Grey of Fallodon, Edward Grey, Viscount, 1862-1933

Governor and Minister Magoon notifies Secretary of State Root that British Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Edward Grey, in order to “allay excitement,” requests authorization to communicate to governors in the provinces Magoon’s dispatch regarding the Colombian government’s reaction to the “cruiser Cartagena incident,” likely referring to when American officers were treated poorly by Panama and Colombian officials.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-07-21

Creator(s)

Magoon, Charles E. (Charles Edward), 1861-1920

Ambassador Reid discusses international relations with President Roosevelt including the situations in Algeciras and Morocco. Reid also writes about King Edward VII and the British press, and Kaiser Wilhelm II and the German press. Apparently, tensions are beginning to grow between England and Germany in the European arena.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-06-19

Creator(s)

Reid, Whitelaw, 1837-1912

Whitelaw Reid discusses opinions and happenings of prominent British politicians and figureheads including Winston Churchill, Sir Curzon, Sir Campbell-Bannerman and Lady Campbell-Bannerman, and Sir Trevelyan. Reid also discusses a recent sightseeing trip to Winchester Cathedral, Winchester College, and Farnham Castle. Reid describes the experience of dining with “minor” royalty, plans for Alice Roosevelt Longworth’s upcoming visit, typical court proceedings, and problems with admission to Parliament.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-06-01

Creator(s)

Reid, Whitelaw, 1837-1912

Helen Hermione Munro Ferguson congratulates President Roosevelt on the upcoming wedding of his daughter, Alice Roosevelt, and is delighted that she plans to come to London. Munro Ferguson also comments on recent British elections, and predicts that in spite of some difficulties “much very useful work will be done.” She predicts that there will be no change in foreign policy or colonial affairs.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-02-02

Creator(s)

Munro Ferguson, Helen Hermione, Lady, 1865-1941

Ambassador Reid writes to Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt about a difficult situation observed by Elizabeth Reid at Windsor Castle. Reid also discusses H. H. Asquith’s position as a candidate for prime minister and shares inside information on the condition of King Edward VII.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1905-11-28

Creator(s)

Reid, Whitelaw, 1837-1912

Whitelaw Reid discusses with President Roosevelt a conversation he had with Ronald Craufurd Munro Ferguson regarding British and American politics. He also discusses Great Britain’s treaty with Japan and expresses his hope that the British provided at least a hint of such an agreement with the president. He includes a lengthy, handwritten addition congratulating Roosevelt on his coordination of the peace conference.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1905-09-02

Creator(s)

Reid, Whitelaw, 1837-1912

Serge Ricard studies the attitude of the United States government to arbitration and disarmament proposals put forward by the First and Second Hague Peace Conferences of 1899 and 1907. Ricard notes that the United States approved of the Permanent Court of Arbitration, but he stresses that the nation, especially under the administration of Theodore Roosevelt, did not pursue disarmament proposals. Ricard asserts that Roosevelt always favored preparedness over disarmament as the best means to avoid war, and he notes that the United States’ traditional policies of isolationism and non-interference in European affairs made it unlikely the country would embrace international bodies. Ricard notes that Secretary of State Elihu Root managed America’s participation in the Second Hague Peace Conference of 1907.

Six photographs and one illustration accompany the text.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

Creation Date

2015

In a letter to George Otto Trevelyan, President Roosevelt provides details of some of the negotiations he undertook with regard to various crises during his presidency. Roosevelt relays his experience dealing with Kaiser William II of Germany in three matters, and he discusses the desire of the Japanese to keep secret their asking Roosevelt to mediate the Russo-Japanese War. Roosevelt underscores the insecure temperament of William II, and he cautions Trevelyan against sharing his letter except with perhaps his sons and Viscount Edward Grey. Roosevelt also discusses a diplomatic dustup with Germany caused by the diplomatic meddling of Andrew Carnegie.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

Creation Date

1911-11-09

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Gregory A. Wynn describes three lists of birds made by Theodore Roosevelt in 1877, 1879, and 1908. Wynn notes the rarity of these lists, and he remarks at how they demonstrate Roosevelt’s deep knowledge of birds, especially of their songs. Wynn provides the context for the assembling and publication of each list, and he highlights Roosevelt’s bird watching with Viscount Edward Grey in England in 1910 and the contributions made to Roosevelt scholarship by Paul Russell Cutright. The first page of each list appears in the essay along with a photograph of Wynn.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

Creation Date

2010

Creator(s)

Wynn, Gregory A.

Gregory A. Wynn discusses the origins of his hobby of collecting items related to Theodore Roosevelt, and he uses this as an introduction to examine a letter from Theodore Roosevelt to George Otto Trevelyan which had not been previously known or published. Wynn highlights the sensitive nature of the letter’s contents as it reveals Roosevelt’s thoughts and actions during a number of diplomatic crises during his presidency. Wynn also notes how the Trevelyan letter was shared with and was part of Roosevelt’s correspondence with his friend David Gray. Wynn asserts that the letters provide a “revealing snapshot of presidential statecraft.”

A postcard and a dinner program from Wynn’s collection appear in the article along with a photograph of Roosevelt with Trevelyan and his son George Macaulay Trevelyan.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

Creation Date

2009

Paul Russell Cutright examines Theodore Roosevelt’s June 9, 1910, bird walk in southern England with Viscount Edward Grey. Cutright discusses the birding the two did in the Itchen River valley and New Forest, and he provides an excerpt from Roosevelt’s An Autobiography in which Roosevelt describes in detail some of the birds and their songs. Cutright discusses Roosevelt’s birding as a young man, and he highlights Grey’s speech and book about his birding with Roosevelt. The article concludes with a section on Grey and Frank M. Chapman retracing the walk in 1921.

