Your TR Source
President Roosevelt has telegraphed Cecil Andrew Lyon about District Attorney William Hawley Atwell. In the matter of John W. Vann, Roosevelt has directed Treasury Secretary George B. Cortelyou to appoint an independent investigator and will send the results before making a decision.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-08-10
George C. Stewart testifies to his experiences with corruption in the General Land Office.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-01-03
Theodore Roosevelt gives his opinion on Commissioner McIlhenny and discusses the issues with President Wilson’s management of the civil service.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1915-12-29
President Roosevelt disagrees with several statements Secretary of State John Hay wrote. While Hay was one of the most “delightful characters” Roosevelt had ever met, he found Hay lacking leadership qualities as a Secretary of State. Roosevelt provides Senator Lodge with his view of the Alaska Boundary dispute in 1903. He includes copies of the letters Roosevelt wrote to Judge Oliver Wendell Holmes and Henry White to show to British Secretary of State for the Colonies James Chamberlain and Prime Minister James Arthur Balfour. Roosevelt explains why certain appointments were made following the death of President William McKinley and details for why Hay was not consulted on matters concerning the Russo-Japanese War and the acquisition of Panama.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1909-01-28
President Roosevelt apologizes and withdraws his request from the United States Civil Service Commission. Roosevelt instructs the Commission to investigate and report on the two cases.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-11-04
President Roosevelt provides Richard Henry Dana with his thoughts and details on the case surrounding Archie Dovell Sanders, a New York civil servant who refuses to stop his political activity while in office.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-11-02
President Roosevelt encloses material concerning corrupt practices among federal officials and asks Francis J. Heney if he should take any action.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-02-08
President Roosevelt is surprised by Representative Patterson’s message regarding William S. Leib, an assistant treasurer in Philadelphia who has been accused of violating civil service laws.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-09-26
In light of the conclusions made by the Civil Service Commission, President Roosevelt has removed Public Printer Francis Wayland Palmer from office following an investigation into allegations of corruption against the Morgenthaler Company.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-09-09
President Roosevelt is going to try and get Secretary of State Elihu Root and Joseph Hodges Choate to come to Sagamore Hill when Senator Lodge will be there. He tells Lodge about the current situation in the Government Printing Office, where Francis Wayland Palmer was removed from his position and Roosevelt is trying to decide on a replacement. He also discusses the current unrest in Japan and tells Lodge that he has instructed Root to deal with the Newfoundland matter “as soon as possible.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-09-06
President Roosevelt asks Secretary of Agriculture Wilson to note the enclosed clipping about Solicitor George P. McCabe’s report on veterinarian D. E. Salmon. Roosevelt is not happy with Salmon’s connection with George E. Howard and his printing company. Even if Salmon did not profit from the situation, the connection was not proper.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-09-02
Senator Dixon forwards a message he sent to President Taft claiming that several Taft supporters in Kentucky who were in charge of recording primary results signed their certificates for Taft even though Theodore Roosevelt won a majority. Dixon believes that civil service regulations were violated and implies that Taft will be implicated in these crimes unless he publicly repudiates these actions and punishes the perpetrators.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1912-04-08
Secretary of the Navy Bonaparte discusses the political situation in Baltimore regarding the vacancy for Deputy Surveyor of Customs and recommends that President Roosevelt leave the position unfilled until after the election and then appoint James Campbell. Bonaparte then discusses the political situation between Clarence C. Pusey, Abraham Lincoln Dryden, and John B. Hanna, recommending that Roosevelt suggest that Pusey wait until November 1st to take office, which would be considerate to William H. Jackson without offending Pusey’s supporters. Bonaparte also discusses whether two ships should make a trip to New Orleans or not.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-09-10
Civil Service Commissioner Roosevelt responds to claims made by William Potts’s “British friend” regarding the Commission. Appointing officers cannot just call for any man they want. Removals in the Treasury Department may have been done for political reasons but that is just one half of one percent. Roosevelt wants Potts’s friend to write him with specific facts.
1895-01-08
Civil Service Commissioner Roosevelt tells journalist Edward Porritt he will send him half a dozen reports of the Commission. He insists “probably not one percent” of jobs in the classified service are influenced by politics and asks Porritt to give him the names of his informants so Roosevelt can speak with them. He admits the spoils system of the last sixty years leaves the impression favoritism is used in classified service appointments but that it is no longer the case.
1895-01-12
Civil Service Commissioner Roosevelt answers journalist Edward Porritt’s letter by sending him copies of reports dealing with the Civil Service Act and Rules, addressing the abuses and consequences of the spoils system. Roosevelt responds to a paper written by Porritt by saying there is no basis for a charge of favoritism in the working of the Civil Service Law at Washington. He adds that the belief appointments and removals are based on favor and influence was perpetuated by the spoils system that prevailed for sixty years.
1895-01-11
Charles J. Bonaparte believes that J. D. Cameron will need to be indicted when his connection to the postmaster case becomes public knowledge. It appears that Cameron’s political influence has given him immunity thus far. Bonaparte does not believe that Commissioner William Dudley Foulke was attempting to deceive President Roosevelt. However, Foulke’s interpretation that fourth class postmasters are exempt from the schedule as “employees in post offices having no free delivery service” should be used or these postmasters will be in a classified, competitive class. Bonaparte also warns against Postmaster General Henry C. Payne showing sympathy towards the Addicks faction in Delaware.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1903-09-21