave the way for future cooperation, even though the treaty itself is not as effective as Roosevelt would hope.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-05-06

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Andrew Carnegie

President Roosevelt agrees with Andrew Carnegie that it is necessary to initiate arbitration between Japan and the United States.  However, Roosevelt doubts “any president could have done more to secure peace” than himself. Roosevelt is pleased Carnegie approves of his efforts to establish trade with South America.  

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-02-27

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Albert L. Key

President Roosevelt was very interested in Lieutenant Commander Albert L. Key’s view of Senator Eugene Hale. He agrees with Key’s comments on Representative Theodore E. Burton’s speech, and says that while Burton is useful in many ways, his opposition to the Navy offsets all of this. Roosevelt dismisses Burton’s opinion that “he believed in arbitration rather than battleships” with the comment that, “he might just as well say that he believed in arbitration rather than policemen.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-07-17

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Lyman Abbott

President Roosevelt hopes the nations at the next Hague Conference will join in framing a general arbitration treaty. Although the nations cannot arbitrate all questions, Roosevelt believes it is a good idea to figure out which questions can be arbitrated and then proceed in such arbitration.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1905-06-08

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to John Hay

President Roosevelt is glad to hear that Secretary of State Hay is recovering. He updates Hay on a variety of matters the State Department is currently dealing with. In particular, Roosevelt discusses the situation in Santo Domingo, and the ongoing efforts to broker peace between Russia and Japan.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1905-03-30

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Orville Hitchcock Platt

President Roosevelt informs Senator Platt that he has instructed Secretary of State John Hay to “endeavor to procure” an amendment to Article 2 of the Bering Sea Tribunal of Arbitration, per the request of several senators. Roosevelt goes on to point out that the original text of the treaty was approved in advance by the members of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations prior to to negotiation, and that a joint resolution by the House and Senate requested Roosevelt to negotiate and conclude the treaty governing the hunting of fur seals with Great Britain.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1905-02-23

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Silas McBee

President Roosevelt shares his views on the reciprocity treaties recently rejected by the Senate with Silas McBee. Roosevelt points out that George Washington himself concluded a treaty in 1796 that delegated all questions to arbitration. Moreover, the Senate recently ratified a treaty giving the president the power to refer claims to arbitration at the Hague. Roosevelt berates the individual senators as caring more about the “prerogative of the Senate” than the welfare of the country.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1905-02-16

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Shelby M. Cullom

President Roosevelt discusses with Senator Cullom the implications of substituting terms such as “agreement” and “treaty” while amending the arbitration treaties. Doing this, Roosevelt believes, essentially makes the treaties useless, and is a “slight step backward as regards the question of international arbitration.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1905-02-10

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Shelby M. Cullom

President Roosevelt writes to Senator Cullom regarding several general arbitration treaties currently before the Senate. Roosevelt notes that as the treaties now appear, it might be possible for claims against individual states for state debts to be considered as matters for arbitration, and that such a thing is entirely inconceivable because of constitutional limitations. He explains that the objection to the amendment on this issue is due to the fact that the other various parties have already agreed on the form of the treaty, and that changing the treaty to add terms that would only affect the United States’ internal policy seems undesirable. In any case, the treaties are only for a term of five years, and will be interpreted as he set out above until the end of that period.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1905-01-10

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to John C. Spooner

President Roosevelt takes issue with the amendment supposedly proposed by Senator Henry Cabot Lodge which states in effect that each of the arbitration treaties “have no possible effect until other arbitration treaties are concluded.” Roosevelt tells Senator Spooner he believes the amendment is a “sham” and he refuses to go farther with the treaty as it stands with the amendment, although he does not question the right of the Senate to amend a treaty.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1905-01-06

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Joseph Gurney Cannon

President Roosevelt writes to Joseph Gurney Cannon, Chairman of the Notification Committee, to formally accept his nomination as the Republican presidential candidate and to approve the platform adopted by the Republican National Convention. In the letter, Roosevelt provides a comprehensive defense of his foreign and domestic policies and outlines what he believes are the major differences between the Republican and Democratic parties in the upcoming election. Roosevelt discusses, among other topics, his position on international relations, antitrust legislation, tariffs, the gold standard, pensions for Civil War veterans, the military, civil service, commerce, agriculture, taxation, and self-government in the Philippines.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-09-12

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Oscar S. Straus

Japan regards any attempts at mediation in the Russo-Japanese War as unfriendly in the belief that Russia is trying to delay in order to complete preparations. Japan requires an immediate agreement or further war. Russia wants all proposals to go through Japan. Currently, attempts are being made to guarantee China’s neutrality.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-02-09

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Arthur Hamilton Lee

President Roosevelt defends the settlement of the Alaska boundary dispute and comments on Lord Alverstone’s actions in the matter. Roosevelt believes that if all the arbitrators had been judges, as suggested by Arthur Hamilton Lee, the Canadians would have received even less territory due to the weakness of their claims.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1903-12-07

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Paul-Henri-Benjamin Balluet, baron d’Estournelles de Constant

President Roosevelt agrees with French Deputy Estournelles de Constant in reference to the Hague court and is unsure of how to advise regarding the invitation to members of Congress.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1903-11-11

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Paul-Henri-Benjamin Balluet, baron d’Estournelles de Constant

President Roosevelt supports the Hague Court and hopes its international support will grow. Roosevelt would like to offer a good word or deed for the people of Turkey and states that there is good and evil in all nations and creeds. Roosevelt would like to be reelected and he tries to act in accordance with what is right, but also what is practical.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1903-09-01

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Oliver Wendell Holmes

President Roosevelt provides his thoughts on the Alaskan boundary dispute and generally favors the claims of the United States. Roosevelt concedes that the British have a few small points of argument.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1903-07-25

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to John Hay

Senator Henry Cabot Lodge and Secretary of War Elihu Root are against any delay by the British in the Alaska boundary negotiations. President Roosevelt does not want the dispute pending during the presidential campaign and, if necessary, is willing to get Congressional appropriations in order to “run the line ourselves.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1903-06-29

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Felix Moscheles

President Roosevelt was very pleased when the concerned powers agreed to arbitration at the Hague court, most likely referring to the Venezuelan crisis.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1903-01-13

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Philander C. Knox

President Roosevelt encloses an editorial from Whitelaw Reid regarding how the United States could be constrained by the decisions of the international tribunal.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1903-01-14