Election law

Ready to tilt with Vatican

Edward A. Lancaster, Member of Parliament for Lincoln, Ontario, outlined a bill to amend the Marriage Act which will make a marriage in one province valid and binding in all other provinces. No decree, ecclesiastical or otherwise, can dissolve a marriage performed by any recognized ceremony. This amendment is aimed at combating the Ne Temere Decree, in which the Pope stated marriages must be performed according the canon law of the Church in order to be valid.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-11-18

Letter from Andrew Hussey Allen to John Hay

Andrew Hussey Allen informs Secretary of State Hay that the Department of State cannot publish “a bulletin of the popular vote for Presidential electors.” He goes on to support his opinion, citing the Acts of February 3, 1887, and October 19, 1888, that define the duties and powers of the Secretary of State. Allen tells Hay that he advised the managing editor of The Washington Evening Star that his paper must publish “everything in full.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-12-19

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Herbert S. Hadley

Theodore Roosevelt does not approve of Governor Hadley’s plan to combine the electors of the Republican Party and the Progressive Party in Missouri. Roosevelt affirms his belief that President Taft unfairly won the Republican nomination at the Republican National Convention and asserts his wish that Progressive Party electors be composed of reformed Republicans and Democrats.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1912-07-23

Letter from Secretary of Theodore Roosevelt to D. W. Wilkie

Theodore Roosevelt’s secretary tells D. W. Wilkie that Roosevelt is unable to attend to all campaign matters. He suggests that Wilkie ask Edwin Augustus Van Valkenburg of the Philadelphia North American how to assist with the election.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1912-07-15

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to George W. Perkins

Theodore Roosevelt would like George W. Perkins to meet with Judson C. Welliver who has been working on publicity with Frank Andrew Munsey. He suggests that Welliver be put on the board of publicity with Oscar K. Davis.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1912-07-09

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Herbert Parsons

Theodore Roosevelt suggests that because of the Levy Law requiring judges to pick a party ticket rather than remain partisan, ensure that judges do not stay out of politics, their party should fight to repeal the law and while they fight, try to create a “judiciary contest” rather than judges running with each party.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-10-05

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Joseph M. Dixon

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

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to William Edgar Borah

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

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Albert J. Beveridge

Theodore Roosevelt congratulate Senator Beveridge on his speech regarding the election case of William Lorimer.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-02-24

Letter from Herbert S. Hadley to Theodore Roosevelt

Governor Hadley is confident that the progressive wing of the party will retain control of the Republican Party in Missouri. Hadley discusses the requirements for a third party in Missouri, but Hadley believes that Theodore Roosevelt’s ticket would be more successful if Roosevelt’s supporters argued that Roosevelt was the rightful Republican nominee rather then the leader of a new third party organization.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1912-07-09

Letter from Herbert S. Hadley to Theodore Roosevelt

Progressive Party electors in Missouri can only be placed on the ballot by petition, and under these circumstances Roosevelt cannot win the state. However, under the arrangement previously suggested by Governor Hadley, Roosevelt could secure Missouri’s electoral vote. Hadley views progressive Republicans in Missouri and the Progressive Party as allies that can cooperate to elect candidates with progressive principles.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1912-07-29

Letter from Herbert S. Hadley to Theodore Roosevelt

Governor Hadley has met with Ralph Stout regarding a plan to place the Republican state and local candidates for Missouri onto the Republican Party ticket and the Progressive Party’s ticket. Hadley views the potential arrangement as a compromise measure to allow progressive Republicans not ready to leave the party to remain Republicans while fighting for progressive principles.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1912-07-18

Letter from Hiram Johnson to Theodore Roosevelt

Governor Johnson offers his opinion on the presidential campaign and the Progressive Party’s platform and discusses the process of California’s election laws.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1912-07-08

Letter from Herbert S. Hadley to Theodore Roosevelt

Governor Hadley has decided to criminally prosecute those responsible for the “despicable article” that appeared in St. Louis, Missouri. Hadley regrets that he does not find it advisable to join Theodore Roosevelt’s third party movement but hopes that all progressive forces can continue to work together. Hadley believes that the Republican Party in Missouri can still be a “useful agency of good government.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1912-07-05

Letter from William Wilson to Joseph M. Dixon

William Wilson encourages Senator Dixon to vigorously respond to William Brown McKinley’s allusions of corruption in the Theodore Roosevelt campaign. Wilson points out a variety of offenses committed by President Taft supporters and wants Dixon to challenge McKinley and President Taft to reject such improper conduct to show their good faith.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1912-04-18

Telegram from Joseph M. Dixon to Theodore Roosevelt

Senator Dixon suggests that President Taft’s recent comments on primaries could be used to secure the Taft campaign’s support for lawful primaries in Michigan, Illinois, Maryland, and Washington, D.C.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1912-03-18

Letter from Joseph M. Dixon to Theodore Roosevelt

Senator Dixon reviews recent events in the effort to pass a constitutional amendment for the direct election of United States senators. He requests that Theodore Roosevelt express his support for the amendment to the progressive Republican senators. Dixon has also been working to secure progressive support for the naming of Senator Gallinger as the Senate’s president pro tempore. He fears that the Republicans are headed for defeat in the presidential election and sees Democratic support gathering for Woodrow Wilson.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-05-11

Letter from Jacob Sleeper to Elihu Root

Jacob Sleeper, chargé d’affaires in Cuba, updates Secretary of State Root on attempts to quell the insurrection in Cuba. The Cuban government’s offer of amnesty did not have the desired effect, while the rebel forces continue to grow and business owners have become increasingly pessimistic. Sleeper was informed that President Tomás Estrada Palma was strongly opposed to any compromise with the insurrectionists, but he also heard that Estrada Palma is more open to settlement than his public statements suggest. Sleeper describes the efforts of a committee of Cuban veterans to serve as mediators.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-09-01

They knew not what they did

Illustration shows the drafting of Article I, Section 3 of the U.S. Constitution. Two men labeled “The Big Interests” and “Political Boss,” who has a “Legislator” in his back pocket, are peeking from behind a curtain labeled “The Intervening Years.” Caption: Present-Day Boss — They couldn’t have hit on a better way of electing senators if we’d been there to fix them.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1911-07-12

Telegram from Joseph M. Dixon to Theodore Roosevelt

Senator Dixon sends Theodore Roosevelt the statement he made in response to President Taft announcing his support for presidential preference primaries. Dixon’s statement points out several states where legislation to enact primaries is being opposed by Taft supporters. He questions whether Taft will now instruct his managers to support primary legislation.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1912-03-18