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Acting Secretary of the Interior Wilson certifies that the enclosure contains exact copies of Willis Sweet’s letter and of the notes he referenced in his letter.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-12-05
Attorney General Bonaparte reports on the results of an investigation conducted by the Office of the Attorney General into complaints made against U.S. Attorney for the Territory of New Mexico and former Rough Rider William H. H. Llewellyn. Bonaparte has found Llewellyn partially or fully culpable in all of the charges leveled against him, including conspiracy towards the illegal sale of public land, failure to make payment on a bill, and disregarding the wishes of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs Francis E. Leupp and the Secretary of the Interior James Rudolph Garfield. Bonaparte concludes that the results of this investigation, coupled with Llewellyn’s generally lackluster performance and failure to gain the trust of either the citizenry or fellow public officials, means that Llewellyn should retire from his post.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-11-19
An investigation by the Department of the Interior has yielded a list of some 200 individuals hired to the Technologic Branch of the United States Geological Survey without the certification of the Civil Service Commission. The Commission will comply with the Department of the Interior’s request that these irregularly appointed employees’ certifications be fast-tracked, but expresses several reasons for why such a decision may not be wise.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-11-14
Seth Low recounts his experience taking part in the National Conference on Trust and Combinations. Low reports that the Conference was generally favorable towards a proposed measure to institute federal licensing on all corporations engaging in interstate commerce, but cautions both that more work is needed before the measure could be successfully implemented and that many states distrust the federal government’s motivations in instituting such regulations. After complimenting President Roosevelt’s speeches, Low also recounts a conversation with the Scottish banker David R. Forgan, who expressed shock at the lack of regulation in American banking law.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-10-26
Insurance Commissioner Vorys of Ohio hopes to reach William Loeb in Washington, D.C. Although Vorys has heard that Chicago’s leaders will support the state administration, there are a few who will cause problems. The Cincinnati Enquirer has been alleging that Vorys’s conversation with President Roosevelt was concerning Secretary of the Treasury George B. Cortelyou and his friends, and Vorys has responded publicly to dispute such rumors.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-10-03
Assistant Attorney General Cooley informs President Roosevelt of the developments surrounding Representative Parsons’ arrangement with William Randolph Hearst in New York County. Cooley thinks it would be prudent of Roosevelt to make some kind of statement after he returns to Washington. New York Governor Charles Evans Hughes has been non-committal to this point, although he may have had prior knowledge, according to Parsons.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-10-16
Los Angeles City Librarian Charles Fletcher Lummis thanks President Roosevelt for the autograph page and hopes to show him the library’s autograph collection sometime. The library staff took to Secretary of the Interior James Rudolph Garfield, who made friends with members of the Southwest Society during his visit.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-08-12
Charles E. Arnold informs Charles Phelps Taft that Arizona will not send an instructed delegation favorable to Secretary of War Taft to the Republican National Convention unless President Roosevelt assures them that the upcoming congressional session will not discuss joint statehood with New Mexico. Secretary of the Interior James Rudolph Garfield, Frank H. Hitchcock, and Arthur I. Vorys, Taft’s campaign manager, have promised to help, and Arnold hopes Charles Phelps Taft can as well.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-08-15
Former Territorial Governor of Hawaii Carter reports to President Roosevelt that Walter Francis Frear’s inauguration as new governor went well. Carter writes Roosevelt personally about the application of the coastwise laws as it affects Hawaii differently than the United States mainland.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-08-16
As his friend, United States Marshal Daniels advises President Roosevelt that if he appoints a governor of the Arizona Territory who supported joint statehood with New Mexico Territory, Daniels is certain the territory’s delegation will support Roosevelt’s presidential candidate at the Republican National Convention. The same cannot be said if the gubernatorial candidate is from the party opposed to joint statehood.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-08-16
Attorney General Bonaparte returns a speech with minor suggestions to President Roosevelt, and discusses his strategy in finding a case in which the government could convict and sentence the head of an industrial trust. In North Carolina, Roosevelt could not have altered the dispute between Federal and State authorities in the railroad rate case. Bonaparte passes along some clippings related to the case against Senator William Edgar Borah of Idaho. Bonaparte relates the progress in vetting William B. Sheppard for a judgeship in Florida. In New Mexico, Bonaparte says he has examined the charges against New Mexico District Attorney William H. H. Llewellyn, and believes he must be removed from office. Bonaparte will be in Oyster Bay on Friday.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-08-05
