Constitutional amendments

The New York Law Journal reports the Supreme Court of Washington has decided the Industrial Insurance Law is constitutional and enforceable. The law is similar to the case in New York which held the Workmen’s Compensation Act to be unconstitutional. The part of the article quoting the Washington court’s opinion which alludes to the New York court’s decision has been highlighted. The rest of the newspaper page reports on court notices and wanted ads.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-11-09

President Roosevelt clarifies William H. Taft’s opinion on the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments, and on the appointment of African Americans, for Lawrence F. Abbott. Namely, that Taft shares Roosevelt’s sentiments, as well as those of The Outlook, on Mississippi Governor James Kimble Vardaman and Representative John Sharp Williams. Roosevelt offers a list of the principle African American appointments he has made while in office, and encourages Abbott to contact Booker T. Washington for further statement on the character of the appointees.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-10-06

President Roosevelt disagrees with the Nebraska Republican Party’s platform, as he believes the restrictions it proposes placing on the federal judiciary would be tantamount to eliminating the federal government. The resolution is as bad as secession, even if it was well-intentioned. He does not want Senator Burkett to publish his letter and bring greater attention to the matter, but he may share it with leaders of the convention as needed.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-09-27

William Dudley Foulke approves of President Roosevelt’s handling of the Falconio matter. He was surprised that Roosevelt found the time to read his work “Life of Morton” and write him a letter about it. Foulke feels that even during Reconstruction, Morton was correct, and comments on the question of suffrage for African Americans, saying that even though the fifteenth amendment does not seem particularly effective at present, future generations may be able to figure out a solution. Foulke says that if he could choose one person of which to write a biography, he would choose Roosevelt, but he guesses that Roosevelt will outlive him.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-01-12

Military Governor Magoon forwards a letter to Secretary of War Taft regarding the issue of Cuban veterans’ claims for work performed before and during the Spanish-American war. Magoon examines Cuba’s constitution and whether or not article II lays sufficient claim to compensation for the soldiers. Analysis leads Americans to believe that Cuba was created as a result of war between the United States and Spain, which impacts the validity of their claims. Magoon provides a brief summary of the Spanish-American role with Cuba’s involvement in the process. The government of Cuba, under these circumstances, is not required to fulfill the requests of the Cuban forces. Magoon does not believe America has the right to force the Cuban government to pay these claims.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1905-01-06

Ernest Hamlin Abbott writes to President Roosevelt concerning an article The Outlook is publishing in reference to congressional representation of Southern States as they relate to their African American population. Abbott asks if Roosevelt could suggest someone who may express the Northern viewpoint for the article.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-12-13

African American delegates who were excluded from the Alabama Republican State Convention issue an open letter “To the Republicans of Alabama,” protesting that their exclusion violates both the state and federal constitutions and deserves the “severest condemnation.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1902-09

Several Republican leaders believe that an article about Judge Alton B. Parker published in the Evening Post was “needlessly unkind.” Included is a reprint of the article discussed and several other articles from the Post about Parker.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-08-18

Attorney General Moody discusses new state constitutions passed in some southern states designed to keep African Americans from having the right to vote. Moody declares that under the Fifteenth Amendment these new laws are unconstitutional. He calls for change so that African Americans are treated equally under the law.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-07-05

President Roosevelt stands with his right hand on the left shoulder of an African American man, probably Booker T. Washington but not identified, and his left hand on a paper labeled “15th Amendment.” Behind them is a statue labeled “Lincoln – With Malice Toward None With Charity Toward All,” showing Abraham Lincoln standing at the top with freed African American slaves. Caption: President Roosevelt–Lincoln emancipated you, the people gave you citizenship and I’ll protect your rights.

