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President Roosevelt informs A. C. Veatch that he has been designated a special commissioner to visit Australia and New Zealand to make a study of the coal land laws there.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-09-19
In a cancelled letter, President Roosevelt would like Senator Clark to discuss with J. A. Holmes, from the Geological Survey, certain details of the pending coal lands legislation. Roosevelt would like some definitive legislation on the matter enacted before Congress adjourns.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-01-28
President Roosevelt has not responded to Secretary of the Interior Hitchcock’s letter because he has been too busy and also wanted to consult the men who were present at the conference held by Roosevelt which Hitchcock did not attend. Roosevelt points out that due to Hitchcock’s absence at the meeting, his letter is full of errors which Roosevelt outlines in his letter to Hitchcock. A mistake within the Department of the Interior has resulted in a serious situation and Roosevelt feels Hitchcock’s arguments are inaccurate.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-01-25
President Roosevelt has given a letter to Charles D. Walcott and J. A. Holmes, both from the U.S. Geological Survey, to present to Senator La Follette to explain why he has chosen to withdraw coal lands from entry. Roosevelt states that there will be great opposition to La Follette’s bill because it will significantly impact the states that are affected. Roosevelt has given Walcott a draft of a bill to show La Follette which supports the essentials of La Follette’s bill and leasing natural resources in the public lands, but leaves some matters up to the discretion of the Secretary of the Interior.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-01-23
President Roosevelt asks Secretary of the Interior Hitchcock if he should write a letter which states the position the administration has taken on Native American lands and coal lands to present to Congress or Chairman of the Senate Committee dealing with Native American lands so they can deal with the issue put before them.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-01-17
President Roosevelt encloses papers that pertain to a bill Senator Spooner is trying to arrange regarding withdrawing and leasing coal, lignite, and oil lands.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-01-11
President Roosevelt tells Secretary Hitchcock that his order was intended to “withdraw the coal lands from coal entry merely,” and had been fashioned after consulting with Forest Service Chief Gifford Pinchot and Geological Survey Director Charles D. Walcott. He notes that the ordered has been misinterpreted at some point I the Department of the Interior’s chain of command to forbid all homestead and other land entries, which was not his intent. Roosevelt asks Hitchcock to correct the order so that it only pertains to coal lands in Alaska and other states and territories, and asks him to issue the order to relevant land offices on Monday morning.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-12-15
President Roosevelt tells Secretary of the Interior Hitchcock that he believes radical action is needed in the matter regarding public lands. Roosevelt feels that illegal fencing is takes public lands away from the public use, and will recommend that Congress pass laws for the government to handle these areas in the same way the forests are managed. Roosevelt wants government officers examining the situation. He also plans to ask for the power to supervise lands used for coal mining, noting that the current related laws “put a premium on fraud.” Roosevelt says that an unnamed university chancellor visited him to complain about damage to his school due to the current coal land-related laws.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-12-13
Senator Robert M. La Follette has met with Commissioner of Indian Affairs Francis E. Leupp and discussed their disagreements over a bill concerning Choctaw and Chickasaw coal lands. La Follette may support Leupp’s provisions, but he feels that the bill, leaving out any reference to the Choctaw and Chickasaw lands, should be introduced today.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-01-22
Clement S. Ucker presents a sworn statement relating to the Union Pacific Coal Company’s case. Ucker attests that there were affidavits and statements enough to form a case showing a conspiracy to defraud the United States government. Additionally there were records restoring the coal lands to the public domain, but these were “allowed to remain dormant in the files” of the office while conspirators tried to acquire the lands.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-01-04
John Graham Brooks relates to President Roosevelt a conversation he had at one of the recent meetings of Economic Clubs from all over the New England area. At the Portland, Maine, meeting, the leader of the Massachusetts socialists criticized Roosevelt and his policies. The gentleman claimed that Roosevelt was “embarrassing,” criticized his “new attitude on taxation and coal lands,” and added that the socialists hope a “safe man” becomes his successor.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-12-23
William Loeb sends to Chief Forester Gifford Pinchot a letter from Secretary of the Interior Ethan Allen Hitchcock concerning the withdrawal of coal lands. Loeb asks Pinchot to give President Roosevelt a report on the matter.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-12-17
Theodore Roosevelt agrees with W. B. Hoggatt about “a leasing system for use in the coal lands.” Roosevelt believes in a liberal system to allow “ample profit” for the miner. Roosevelt invites Hoggatt to lunch and to meet The Outlook people.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-07-28
President Roosevelt agrees with Wisconsin Senator La Follette that leasing “is a means to an end” but remains firm in his beliefs that preventing “noxious combinations” will ensure any combination agreed upon will be in the public’s best interest. Roosevelt has done what he could by temporarily withdrawing lands and by encouraging effective legislation, but further action will be difficult given Congress’s refusal to act on the matter. Roosevelt concludes that if this continues, he will carefully confide with Secretary of the Interior James Rudolph Garfield and United States Commissioner of General Lands Richard Achilles Ballinger and do what is necessary.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-02-19
President Roosevelt assures Secretary of the Interior Hitchcock that he sympathizes with his view on the benefits of the Act of March 3, 1901 towards the operations of the Department of the Interior and the Native American communities they oversee. Roosevelt believes that reserves of coal, asphalt, oil, and gas found on Native American lands must not be sold “to the highest bidder,” but should be leased or worked by a corporation formed for their benefit. Roosevelt supports Hitchcock’s actions towards the preservation of the nation’s timber.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-02-01
President Roosevelt sends self-explanatory correspondence. Roosevelt understands that that Judge Clements is about to investigate the Union Pacific and Southern Pacific railroad companies and adds that he was not paying attention to the management of the two companies until Clements reported on the coal lands. Roosevelt has since heard several complaints of the companies’s management, including their connection with the grain elevators. Roosevelt believes that the complaints are widespread enough for a thorough investigation and would like the Interstate Commerce Commission, of which Clements is a member, to judge the matter.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-10-21
President Roosevelt asks Acting Chairman of the Interstate Commerce Commission Clements about the contradiction of opinion found in his paper on the Union Pacific Railroad Company coal investigation, specifically, the sale of public coal lands to private entities.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-10-13
Governor Hoggatt sends President Roosevelt a report of Alaska’s administrative and legislative needs. Hoggatt believes the territory has multiple pressing needs, including more lighthouses, a new judicial division, and regulation of the growing railroad industry. He wishes to reduce the number of saloons and dance halls, believing these are centers for agitation against the government. The territory remains rich in natural resources but sparsely populated, and its mines are not producing because mining interest has largely shifted to other parts of the country. Hoggatt doesn’t feel that the territory has a large enough population or tax base to maintain its own standards of law and order, so he believes Alaska’s government not be reorganized until its future is more stable.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-09-24
Arthur G. Elston testifies about unethical conduct occurring in Division “P” of the General Land Office. Elston describes being urged by his chief, George F. Pollock, to change a report recommending charges against the Schow Brothers and Lovell Irrigation Company for willful trespass in Montana. He believes Pollock was acting under pressure from Congressman Mondell and the Commissioner of the General Land Office. Elston also testifies to being aware of similar instances of improper behavior in regards to public lands in Wyoming and Colorado.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-11-15
President Roosevelt has modified his coal order so that “nothing in any withdraw of lands from coal entry” will impact any rights acquired under the coal lands and in existence at the date of the withdraw.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-01-15