W. A. Boyd informs Senator Andrews he has learned of rumors that General Land Office Special Agent Frederick C. Dezendorf and his understudy, Oscar D. Olmstead, have been informing the press on political matters. Boyd requests Andrews speak with Secretary of the Interior James Rudolph Garfield and General Land Office Commissioner Richard Achilles Ballinger about his concerns of the federal government outsiders meddling in the affairs of the New Mexico territory.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-07-06
A legal analysis of Assistant Attorney General Alford Warriner Cooley’s report to President Roosevelt regarding the sale of public lands by New Mexico Governor Herbert J. Hagerman, leading to Roosevelt’s demand for Hagerman’s resignation. The author argues that Cooley’s report should not have been given as much weight in Roosevelt’s decision as it was for three reasons: the report was preliminary; the report was based on unspecified documents; Hagerman was unable to respond to said unspecified documents. The author says Cooley’s report reaches three conclusions regarding Hagerman’s actions: that the sale of more than one quarter of territorial lands to a single entity is illegal; that Hagerman presided over just such a sale; and that this action illegally usurped the power of the Territorial Commissioner of Lands. The author performs a detailed legal analysis of each point.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-06-18
Former New Mexico Territory Governor Hagerman responds to President Roosevelt’s letter accepting his resignation in language that “should not be considered less forceful because of the absence of harsh language.” Hagerman says that in 1898, Congress placed restrictions on land leases in New Mexico Territory which were inappropriate to the landscape and climate of the territory, and ever since, individuals and businesses have worked to skirt these restrictions. When Hagerman became governor, he tried to get guidance from the federal government regarding these restrictions and the seemingly illegal contracts granted by his predecessor, but received none. Hagerman was left to either break deals made by his predecessor, or fulfill them if no harm would come to the territory, and the Pennsylvania Land Company deal was one such deal. Hagerman holds that the action he took was neither illegal nor improper, and refutes several specific points from Roosevelt’s letter.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-05-15
Florence Bayard Lockwood La Farge informs President Roosevelt of Charles MacVeagh’s Washington, D.C., travel plans. La Farge thinks that Roosevelt and First Lady Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt will like him. C. Grant La Farge is doing well. Criticism in New York about Roosevelt has calmed down.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-05-01
Attorney General Bonaparte expresses his doubts to President Roosevelt about the effectiveness of District Attorney N. M. Ruick in the Moyer and Haywood case. He does not want the government to be involved in another scandal such as what took place in Brownsville or with the Santa Fe Railroad. Bonaparte also congratulates the president on his letter to the editor to the New York Tribune, aimed at the apologists of Moyer and Haywood.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-04-24
Secretary of the Interior Hitchcock assumes responsibility for publishing the Higgins correspondence as a pamphlet and will conform to President Roosevelt’s wishes in the future. Hitchcock is not surprised that Roosevelt has heard complaints about the investigations in the Indian Territory; “‘Weary Willie’ grafters” are prone to making charges “against those uncovering their scoundrelism.” However, he thinks that the final reports will prove these investigations were warranted.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-09-01
Secretary of the Interior Hitchcock confirms that he received President Roosevelt’s letter and will work to follow Roosevelt’s directions. He will ask Commissioner of Corporations James Rudolph Garfield to begin working on a report on the Standard Oil case. Having only met Colonel Butler through this investigation, Hitchcock is very impressed by him and excited that Butler will meet Roosevelt at Oyster Bay. Hitchcock is attaching his response to T. B. Latta in a related matter.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-08-24
Secretary of War Taft agrees with President Roosevelt’s decision to appoint John Marshall Harlan. Taft then analyzes the political considerations in making the appointment of the Supreme Court justice who will succeed Henry Billings Brown. Taft also expresses concern about Chief Engineer of the Panama Canal John F. Stevens’s inability to answer the charges of Poultney Bigelow’s article in The Cosmopolitan, even if the charges have no foundation. In addition, Taft notifies Roosevelt that he tried to get Major George W. Goethals, an army engineer, to be Secretary of the Board to live on the Isthmus of Panama, but the presence of Secretary of the Isthmian Canal Commission Joseph Bucklin Bishop prevents it. Taft recognizes that Congressman Julius C. Burrows is “indignant” about Taft’s involvement in the appointment of District Judge in the Western District of Michigan, but Taft does not think Burrows is justified.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-08-21
Attorney General Moody writes to President Roosevelt with suggested changes to Roosevelt’s letter to Garfield. He makes four suggestions for changing the language of the letter.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-05-25