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President Roosevelt tells Joseph Bucklin Bishop that he will keep his letters confidential, but asks him to tell Chairman of the Isthmian Canal Commission George W. Goethals to prepare the governorship business, which Roosevelt will take care of in Secretary of War William H. Taft’s absence.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-09-16
Joseph Bucklin Bishop informs President Roosevelt of a situation in the Panama Canal Zone beyond the scope of canal construction. Bishop describes how the executive order signed on November 17 virtually abolished the office of Governor and conferred power on the General Counsel, creating a bad situation in which General Counsel Richard Reid Rogers took advantage of his new power. When Secretary of War Taft visited in March, he issued a new executive order to address this situation, conferring the majority of government power on the chairman of the Isthmian Canal Commission and acted on by the governor of the Panama Canal Zone, Joseph C.S. Blackburn. Bishop states that Blackburn is doing excellent work and is well-respected, unlike Rogers.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-09-06
Secretary of War Taft forwards President Roosevelt a telegram that he received from John F. Stevens regarding Stevens’s resignation as Chairman of the Commission, and has appointed George W. Goethals to replace him.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-03-22
“The Chief Executive thinks Senator Pritchard went too far in excluding qualified negro voters from the State Convention – he may give out a statement regarding the matter which will shock Blackburn and others who are declaring for the old order of things – Mr. Roosevelt shakes hands with 200 Asheville people.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1902-11-20
President Roosevelt writes to Joseph Bucklin Bishop asking him to tell Colonel Goethals to proceed with the selection of Senator Joseph C. S. Blackburn for Governor in the Panama Canal Zone.
1907-09-16
Secretary of War Taft reports to President Roosevelt on his visit to the Panama Canal Zone. Taft was investigating reports of poor conditions in the Subsistence Department to head off a scandal. As a result, Jackson Smith has resigned from the Commission, and Taft suggests personnel and organizational changes. Taft also reports on attempts to rig the upcoming election in Panama.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-05-16
Secretary of War Taft informs Panama President Amador Guerrero that the United States is aware of plans to fraudulently rig the upcoming election for Ricardo Arias over Jose Domingo de Obaldia. Taft warms Amador Guerrero that if this occurs, the United States will be forced to intervene in the election. He includes a quotation from President Roosevelt stating as such.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-05-12
Joseph Bucklin Bishop, secretary of the Isthmian Canal Commission, recounts the Congressional Appropriations Committee’s visit to the Panama Canal Zone and offers several suggestions for how to improve government operations in the Canal Zone. The committee members are enthusiastic about the project and were highly impressed by the abilities and knowledge of George W. Goethals, Chief Engineer of the Isthmian Canal Commission, but were disappointed by Canal Zone Governor Joseph C. S. Blackburn’s abilities. Bishop candidly admits to feeling similarly about Blackburn and encourages President Roosevelt to send Goethals to speak before Congress on the proceedings of the Canal project instead. Bishop also discusses the General Counsel for the Canal Zone Richard R. Rogers, who had criticized the Commission’s operations in a way which demonstrated an intolerable ignorance of the situation and a disloyalty to President Roosevelt.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-11-13
This newsletter, available free of charge to employees of the Isthmian Canal Commission and the Panama Railroad Company, reports on various happenings in the Canal Zone, including updates on progress, revenue, mosquitoes, sports, and excavation. It also includes a directory of names at the end.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-09-11
A flock of politicians, each carrying a bill of their creation, flies over the head of a female symbolic representation of the U.S. Capitol dome.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
1880-1900
President Cleveland appears as an explorer, with cabinet members John G. Carlisle and Walter Q. Gresham, in a jungle, where they have come across a band of monkeys labeled “D. Hill, C. Dana, W. Reid, Blackburn, Vest, Jones, Pugh, Foraker, Wolcott, Teller, Morgan, Peffer, [and] Stewart.” Caption: Pioneer Cleveland is bound to carry political enlightenment forward, even if the simian statesmen don’t like it.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
1893-11-22
A fireworks display is being prepared. An “Anarchist” and John Peter “Altgeld” are lighting a rocket labeled “Altgeld Anarchistic Boom,” and several men identified as “Bland, Crisp, Teller, Waite, Blackburn, Wolcott, Morgan, [and] Stewart” are lighting rockets around a large medallion labeled “Free Silver Coinage Craze” with a silver coin labeled “In 16 to 1 We Trust.” Blackburn is holding a rocket labeled “Silver Speech” and on the ground are fireworks labeled “Snap Silver Resolutions.” At a table on the right, labeled “Coin’s Financial Hocus Pocus Game,” is William H. Harvey operating a shell game, and behind him is William A. Peffer, the “Windy Man from Kansas.” Caption: They are making great preparations for their Populistic Pyrotechnical display; but it will be only another fizzle.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
1895-07-03
Several men dressed as maids and holding brooms stand on shore or awash in huge waves labeled “Business Revival” and “Sound Money.” The men are identified on their bonnets or on their brooms as “Hoar War Tariff,” “Bland Free Silver,” “Wolcott Silver,” “Teller Free Silver,” “Jones Free Silver,” “Reid High Protection,” “Stewart Free Silver,” “Carter,” “Peffer,” “Crisp,” and “Blackburn Free Silver.” “McKinley” holds the largest broom labeled “Prohibitory Protection.”
