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Attorney General Bonaparte informs President Roosevelt about a variety of telegrams he has received pertaining to current issues, such as the trial in Idaho concerning Senator William Edgar Borah, the work of Special Assistant U.S. District Attorney Grace Humiston (Mrs. Quackenbos), and a revised constitution for the Territory of Oklahoma.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-09-10
Acting Secretary of the Navy Newberry submits a report to President Roosevelt about the coal situation. The Navy Department wants to approve what Admiral Wm. S. Cowles has written about this subject. Newberry concludes by listing three propositions the Navy Department could adopt if the transcontinental railroads offer a lower rate than the New England Coal and Coke Company has already proposed.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-09-06
Commissioner General of Immigration Sargent answers William Loeb’s request that a report regarding Japanese movement into and out of the United States be prepared for President Roosevelt.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-08-27
University of California President Wheeler is satisfied with President Roosevelt’s letter to Representative Joseph R. Knowland. He reports that the post office has been “miserably managed for years,” a claim confirmed by an inspector’s reports. Knowland’s underhanded attempt to appoint Charles E. Thomas reflects poorly on both his and Thomas’s characters. Wheeler calculates that the university produces half, if not more, of the city’s mail. He highly appreciates Roosevelt’s Provincetown speech.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-08-26
Admiral Brownson, chief of the Bureau of Navigation, sends President Roosevelt a letter from Admiral Robley D. Evans with information about the Great White Fleet. Brownson comments on Evans’s points about fleet movements, maneuvers, and supplies. He feels it best to have just one journalist accompany the fleet.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-08-19
Kentarō Kaneko hopes that President Roosevelt’s son, Archie, is recovering from his illness. He assures Roosevelt that he did all he could in light of racial tensions in San Francisco, and will remind the Japanese government that Roosevelt has been a friend to Japan in the past.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-04-15
Ambassador Charles S. Francis notes that Professor John Williams Burgess attended Ambassador Charlemagne Tower’s recent dinner at the Embassy in Berlin and will be traveling to Vienna. Due to Burgess’s criticism of President Roosevelt, Francis does not want to entertain him, and asks William Loeb’s opinion on the matter. Francis hopes that Roosevelt approved of unofficial efforts to pressure the Austrian Phoenix Insurance Company to reach an agreement with a committee representing the San Francisco earthquake claimants.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-03-11
Secretary of State Root informs President Roosevelt that he will visit this evening after all. Root has prepared a telegram to San Francisco Mayor Eugene E. Root. If Roosevelt approves it, Root asks that Roosevelt have the White House operator send it. Root suggests that he and Roosevelt could write a telegram to send to the Governor of California James Norris Gillett about the threat of discrimination against Japanese students in California school. Root expresses his frustration, writing “Did you ever see such idiots?”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-03-10
After returning from San Francisco, Endicott Peabody shares his plans surrounding President Roosevelt and his family’s upcoming visit.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-02-16
George Kennan is horrified at the situation with the School Board in San Francisco. He hopes that if President Roosevelt meets them he can see them for who they are as individuals with illicit character. It is creating a San Francisco where men of character are leaving.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-02-02
Brigadier General Murray contests several statements made by Mr. Archibald regarding the incompleteness of the fixed defenses of the Pacific Coast harbors. Murray assures Chief of Staff Bell that the mines used in the coastal defense system are controlled from shore and are harmless to friendly vessels. Murray also notes that submarines are promising war vessels but they have not yet proven to be valuable and, therefore, Mr. Archibald’s suggestion to adopt submarines for the defenses of the harbors is “preposterous.” Murray does believe, however, that submarines possess decided merit for uses supplemental to fixed defenses in harbors where mines cannot be used.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-01
Corps of Engineers Lieutenant Colonel Leach summarizes James F. J. Archibald’s letter to President Roosevelt regarding the weak defense of the Hawaiian Islands. In general, the Pacific Ocean is very poorly defended and should be considered a vulnerability. Leach discuses the logistics of introducing submarine weapons into naval defenses and previous attempts to acquire such weapons. While Leach concedes that Hawaii is lacking in defense, he strongly disagrees with the position that the Pacific Ocean is vulnerable and proves this by listing the local forts and their weaponized capacity.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-01-21
General Wood needs to take a leave of absence to take his son home to the United States to put him into school at Groton Academy, and details his plans for travel during his absence. Wood encloses a response from Adjutant General Fred C. Ainsworth authorizing Wood’s return home. Wood is glad to continue on duty in the Philippines and considers it the best command in the service.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-01-18
Ambassador Francis has read Mr. Conant’s letter to President Roosevelt and asks William Loeb to send to the Department of State for a number of his dispatches to be given to Roosevelt to read. The remainder of the letter examines the Austrian Phoenix Company’s San Francisco losses and the issues claimants are having dealing with the defaulting company. Francis explains he put pressure on the Imperial Minister of Foreign Affairs “to the end that the Austrian Government should, unofficially, force” the company to pay its policy holders in California.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-01-18
Ambassador Francis writes to President Roosevelt to explain that normally he does not conduct newspaper interviews but in this circumstance he felt offering a statement in writing was acceptable. He also hopes Roosevelt will approve of his statement, given to a Viennese newspaper and La Rousse of St. Petersburg, Russia. In the copy of his statement, Francis describes Japan and the United States as good friends, and describes Russia as “their old ally and firm friend.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-01-18
Harrison Gray Otis offers his opinion on immigration policy. He believes that the United States should establish uniform rules for immigrants from both Europe and Asia that bar “the lame, the halt and the blind” in favor of strong, capable men. Otis also agrees with President Roosevelt on the need for a stronger Navy and comments on foreign policy matters pertaining to China and Japan. Additionally, he offers his opinion on adjusting the boundary line between the United States and Mexico.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-01-14
Oscar Sutro thanks Ambassador Charles S. Francis for his assistance in reaching a compromise with the Austrian Phoenix Insurance Company. The deal will greatly help all claimants affected by the recent San Francisco earthquake.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-01-12
This article, published in The Outlook, seeks to present the principles which “should, and eventually will, determine the whole question of the treatment of the Oriental races in this country.” Considering specifically the case of California, where Japanese children were being excluded from public schools, the article highlights three issues: the prerogative of the states to control and make decisions about public schooling, the right of the Federal Government to determine who may enter into the country, and the power of Congress to make naturalization laws to determine who may become a citizen. After explaining these, the article then applies them to the situation in California.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-12-29
Secret Service Agent Flynn presents an extract from the report of Frederick M. Tate regarding the suicide of Lulu Grover. This includes testimony from several neighbors and possible relatives about Grover’s personal history and life in New York City.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-12-15
This pamphlet provides a history of the conflict between the Los Angeles Times and the Typographical Union, which it says started in 1890 and continued for sixteen years.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-12-14