Governmental investigations

Senator Lodge was pleased to receive President Roosevelt’s letter and read about his summer activities. He was interested in the updates on the labor situation and the Post Office scandals. Lodge is troubled by the opposition to Cuban reciprocity and cannot imagine the resolution failing. He concludes with an update on the Alaskan Boundary Tribunal and is confident of a favorable decision.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1903-10-12

Charles Emory Smith encloses a letter on the Conrad-Bonaparte report. The more he examines the report “the more unjustifiable on many points it seems.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1903-10-13

Colonel Crowder reports that Colorado state authorities can maintain control over the disturbances in the Cripple Creek district at their current level. If sympathetic strikes occur across the state, the federal government will likely need to intervene. Crowder reviews the history of the strike and summarizes the conditions during his inquiry. He includes several appendices with further information about the Cripple Creek Strike.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1903-10-14

General Young encloses Colonel Crowder’s report for President Roosevelt.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1903-10-14

Outline of the career of Charles Fitzgerald, including the names of those who recommended his promotions to Railroad Postal Clerk and Post Office Inspector. Handwritten notes of Theodore Roosevelt: “A native Mississippian and a Democrat; voted for Cleveland and Bryan.” Note in another hand: “F[ile] under Indianola.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1903-10-17

Eugene A. Philbin has heard that President Roosevelt would like the Ellis Island Committee report at an early date and he requests a rough date that would be suitable. The inquiry is very broad and it will be difficult to complete the work rapidly. Charles J. Bonaparte has agreed to delay filing his brief until speaking with Roosevelt.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1903-09-30

Arthur von Briesen and the Ellis Island commission have collected a large amount of evidence and need more time to complete the investigation. There will be public hearings next week that will allow questions to be “openly ventilated.” The commission will seek to have their report ready before President Roosevelt’s annual message to Congress.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1903-10-01

Creator(s)

Briesen, Arthur von, 1843-1920

Newspaper article supporting the appointment of Arthur von Briesen to lead the Ellis Island investigation.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1903-10

Arthur von Briesen cannot lunch with President Roosevelt tomorrow as he must be present for the Ellis Island hearings. He will be in Washington, D.C., on October 11. Briesen took special note of Roosevelt’s suggestion that charges should not receive publicity unless they have been thoroughly investigated.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1903-10-05

The case President Roosevelt mentioned to Postmaster General Payne went before the district attorney and he declined to put the case before a grand jury. Payne does not believe that anything else can be done in the matter. A later note states that Roosevelt wants the matter laid before Attorney General Philander C. Knox.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1903-10-05

On reviewing the government’s evidence, Holmes Conrad had concluded that although the evidence might be insufficient to find Perry S. Heath guilty, it was sufficient to warrant an indictment by the grand jury, who would then decide on the sufficiency of the evidence. The district attorney subsequently ruled the evidence insufficient, dismissing the grand jury, and Conrad does not believe any public good is to be gained by reconvening them.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1903-10-06

Assistant United States Attorney Baldwin reviews the status of the McSweeney case and explains the delay in holding the hearing with Edward F. McSweeney. The hearing is now scheduled for November but the delay has been beneficial to the government due to the large number of documents that need processing and the swearing in of a new grand jury.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1903-10-07

Charles J. Bonaparte will meet with Holmes Conrad on Friday to discuss the case of Perry S. Heath and will submit his opinion to President Roosevelt.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1903-10-07

John W. Dwight has heard a rumor that President Roosevelt ordered the indictment of George E. Green which is damaging Roosevelt’s popularity among Green’s many friends in New York. Dwight suggests Roosevelt consult with District Attorney George B. Curtiss about the case.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1903-10-07

Eugene A. Philbin assures President Roosevelt that the Ellis Island hearings will not be allowed to become an attack on the Roosevelt administration for campaign purposes. Philbin met with the “gentleman from the West” regarding an unnamed matter and made it clear that the gentleman’s suggested solution was not possible. Philbin discusses two enclosed articles on public education, morality, and the Catholic Church.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1903-10-07

Postmaster General Payne has been served a subpoena to appear before the United States Commissioner in New York. He has been advised by Solicitor General Henry Martyn Hoyt not to obey the subpoena since he cannot produce the documents he has been asked for as they are held by inspectors across the country.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1903-09-15

Journal article summarizing the formation and goals of the British Commission of Inquiry into the educational systems of the United States, including a list of commissioners.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1903-10

Postmaster General Payne realizes that President Roosevelt has received reports regarding the investigation of the offices of the First Assistant Postmaster General in Washington, D.C., and Baltimore. Payne will submit a full report very soon. He is also optimistic about the investigation in the New York office and trusts that the grand jury will hand down indictments soon.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1903-09-18

Charles Fletcher Lummis reports on the Moqui Indian investigation. According to Lummis, his report is less partisan, more judicial, and more truthful than the report by Inspector James E. Jenkins.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1903-09-19

Text of a letter from Commissioner of Immigration William Williams to Henry Loomis Nelson, defending and justifying the charges against Edward F. McSweeney, the former Commissioner of Immigration at New York.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1903-08-20