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
1895-08-14
A wagon labeled “Free Silver” is filled with a group of “free silver” supporters identified as “Tillman, Boies, Sheehan, Bland, Blackburn, Bryan, Sewall, Pattison, Sibley, Jones, Geo. Fred Williams, Peffer, [and] Altgeld.” Tillman holds a pitchfork with flag labeled “Repudiation” and Altgeld holds a burning torch. The wagon had been harnessed to a mule wearing a halter labeled “Democracy.” It has broken loose and is gathering speed as it rolls backwards down a hill. Caption: Silver Lunatics–Hip, hip, hurrah! Just see how much faster we are going since we cut loose!
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
1896-08-12
William C. “Whitney” is the ringmaster at a circus where “D. B. Hill” is performing a horse riding trick by trying to ride two horses at once, a small horse labeled “Gold Standard” and a larger horse labeled “Free Silver.” Also in the ring is a clown labeled “Harvey.” Among those in the audience are William McKinley, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas B. Reed, John Sherman, George F. Hoar, William B. Allison, William E. Chandler, William F. Peffer, Whitelaw Reid, Grover Cleveland, and Joseph J. C. Blackburn or Charles A. Boutelle. Caption: The New Ringmaster–Gentlemen of the audience, the great equestrian, “The Senator,” will perform his thrilling feat of riding two horses simultaneously! – Brace up, Dave, everybody’s looking at you!
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
1895-06-26
President Cleveland stands on the steps to the “U.S. Treasury,” holding a large sword labeled “Sound Money Policy,” with left hand raised to stop the progress of an eight-headed, silver-scaled hydra labeled “Free Silver Craze.” The heads are identified as “Jones, Crisp, Peffer, Harvey, Stewart, Wolcott, Bland, [and] Blackburn.”
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
1895-06-19
William Jennings Bryan rides a donkey labeled “Popocracy,” and holds a sword labeled “16 to 1” and a string attached to a small cannon labeled “Boy Orator,” at the head of a small army of followers. Among those identified are “Stewart, Watson, Coxey, Lease, Peffer, Tillman, [and] Altgeld,” and possibly Joseph C. S. Blackburn. They are armed with farm tools, brooms, and a large sword labeled “Silver Syndicate” carried by Stewart. Their military standards state “Repudiation, Down with the Supreme Court!!, [and] Dishonesty” and “D–n the Savings Banks, The Loan Associations, The Life Ins. Co’s – The Institutions of the Gold Bugs!!” Across a plain is a large army with flags that state “National Honor” and “Allied Armies of the Sound Money Democrats and the Republican Party,” with the U.S. Capitol and the White House in the background.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
1896-09-30
William Jennings Bryan, as a pirate on a ship labeled “Popocracy,” stands on a barrel, playing a violin, attempting to lure a nearby ship labeled “National Prosperity” close enough so that his band of pirates can board it. Among those pirates identified are “Tillman, Altgeld, Lease, St. John, Sewall, Watson, Peffer, Sulzer, Waite, Debs, Bland, Wm. Stewart, Hill, Blackburn, [and] Coxey.” The men are armed with guns, knives, and rifles. Blackburn has a patch labeled “1895” over his right eye. Caption: Trying to lure a rich prize, in good old buccaneer fashion.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
1896-09-23
President Cleveland, as Cardinal Richelieu, embraces a young woman labeled “Civil Service” as he is confronted by a group of courtiers labeled “Manning, Barnum, C. S. Blackburn, [and] Hendricks”, also John Kelly and a man identified as “Party Boss.” Manning holds a paper that states “Bad Appointments – Higgins, Pillsbury, Troup, [and] Chase.” Includes text by “Manning-Baradas” and “Cleveland-Richelieu.”
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
1885-05-06
A group of office seekers labeled “McLean, Pulitzer, Dorsheimer, Blackburn, McLaughlin, Hill, [and] Dana” sing Christmas carols outside the “White House” where President Cleveland is visible through a window. Their carol goes: “God rest you, merry gentlemen, / May nothing you dismay; / Remember us poor spoilsmen left / This blessed Christmas Day. / Since Christmas comes but once a year, / Oh, let us share your Christmas cheer, / And chuck one little office here / On Christmas Day in the A. M.”
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
1885-12-23