Gompers, Samuel, 1850-1924

President Roosevelt recommends that William H. Taft meet with labor leader John Mitchell, and then based on Mitchell’s advice put out a statement outlining his policies regarding labor. Roosevelt wrote a letter to railroad trainmen that loosely stated policies he believed Taft would follow. He believes that in the final days of the campaign, Samuel Gompers will try to attack Taft on labor; Taft issuing a statement on labor beforehand could be a good strategy.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-10-27

President Roosevelt wishes that he had thought of the point Francis J. Heney made about the right to labor being property before he published his letter to Senator Philander C. Knox. He appreciates the praise from Heney, and is especially glad of his praise regarding his letter dealing with Samuel Gompers and the labor unions. He felt that he needed to attack Gompers, because “the average public man is afraid to do so.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-10-29

President Roosevelt is glad that Lucius B. Swift referred two men to him, because he was able to secure “just treatment” for them. Roosevelt is glad to hear what Swift says about William H. Taft carrying Indiana, and he thinks that in New York, Taft will also do as well or better than Roosevelt’s 1904 campaign. He is also glad that Swift liked his open letter to Senator Philander C. Knox. He is amused that the New York Sun thinks he plagiarized it from Knox’s speech, when in fact Roosevelt wrote the labor part of Knox’s speech with the intention of including it in this letter. Roosevelt believed that it was time to attack the alliance between William Jennings Bryan and Samuel Gompers “straight from the shoulder.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-10-23

President Roosevelt does not believe that William H. Taft will allow “a single dollar” to be spent illegitimately in the campaign. Taft is currently leading the effort to carry Indiana in the election, and Roosevelt believes they will be successful. Roosevelt is interested to hear what Otto Gresham says that James Hogan found out about Samuel Gompers.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-10-24

President Roosevelt responds to the “admirable speech” Senator Knox made about the actions of William Jennings Bryan and Samuel Gompers, as well as several other special representatives of organized labor. Gompers has come out in support of Bryan, who has added a plank about labor injunctions to the Democratic platform. The plank supports the passage of a bill that Roosevelt believes is unenforceable and would damage business by unfairly giving privileges to labor. Roosevelt also argues that Bryan has not made his position on the law clear, and notes that William H. Taft has spoken plainly about his position on labor issues and injunctions.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-10-21

President Roosevelt is concerned about what Walter Wellman said in his letter. William H. Taft is facing a “conspiracy of circumstances” in certain states. “Ultra prohibitionists” and “ultra liquor men” are uniting against him, and “avowed enemies of all religions” are uniting with religious zealots to defeat him. Roosevelt hopes that Wellman likes Roosevelt’s two letters on labor. He did not want to be “mealy-mouthed” about Samuel Gompers. Roosevelt believes that both Taft and Charles Evans Hughes will win in New York.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-10-21

President Roosevelt praises Governor Hughes’s efforts campaigning for William H. Taft and the Republicans in the West. Hughes’s actions, leaving New York and potentially jeopardizing his own re-election for the party, has gained him support. Roosevelt advises Hughes to continue his “aggressive hard-hitting” against William Jennings Bryan, and in particular to focus on the judiciary. Roosevelt believes that some people who oppose Taft because of his religion will support Hughes, while some foreigners who oppose Hughes will support Taft.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-10-14

President Roosevelt found the letter and clipping from Marcus M. Marks interesting. He agrees that there is danger in Samuel Gompers’s action.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-10-14

President Roosevelt’s opinion about omitting Samuel Gompers’s name has changed, and now he thinks it “may be necessary to slash at him. He will talk it over with William H. Taft.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-10-16

President Roosevelt tells Senator Lodge that he would oppose a party plank against the use of the labor injunction that would satisfy Samuel Gompers, but he thinks that rather than a colorless plank the Republican Party should take a moderate stance on the issue. He does not expect to satisfy radical labor leaders, but he also does not want to yield entirely to the demands of the Manufacturers’ Association.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-06-16

President Roosevelt invites the recipient to attend the upcoming Conference of Governors on the Conservation of Natural Resources as a representation of their organization. Roosevelt says that practically all the governors will attend and that, in addition to these, Senators and Representatives of the Sixtieth Congress, Justices of the Supreme Court, and members of the presidential cabinet have also been invited. Accompanying the letter is a list of the people to whom this letter was sent, representing a number of national trade associations.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-03-14

President Roosevelt tells Senator Beveridge that he does not believe the child labor bill Beveridge proposes has the support of organized labor, as Beveridge claimed. When Roosevelt spoke with labor leaders, the most anyone would say was that they supported the idea behind the bill, but did not seem to think it would be effective. Roosevelt was glad to find a position for Spencer F. Eddy in Argentina.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-11-12

President Roosevelt thanks newspaper editor, Thomas E. Watson, for his letter and assures he will not surrender to or have “secret midnight conferences” with anyone. Like Samuel Gompers, J. P. Morgan will openly call at the White House, which is receptive to all for a fair hearing. Roosevelt is unsure of his response to the financial situation and will confer with Secretary of the Treasury George B. Cortelyou. He wishes to speak with Watson in-person and asks if he is visiting Washington D.C., soon.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-11-12

President Roosevelt appreciates Professor Davenport’s article in The Outlook. Roosevelt believes that he has dealt fairly with labor unions, although sometimes he has acted to keep them in check.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-07-13

President Roosevelt informs Census Director S. N. D. North that despite North’s protests, the Census Bureau will investigate the labor of women and children. Roosevelt claims that this is revenge for the investigation of the packing houses in Chicago.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-03-02

President Roosevelt wants Speaker Cannon to explain the stall of the passage of the bill limiting railroad employees’ hours of service, and to know how he can assist. As it was part of their platform in the last election, Roosevelt feels that should Congress fail to pass such a law the Republican Party would be seen to have breached the voters’ trust.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-02-06

President Roosevelt thanks his daughter Alice Roosevelt Longworth for the birthday present of the glasses. He congratulates her and her husband Nicholas Longworth on his campaign. He recounts his wishes for reelection of Idaho Governor Frank Robert Gooding. He also is glad Samuel Gompers is no longer in power.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-11-07

President Roosevelt discusses the best strategies for Republican victories in the upcoming elections in New York with Representative Woodruff. Roosevelt believes that gubernatorial candidate Charles Evans Hughes represents his policies “as regards internal affairs of the nation” and sees the possible election of William Randolph Hearst “as a smashing defeat.” 

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-10-14

President Roosevelt asks Senator Lodge to review his speeches, and states that it is best to attack “Hearstism” and “Moranism” without naming anyone. For Roosevelt is aiming his criticism “more at agitators, at corrupt or sinister or foolish visionaries, at reckless slanders in the newspapers and magazines, and at preachers of social unrest and discontent,” rather than any political movement as a whole, because he sees that all matters, of labor or capital, should be met fairly. Roosevelt also shares his thoughts about Republican candidate Charles Evans Hughes and the upcoming election for governor of New York. 

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-10-16

President Roosevelt believes the best strategy for the upcoming elections in New York is a focus on state issues rather than on his administration or the Republican Party from a “national standpoint.” Roosevelt sends letters “from a man who knows what he is talking about” to Lieutenant Governor of New York and Chairman of the Republican State Committee Woodruff and asks him to share them with gubernatorial candidate Charles Evans Hughes. Roosevelt does not think Representative and Speaker of the House Joseph Gurney Cannon would help gain support in New York, as the circumstances in this case call for a “home cabinet, not outsiders.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division