comments and context

Comments and Context

The controversy that clearly inspired this cartoon by Keppler was the famous Indianola, Mississippi, post office matter. In the weeks preceding this cartoon’s publication, Minnie Cox, the black postmistress of Indianola (having been appointed by President Harrison and again by President McKinley), was forced from her office by white Democrats of her town under threats including lynching. President Roosevelt exercised his prerogative as president and ordered her reinstated, and the post office closed until she returned to her post. Residents were obliged to travel 30 miles to transact postal business. Roosevelt had offended Southern whites by inviting Booker T. Washington to dine at the White House shortly after his assuming office. President Cleveland had invited the pioneer crusader for Black rights, Frederick Douglass, to the Executive Mansion amid even greater outcries, perhaps because Mrs. Douglass was white. It is interesting that Keppler here shows Roosevelt assuring a man (likely an unlabeled Booker T. Washington) and not Postmistress Minnie Cox herself.  There is no record of a public outreach to Booker T. Washington during this affair; however, he had become a political adviser publicly identified with Roosevelt, to whom he often turned for matters of policies and patronage.

Columbia stands on a globe labeled “United States,” holding a balance scale labeled “Constitutional Amendment” on which rests a large sword labeled “Centralized Government.”

comments and context

Comments and Context

Beginning around this time in American national politics, traditional voices in the mainstream occasionally advocated, at least in theory, the benefits of centralization and regulation. Of course Theodore Roosevelt himself did, advocating the first measures of the regulatory state that peaked around 1906 with legislation and gained traction after 1910, the insurgent and Progressive movements. There was no one impetus, but the seemingly intractable challenge of the trusts might, to some, be solved by a corresponding consolidation of governmental power. Also, political and economic theorists among academics frequently urged centralization of the federal government. Countries in Europe, especially Germany, experimented with Socialism, with apparent success. When magazines like Puck (conservative Democrat, largely) and Judge (conservative Republican) argued occasionally for centralization and, for instance, municipal ownership of utilities, it seems surprising today. It was surprising then, but reform was in the air. It is also a matter of speculation about whether the voices of opinion, and leaders like Roosevelt, might be proud of the ideas they planted, or see centralization as a Frankenstein monster after the subsequent century.

Theodore Roosevelt supports the popular election of United States senators. However, he does not want the federal government’s power over the elections diminished.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-05-09

President Roosevelt recommends that Senator Borah meet with Senator Root to get Root’s opinion on the Honduras loan. He also invites Borah to lunch at Oyster Bay, New York. In a postscript, Roosevelt encourages Borah to support the amendment allowing for the popular election of United States senators only if the mode of election is changed and the federal government is prevented from controlling the elections.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-05-09

Theodore Roosevelt is glad that William S. Bennet introduced the amendment and awaits more information on Sanford.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1916-04-03

Theodore Roosevelt is glad that Illinois is raising a monument to Lyman Trumbull whose role in co-authoring the thirteenth amendment that abolished slavery “ranks side by side with the struggle which made us a nation.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1915-04-10

Theodore Roosevelt is pleased that the “reactionary papers” are opposing Senator Bristow’s proposed constitutional amendments. He expresses support for Bristow’s bill giving the industrial commission drastic power and tentatively supports the direct election of postmasters when compared to the present system.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1912-12-23

Theodore Roosevelt stressed the constitutional amendments, using Senator Bristow’s own language, during his speech in Chicago, Illinois. He has written to President Benton of the University of Vermont and admires what Bristow is doing to help Helen Dortch Longstreet.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1912-12-17

Theodore Roosevelt agrees to support the constitutional amendments proposed by Senator Bristow and will emphasize them in his speech at the Progressive Conference. Roosevelt encloses a document regarding Helen Dortch Longstreet for Bristow’s attention.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1912-12-06

President Roosevelt carefully read Walter George Smith’s letter and enclosures. He does not want to recommend a constitutional amendment. His position remains unchanged and he finds no reason to address the matter in his message.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-11-15

President Roosevelt has discussed the proposed Constitutional amendment with Nebraska Governor George L. Sheldon, who explained why Republicans in his state had given it their support. Roosevelt agrees that federal judges often abuse the injunctive process and suggests he and Senator Burkett might find some way to reform it.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-10-04