A photograph of Roosevelt at Oxford University on June 7, 1910, appears in the article as does a reproduction of a page of the guest book of the Forest Park Inn showing Roosevelt’s and Grey’s signatures. A notice about the dedication of a historical marker in Mississippi denoting Roosevelt’s 1902 bear hunt also appears in the article.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

Creation Date

1987

Lyle A. McGeoch examines the state of relations between the United States and Great Britain when Lord Lansdowne served as Britain’s foreign secretary from November 1900 to December 1905. He highlights the negotiations concerning the Hay-Pauncefote treaty, the settlement of a boundary dispute between Canada and the United States, and a crisis stemming from Venezuela’s debt to Great Britain and Germany. McGeogh also looks at how Lansdowne struggled with the appointment of an ambassador to the United States, his difficulty at times in dealing with the personal style of diplomacy employed by President Theodore Roosevelt, and Lansdowne’s recognition of growing American power in the first decade of the twentieth century.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

Creation Date

1979

Creator(s)

McGeoch, Lyle Archibald

British King Edward VII has recently been traveling in Germany and visiting with German Emperor William II, and seems to consider his visit a success. The visit is not likely to cause radical shifts in policy in either nation, but “any mitigation of frigidity or acerbity int he official relations of two great countries is to be welcomed most heartily in the interests both of tranquility and of business.” Emphasizing this point, the article mentions several recent events that showcase a need for a good working relationship between Great Britain and Germany, including relations with Turkey. Discussions between the two monarchs may have also turned to Russia, where Russian Emperor Nicholas II’s ministers have resolved to provide some measure of land reform to the peasants.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-08-17

Creator(s)

Unknown

Italy has proposed an agreement with Great Britain and France to reduce the size of their militaries which seems to have been received positively. Italian foreign minister Tommaso Tittoni has been meeting with Sir Edward Grey and Léon Bourgeois, heads of British and French foreign offices, respectively, on the matter.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-07-14

Creator(s)

Unknown

The explanation from Edward Marjoribanks, Baron Tweedmouth, regarding the letters sent between him and German Emperor William II have not contradicted any of the statements by The Times or added to the explanation Acting Prime Minister H. H. Asquith gave to Parliament. Given the tone of the comments by several politicians, The Times comes to the conclusion that many people think that these sorts of letters should remain entirely private, and that any mention of international relations and naval policy should be done through official channels and not personal letters. While the letters have been treated as personal communication by many people, there is no doubt that William II wanted to influence thinking about British naval policy with them. The Times calls for the publication of the letters, as proof that they did not discuss policy would quiet public anxiety about the matter.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-03-10

Creator(s)

The Times

The Daily Telegraph feels that the sooner the recent business regarding the letter from German Emperor William II to Baron Tweedmouth is forgotten, the better. The letter has been stated to have been personal and private, and will therefore not be published, despite requests for the contrary from some parties. Nevertheless, there is a general feeling that such communication from foreign sovereigns should not be a normal occurrence, as people in positions of power are not able to separate their private lives from their political ones, much as they may wish to do so.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-03-10

Creator(s)

Unknown

Both houses of Parliament have rebuked The Times for inciting a furor over the recent exchange of letters between Baron Tweedmouth and German Emperor William II. Opposing political parties united in their disapproval of the way that the newspaper treated the incident, and prominent politicians have expressed their satisfaction with how Tweedmouth handled the situation. Former Prime Minister Archibald Philip Primrose, Earl of Rosebery, stated that the treatment of the issue in the press has made Great Britain the laughingstock of Europe, and more broadly denounced anti-German sentiment and yellow journalism.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-03-10

Creator(s)

Daily News

The Daily News proclaims that the incident of German Emperor William II’s letter to Baron Tweedmouth can be considered as closed, as Tweedmouth has addressed the House of Lords and presented the facts of the case. After receiving the letter from William II, Tweedmouth conferred with Edward Grey, who agreed that the letter should be treated as a private letter, and not an official one. After learning of the letter, however, The Times blew the issue out of proportion and drove public outcry, and the Daily News speculates on what would have driven this sort of irresponsible journalism.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-03-10

Creator(s)

Daily News

The Standard has learned that before responding to the letter from German Emperor William II, Lord Tweedmouth conferred with Foreign Secretary Edward Grey to see how it should be treated. Grey felt that it should be treated and responded to as a personal letter, and regardless of subsequent events, The Standard praises Tweedmouth’s actions in this respect. While there are benefits to not publishing this letter, as it was treated as a personal letter, The Standard feels that overall it would be more beneficial to publish the exchange. By not publishing the letter, and letting news about it come out through rumors and conjecture, the issue is more muddled than it otherwise would be.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-03-10

Creator(s)

The Standard

Austrians believe that Parliament handled the recent letter between German Emperor William II and Lord Tweedmouth with “reserve and dignity.” The argument that the letter was essentially the same as a verbal discussion is not, however, accepted, as such an in-person meeting would be highly unlikely to happen under the circumstances that the letter was written. Many newspapers in Austria hold different opinions on the way The Times reported on the situation.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-03-10

Creator(s)

The Times