Your TR Source
William M. Butterfield has found a way to cut out the middle man and move produce around the country for farmers, decreasing the cost of living for all Americans. He hopes to meet with Theodore Roosevelt to get advice and promote the idea he has been working towards for 20 years.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-10-03
Ada Brace Hall expresses to Theodore Roosevelt her concerns about the high cost of living and its impact on middle-class families.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-09-11
Speech delivered at Hartford, Connecticut, on September 9, 1912. Speech regards farmers and European conditions, parcels post bills, securities, cost of living, socialism, progressivism, prisoners’ wages and work hours for wage earners.
Sagamore Hill National Historic Site
1912-09-02
A man, woman, and infant wearing ragged clothing labeled “The American Middle Class” sit on a rock labeled “Opportunity” above the rising waters of “Centralized Wealth” in which sharks are circling. In the background, only the head and shoulders of the Statue of Liberty are visible above the water.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
1906-06-06
Theodore Roosevelt thanks Isidor Singer for sending him a letter from Mr. Schoenfeld. In the letter, Roosevelt reflects upon their recent conversation regarding the high cost of living. Roosevelt expresses his wish to reduce the high cost of living, but is unwilling to blame taxes and tariffs completely for the situation.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1912-07-16
Theodore Roosevelt commiserates with Ada Hall about the rising cost of produce. He mentions that farmers are just as displeased as consumers. He hopes that those with the power to affect change will investigate the issue.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-09-15
Theodore Roosevelt thanks George Emlen Roosevelt for giving him what he wanted and mentions that he has to decrease his expenses.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1915-01-04
President Roosevelt wants the protective tariff platform to cover labor costs both domestically and abroad so that the standard of living for Americans is never threatened.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-05-11
Gifford Pinchot encloses an article he wrote for the Progressive campaign book regarding the relationship between conservation and the cost of living. Pinchot would like a copy of Roosevelt’s letter to Mr. Plunkett on the “Wilson question” for private circulation.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1912-08-15
Lillie Larson sends Theodore Roosevelt a picture of herself and her little brothers. Her father lives on a homestead, while the rest of the family lives in town. They hope Roosevelt will be president again; then the cost of living would not be as high.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-10-29
William Wiggin introduces himself to Theodore Roosevelt as the son of Judge Pierce L. Wiggin and a navy veteran. He is a postal clerk and is currently fifty dollars in debt due to the high cost of living and caring for his invalid wife. Concerned for his future independence, Wiggin asks if he can do something for Roosevelt to earn fifty dollars and start afresh.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-08-21
Frank B. Kellogg urges Senator Nelson to support a revision of the tariff bill that will lower duties. Americans support such a bill, and Kellogg believes that its passage is essential to ensure the continued success of the Republican Party. Kellogg notes that lower duties on raw materials is beneficial to the country, and argues that the wages of laborers have not kept up with the increased cost of living.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1909-05-29
A nonfiction book about determining the average cost of living in the twelfth century in Europe. The first eight pages are included in this record.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-09
On the left hand side of the cartoon, Uncle Sam holds up a “Depart. of Commerce and Labor” blackboard that reads, “cost of living increased 15.5%” A Democratic donkey holds a “calamity” horn and starts to cheer. On the right hand side, Uncle Sam flips the blackboard and hits the donkey on the head. The other side reads, “wages increased 16.6%.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-08-03
A disheveled “wage-worker” reaches for a “high wages” money bag on a shelf and a number of food items on a “provisions” shelf. President Roosevelt looks outside of a window, facing the wage-worker and pointing to the two shelves. His shelf reads, “‘The purchasing power of the average wage has grown faster than the cost of living.’ T. R.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-09-22
A tall man labeled “Consumer” serves as the May pole to a group of chubby girls labeled “Steel Trust, Lumber Trust, Sugar Trust, Wool Trust, [and] Glove Trust” who are winding ribbons labeled “Schedule” around him. He is standing beneath cherry blossoms which spell “Puck.”
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
1909-05-05
A large hand labeled “Protected Interests” crushes with its thumb the dome of the U.S. Capitol labeled “Congress” rocketing into the sky atop a pillar of fire with a devilish figure labeled “Cost of Living.”
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
1909-04-21
A customs officer places a tax stamp on an American heiress. Surrounding vignettes suggest other ways of generating revenue, such as taxing “poodles and other precious pups,” people who tell tall stories, “divorce,” “sidewhiskers,” “amateur elocutionists,” and “rubber plants,” “instead of putting it all over the poor old consumer.” Caption: Some stamp-tax suggestions for raising the wind.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
1909-04-21
President William H. Taft sits on a tree branch labeled “Cost of Living,” which bends lower under his weight, above a smiling man labeled “Consumer” lying on the ground dreaming of the commercial products that soon will be within his reach.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
1909-04-28
Liberty strides forward, carrying a flaming torch labeled “Revolution” and an American flag, and wearing a phrygian cap with tricolor cockade. She crushes underfoot a scepter and a crown labeled “Plutocracy.” In the background, buildings are burning. Caption: If the tariff farce is continued many years longer.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
1909-04-28