Capitalism

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

Paul Morton, President of Equitable Life Insurance, clarifies E. P. Ripley’s stance on President Theodore Roosevelt and the railroads. Morton points out the false information Roosevelt has received regarding the prosecution of the Standard Oil corporation. Railroads are seeing an increase in expenses and a decrease in net earnings. Morton hopes that Roosevelt approves of his letter to Ripley.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-01-04

Paul Morton sends President Roosevelt an extract of a letter from Edward Payson Ripley, the President of the Atchison Railroad. Ripley believes that Roosevelt may have contributed to the country’s false idea of “the aims and methods of the railroads.” Ripley believes the “Socialistic tendency” will become more bitter when prosperity ends and hopes that Roosevelt can do something to “stop the clamor he has raised.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-12-31

President Roosevelt points to handwriting on the wall, “Regulation or Revolution?”, as he sits at a table with J. Pierpont Morgan, John D. Rockefeller, and Henry Huttleston Rogers.

comments and context

Comments and Context

Cartoonist Albert J. Taylor was earnest in his spin on a popular political-cartoon inspiration, the writing on the wall. Other than a wall, and writing, and perhaps an interrupted feast, any parallels to the Book of Daniel and Belshazzar’s Feast are elusive.

Cartoon depicts Mark Hanna sitting in a U.S. Senate chair with capital and labor each on one knee as President Roosevelt looks on from over the top of the President’s chair.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1902-08-10

Cartoon depicts President Roosevelt and Senator Hanna in a nursery. Roosevelt is riding a stick pony marked Second Term. Hanna is playing the Arbitration game with Capital and Labor. Caption: Mark – You’re welcome to your hobby, Teddy. I find this a more interesting game.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1902-06-12

Theodore Roosevelt has been informed that lands in the Philippines have been given to capitalists to use for sugar, which should not have happened. Roosevelt requests information from Allen Foster Cooper.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1912-08-02

Theodore Roosevelt has been informed that land in the Philippines has been given to capitalists to use for sugar, which should not have been done. Roosevelt requests information from Representative Curry on this matter. The previous year Curry stated that the Philippines should be independent. Roosevelt thinks that the Philippines should be independent eventually but are not fit for independence at present. Roosevelt trusts Curry and wishes to know what Curry’s views are on the matter of Philippine independence, so that Roosevelt can take them into account when evaluating his own views.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1912-08-02

Theodore Roosevelt is unable to visit Clarence H. Howard but asks that Howard let him know if he comes to New York. Roosevelt read Howard’s publication and is pleased that there are capitalists like him and recommends one of his own articles for Howard to read.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1915-08-20

Theodore Roosevelt thinks the quotation is a deliberate invention of the socialist newspaper, The Masses. Roosevelt tells Meyer Lissner that if he cares to follow up, he may state to the paper that Roosevelt challenges them to say what the statement is from.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1914-11-16

President Roosevelt writes to Louis A. Coolidge, Director of the Literary Bureau of the Republican National Committee, about a recent editorial attacking him for accepting an honorary membership in the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen (a trade union). There have been both similar and opposite attacks in other newspapers. Therefore, Roosevelt would like Coolidge to create a pamphlet to demonstrate that he treats wage-workers and capitalists the same, evidenced by dining with both labor men (such as John Mitchell) and heads of corporations at the White House.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-08-03

Theodore Roosevelt thanks Ervin Wardman for the work the New York Press is doing. Roosevelt would like everyone to know that he has labor men to lunch and dinner, just as he does capitalists.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-08-02

These draft resolutions of the Republican party in the state of Ohio endorse President Roosevelt’s administration. They describe his enforcement of Inter-State Commerce and Anti-Trust Laws, advancing the Panama Canal project, passing the Hepburn Act regulating railway rates and a bill on meat inspection, and his foreign policy. The resolutions urge Congress to pass a “stringent immigration law” to ensure that only the most industrious immigrants are allowed to enter the United States. They discuss the country’s industrial progress and condemn dishonest business practices. They close by reaffirming support of a protective tariff.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906

A newspaper article detailing the needs of the American railroad system in its “hour of trial by public criticism.” The list of needs includes fuel, cars, trackage, money, and mercy.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907

President Roosevelt supports labor unions and capitalism, but his actions are being attacked in the press from both sides. The leading papers for each side are the New York Sun, which supports capital, and the New York Journal, which supports labor. Roosevelt finds it difficult to avoid “dishonest misrepresentations” of his speeches and positions.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1903-08-05

 Joseph H. Rudrow thanks Theodore Roosevelt for his service as a politician. He recalls having voted for Abraham Lincoln in his concern for the unity of the country, and says that he has similar worries now due to the trusts and corporations at work in the nation, as they deprive workers of a fair share of the products of their labor.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-06-10

Harrison C. Babbitt uses Christian ideals to advocate for socialist reform and urges President Roosevelt to read The Truth About Socialism by Allan L. Benson.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-04-28

Louisa Lee Schuyler thanks President Roosevelt for the letter he wrote for the recent anti-tuberculosis meeting, and tells him some of the details of the proceedings. She praises Roosevelt for his efforts to root out corruption, and compares him to President Washington and President Lincoln as one of the great leaders in American history. She quotes the bible verse Ephesians 6:12-14, which she says has been coming to mind throughout Roosevelt’s presidency, exhorting him to stand against the darkness of the world and put on the armor of God.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-02-15

John A. Lewis does not regret voting for President Roosevelt. Lewis congratulates Roosevelt on his handling of labor affairs and the Charles H. Moyer and Big Bill Haywood murder investigation. He is interested in Roosevelt’s stance on the over-capitalization of railroads and hopes that Roosevelt will extend those actions to telegraph companies, especially the Western Union. Lewis hopes that Roosevelt will remain in office and thinks that Roosevelt would receive many votes from Southerners.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-04-25

N. P. Andresen agrees with President Roosevelt that Charles H. Moyer, “Big Bill” Haywood, and Eugene V. Debs are “undesirable citizens” from the perspective of capitalists. By the same token, the Roosevelts, Rockefellers, and Hearsts are undesirable from the perspective of the working class. Given that there are overwhelmingly more people in the working class than there are capitalists, Andresen says, “it ought not to be difficult for you to form a correct impression as to who really are, and who are not, desirable citizens.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-04-25