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Acting Secretary of State Adee submits cablegrams for President Roosevelt’s approval. He instructs Shanghai consul John Goodnow that his purpose is to safeguard American neutral interests in China and to avoid any implication that the United States will guarantee Chinese neutrality. He sends a copy of the same telegram to Minister to China Edwin H. Conger.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-08-23
President Roosevelt read the consulate inspection report by Third Assistant Secretary of State Herbert H. D. Peirce. He lists several consuls who are to be removed.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-01-16
President Roosevelt disagrees with several statements Secretary of State John Hay wrote. While Hay was one of the most “delightful characters” Roosevelt had ever met, he found Hay lacking leadership qualities as a Secretary of State. Roosevelt provides Senator Lodge with his view of the Alaska Boundary dispute in 1903. He includes copies of the letters Roosevelt wrote to Judge Oliver Wendell Holmes and Henry White to show to British Secretary of State for the Colonies James Chamberlain and Prime Minister James Arthur Balfour. Roosevelt explains why certain appointments were made following the death of President William McKinley and details for why Hay was not consulted on matters concerning the Russo-Japanese War and the acquisition of Panama.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1909-01-28
President Roosevelt shares a number of opinions regarding consuls with Assistant Secretary of State Loomis. Bishop Charles Henry Brent, Secretary of War William H. Taft, and Dr. Jenkins have commented on several different consuls.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-01-16
President Roosevelt informs Cyrus Northrop, President of the University of Minnesota, that Third Assistant Secretary of State Peirce is formulating charges against Consul General to Shanghai Goodnow regarding his diplomatic service. Roosevelt has summoned Goodnow back to the U.S. for a hearing to respond to the charges against him.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-09-28
President Roosevelt informs Senator Nelson that the charges against Consul General John Goodnow may be very serious indeed, and that Roosevelt has ordered Goodnow home from China to answer for them.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-09-28
President Roosevelt directed Alvey A. Adee to instruct the Navy that they must not interfere in any fighting between the Russians and Japanese in the neutral Chinese port. Roosevelt agrees that the best solution would be for China to say they cannot keep the peace and let the Russians and Japanese fight.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-08-24
President Roosevelt approves of Acting Secretary of State Adee’s views and tells him to let Consuls General Fowler and Goodnow, at Che-fu and Shanghai, respectively, act in accordance with them. Adee is to ask Assistant Secretary of the Navy Charles Hial Darling to warn Admiral Yates Stirling to keep a sharp lookout so that he will not be taken by surprise. Stirling must be allowed to act to preserve American rights against either combatant (presumably China and Russia).
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-08-23
President Roosevelt urges Secretary of State Hay to take quick action regarding the scandal of American diplomats in China and mentions possible replacements for Consuls John Goodnow and Robert M. McWade.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-07-08
Diplomat John Gardiner Coolidge confirms the Department of State’s telegram of January 6 regarding the Chinese government’s cancellation of agreements with the American China Development Company, and details the actions he took in response to the message. Coolidge observes that Zhang Zhidong seems to have been placed in control over the situation, but is no less hostile than the previous official. He advises that a representative of the American China Development Company be sent to argue their case and explain past misunderstandings.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-01-25
Acting Secretary of State Loomis writes to President Roosevelt about the investigation of Consul General John Goodnow at Shanghai. The charges against him seem to be conclusive.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-01-13
Senator Nelson returns Secretary Pierce’s letter detailing the charges against General Counsel John Goodnow. He feels the charges, if not disproved, merit “no mercy,” but encourages President Roosevelt to allow Goodnow to present a defense.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-12-22
Herbert H. D. Peirce provides a summary of some of the charges against Consul General John Goodnow.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-12-21
Third Assistant Secretary of State Peirce writes to William Loeb about Consul General Oscar Fitzalan Williams, currently assigned to Singapore. Williams has used his position to break the law throughout his diplomatic career. Peirce is also preparing a report on Consul General John Goodnow, currently under investigation on over eighty charges.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-12-03
Acting Secretary of State Adee reports that John Fowler, the Consul of Chefoo, China, has been informed that the Chinese government has withdrawn all of their war vessels from Chefoo because they cannot enforce neutrality. Thus it would appear that “both belligerents” can infer that military operations can be conducted there. Adee does not believe any further instruction is required to Fowler, and he would like both Fowler and John Goodnow, the Consul of Shanghai, to be removed from any association with larger international implications.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-08-23
Secretary of State Hay has received Senator Nelson’s letter regarding Consul John Goodnow. Third Assistant Secretary Herbert H. D. Peirce spoke with Goodnow during his tour of inspection of the consulates. There have been several complaints and a serious set of charges filed against Goodnow.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-08-13
Acting Secretary of State Loomis recommends deferring John Goodnow’s request for a leave of absence from his position as Consul General in Shanghai, in order to assist in Theodore Roosevelt’s campaign.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-01-23