Handwritten note by Theodore Roosevelt
“Corbin How about Watterson? TR / Alaska boundary report on / Army moral report”
Collection
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
Creation Date
1902-03-25
Your TR Source
“Corbin How about Watterson? TR / Alaska boundary report on / Army moral report”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1902-03-25
Secretary of State Hay recounts the difficulties associated with the ongoing Alaska boundary dispute.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1902-07-17
Theodore Roosevelt calls John W. Foster’s attention to several misstatements of fact he made in a recent speech. Roosevelt states that he has always been consistent on the subject of international arbitration, and he explains his positions on the seal industry in the Bering Sea and the Alaskan boundary dispute. Roosevelt does not wish to start a public controversy on the matter but felt that an ex-Secretary of State such as Foster needs to have the record set straight when he publicly misstates facts about an ex-President.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-05-26
Theodore Roosevelt complains about misrepresentations in the press, such as publications appearing in Hearst’s American, and including a recent conflict with Governor Baldwin and previous battles with Senator Platt. He agrees with Senator Lodge regarding Canadian reciprocity and is distressed at the many contradictions in the potential treaty. Roosevelt believes that the Lorimer case is very clear. He views Senator Lorimer’s unexpected election, corrupt past, and the bribery confessions of Illinois legislators as sufficient proof of Lorimer’s guilt.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-01-31
Theodore Roosevelt asks Henry Cabot Lodge if he previously wrote to Lodge in detail about his handling of the Algeciras Conference and the Alaskan Boundary dispute. If this is the case, Roosevelt requests to see the letters.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1916-01-15
President Roosevelt has a feeling that Oliver Wendell Holmes showing his July letter to Neville Chamberlain and others may have had an effect on the Alaska boundary decision.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1903-10-20
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.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1903-06-29
President Roosevelt lays out his understanding of the Alaskan boundary dispute between the United States, Great Britain, and Canada. Roosevelt finds Canadian claims to be “outrageous and indefensible,” but is willing to appoint commissioners to investigate the boundary. However, arbitration is out of the question.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1902-07-10
John W. Foster responds to Theodore Roosevelt’s recent letter criticizing Foster’s speech on international relations. Foster supplies citations for statements that Roosevelt alleges are baseless, including discussions of the Alaskan boundary dispute, the Olney-Pauncefote commission, and Roosevelt’s conduct in the case of international treaties during his presidency. Foster closes the letter by remarking that, had Roosevelt “not made a public assault on the noblest act of [his] successor’s administration, I would not have reviewed [his] record.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-05-29
Arthur Hamilton Lee recently returned from Canada where he was on a mission to gather opinions related to the Alaskan Arbitration land dispute. Locals seems to be glad the matter is over, although there is resentment towards Newfoundland’s “modus vivendi.” Self-described “King of Newfoundland” Robert Gillespie Reid thinks only the basest politicians are against it.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-10-30
Ambassador Reid reports to President Roosevelt about affairs in Europe. Reid’s impression is that neither Great Britain nor Germany want tensions to escalate to a war, and he is still trying to get more details about their negotiations. Reid informs Roosevelt that the King seems to be in ill health. He is also worried that Roosevelt’s friend, Silas McBee, is stirring up trouble by seeming to interfere in debates about the Education Bill. Reid referred the Grocers’ Federation to Secretary of Agriculture James Wilson and Secretary of Commerce and Labor Victor Howard Metcalf so that they might receive more information about complying with America’s meat inspection laws, and he enclosed a copy of a speech he gave at Cambridge on the American Revolution. Reid concludes by saying that he hopes the British government will help the United States settle disputes with Canada.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-08-16
A quote that is to be inserted after the reference to the Alaskan boundary dispute reads, “Whenever crimes against humanity have been perpetrated that have shocked our people, his protest has been made, and our good offices tendered, but always within conservative lines.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1903-1904
President Roosevelt tells Senator Lodge, who is serving on the Alaskan Boundary Tribunal, that the United States can yield on the Portland Canal Islands as long as Lord Alverstone agrees with them on the line being drawn around the heads of the inlets. Roosevelt believes the contention regarding where the line should be drawn is a result of inaccurate maps of the area. He asserts that the British have “no case whatever” and that Alverstone should be satisfied with the very minimum. Roosevelt is glad that Lodge, Secretary of War Elihu Root, and former Senator George Turner of Washington feel the same way.
Massachusetts Historical Society
1903-10-05
President Roosevelt is against breaking off negotiations with the British over the Alaskan boundary, even if the British request extra time for the presentation of arguments.
Massachusetts Historical Society
1903-07-08
President Roosevelt provides updates on the Post Office investigation and the Alaska boundary dispute. Roosevelt would prefer that the Alaska negotiations end before the presidential campaign.
Massachusetts Historical Society
1903-06-29
President Roosevelt is pleased with the arbitration of the Alaska boundary dispute. The Canadians are complaining that they should have had treaty making powers but Roosevelt believes that if they did then Canada would have received even less.
1903-10-24
Oscar S. Straus asks that President Roosevelt’s secretary contact him to set up a time when he can meet with Roosevelt to discuss the Miller case. Straus congratulates Roosevelt on the settlement of the Alaskan boundary dispute.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1903
Arthur Hamilton Lee thanks President Roosevelt for writing concerning his appointment as Civil Lord of the Admiralty for the Royal Navy. Lee discusses the resolution of the Alaskan boundary dispute, Joseph Chamberlain and the Tariff Reform movement, recently appointed Ambassador H. Mortimer Durand, and protectionism.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1903-11-22
Henry White informs President Roosevelt of the Prime Minister’s positive impression of new Ambassador to the United States H. Mortimer Durand. White mentions interactions with Joseph Hodges Choate and Lord Lansdowne, who spoke of Durand’s appointment as Ambassador following former British Ambassador Michael Henry Herbert’s recent death. White congratulates Roosevelt on the Hay-Herrán Treaty, actions regarding the Alaska Boundary dispute, and for his written appeal for the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church Centennial declaration.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1903-11-17
Daniel Edgar Sickles encloses a resume from the Times that editorializes his address on the Panama policy held at the Patricia Club. On the topic of American development, Sickles compares President Roosevelt to former presidents Thomas Jefferson and William McKinley. Sickles discusses political action regarding the Panama Revolution; Sickles suggests extending Panama borders and asserts the need for United States control of the canal between Colon and Panama.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1903-11-16