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President Roosevelt returns the “remarkable letter” from Baron Takahira and suggests that Secretary of State Hay keep it. Roosevelt hopes that the English act with “sanity and propriety in the Alaska business.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1903-08-21
President Roosevelt provides his thoughts on the Alaskan boundary dispute and generally favors the claims of the United States. Roosevelt concedes that the British have a few small points of argument.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1903-07-25
Senator Henry Cabot Lodge and Secretary of War Elihu Root are against any delay by the British in the Alaska boundary negotiations. President Roosevelt does not want the dispute pending during the presidential campaign and, if necessary, is willing to get Congressional appropriations in order to “run the line ourselves.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1903-06-29
President Roosevelt asks Secretary of War Root if he has considered sending a diplomatic envoy to the Vatican in order to find out what the Catholic Church “is willing to do with the Philippine property?”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1901-11-07
John Callan O’Laughlin, of the Chicago Tribune, describes an interview he had with the Japanese Ambassador Shūzō Aoki to President Roosevelt. Aoki said the Japanese government declined to exchange assurances with the United States about the situation in the Pacific unless the question of allowing Japanese workers into Hawaii and the United States mainland were settled at the same time. This attitude caused Aoki to consider resigning, but O’Laughlin urged Aoki not to resign and suggested that perhaps by refusing to negotiate, Hayashi wanted to restore Japanese prestige after the Great White Fleet was sent to the Pacific. O’Laughlin tells Roosevelt that it is obvious sending the Great White Fleet to the Pacific was the right thing to do, but asks why Japan would make assurances to France, Russia, and Germany that are not dependent on allowing the immigration and naturalization of Japanese workers, while assurances to the United States would require such an agreement.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-11-04
British Foreign Secretary Grey informs President Roosevelt that Ambassador H. Mortimer Durand will be replaced, and while he understands Roosevelt’s desire to have Arthur Lee in his place, that is politically impossible. Temporarily, Esmé Howard will be sent to Washington as Councillor to the Embassy. Grey appreciated Roosevelt’s explanation of his telegram to German Emperor William after the Portsmouth Peace. Grey explains that his foreign policy is not anti-German, but to be independent he feels it necessary to strengthen the entente with France and come to an agreement with Russia. Grey believes that his generation has had enough of war, and the British people feel a special bond with the United States. Grey hopes the dispute between Canada and the United States over Newfoundland will soon be settled. He also adds that many in Great Britain are upset over reports of slavery and plunder in the Belgian Congo.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-12-04
In a speech to the Mexican Congress, President Díaz addresses the successful mediation of the conflict between Guatemala and El Salvador by the United States and Mexico. An armistice was accepted between the two countries and Honduras, who was an ally of El Salvador, on July 19, 1906. A peace treaty was ratified soon after. Díaz hopes that through the efforts of President Roosevelt and himself, an “enduring harmony” in Central America will ensue.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-09-16
Ambassador Reid sends President Roosevelt clippings from British newspapers that he thinks will interest him, and he informs Roosevelt of the help he has recently given to Francis Cockrell’s son after he was involved in a car accident in Switzerland.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-08-23
The British government is carefully considering the letter from Secretary of State Root regarding the rights of American fishing vessels along the Newfoundland coast. Eldon Gorst, acting in the absence of the British Secretary of State, informs Ambassador Reid that the government is willing to accept the suggestions laid out in Root’s letter as a modus vivendi for the current season.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-08-14
Ambassador Reid reports to President Roosevelt about affairs in Europe. Reid’s impression is that neither Great Britain nor Germany want tensions to escalate to a war, and he is still trying to get more details about their negotiations. Reid informs Roosevelt that the King seems to be in ill health. He is also worried that Roosevelt’s friend, Silas McBee, is stirring up trouble by seeming to interfere in debates about the Education Bill. Reid referred the Grocers’ Federation to Secretary of Agriculture James Wilson and Secretary of Commerce and Labor Victor Howard Metcalf so that they might receive more information about complying with America’s meat inspection laws, and he enclosed a copy of a speech he gave at Cambridge on the American Revolution. Reid concludes by saying that he hopes the British government will help the United States settle disputes with Canada.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-08-16
Leslie Combs suggests that William Lawrence Merry should continue in El Salvador until the army has disbanded.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-07-21
Assistant Secretary of State Robert Bacon desires that Minister Merry will express President Roosevelt’s thanks to the President of Honduras for his “cordial message” in the same manner in which he addressed the delegates yesterday.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-07-22
The President of Honduras Manuel Bonilla is grateful on behalf of his government and people to President Roosevelt for his mediation in obtaining peace between Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-07-22
Assistant Secretary of State Bacon informs Minister Merry that he should remain in El Salvador at least until the soldiers have disbanded, and he should wait for further notice before leaving.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-07-22
P. M. Brown tells Secretary of State Root that Cuban President Tomás Estrada Palma accepts in principle the proposals for peace, but has reservations and conditions.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-07-13
Assistant Secretary of State Bacon has received El Salvador’s acceptance (of terms to end a border conflict) from the President of Guatemala. He asks President Roosevelt’s permission to send it over Roosevelt’s signature.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-07-15
Alvey A. Adee is responding to “Merry’s telegram.” He tells Robert Bacon that he thinks the United States should urge Honduras to remain neutral rather than joining El Salvador in negotiating terms with Guatemala.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-07-16
Rudolph Forster sends William Loeb a telegram informing him of the armistice for the war in Central America. Manuel Estrada Cabrera, president of Guatemala, wants an armistice, “but at feasible hour mutually agreed upon.” He includes a telegram from Estrada Cabrera to President Roosevelt explaining that President Porfirio Diaz of Mexico set the armistice at 5 a.m., but it was delivered five hours later while Salvadorian forces were attacking.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-07-16
William Lawrence Merry has informed Leslie Combs that negotiations for peace between Guatemala and El Salvador have begun. Combs believes that the Guatemalan government is entitled to a definitive answer regarding disarmament and advises Secretary of State Root to ask Merry to obtain an answer.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-07-09
Assistant Secretary of State Bacon agrees to the positioning of war vessels off the coast to protect the interests of the United States. Bacon advises David E. Thompson, Ambassador to Mexico, to telegraph Secretary of War Russell Alger regarding the acts of El Salvador which indicate wanton aggression. Peace may be secured through moral pressure by the United States and Mexico.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-07-12