Guam

The author explains the situation surrounding Apolinario Mabini’s banishment from the Philippines.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1903-01-24

Poem titled the “Despot of Guam.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1903-02-28

President Roosevelt writes to Senator Hoar to deny that Apolinario Mabini, as well as other former prisoners of the Philippine War, are confined on Guam. As part of the amnesty proclamation, the oath of allegiance is required to reenter the Philippines.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1903-01-23

President Roosevelt tells Assistant Secretary of the Navy Newberry that what he said about the navy yards is “first rate.” In reference to a prior letter from Newberry, Roosevelt does not believe Congress should take action as suggested in a report under the caption, “Tutuila and Guam.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-04-02

President Roosevelt sends Emperor Meiji of Japan a telegram of goodwill and friendship over the newly completed telegraph cable between Guam and Japan.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-06-25

President Roosevelt would like Senator Foraker to get a rider on a pending bill that would give the President the authority to select the department that supervises the nation’s island possessions. Roosevelt believes that it would be advantageous to have their administration under the War Department, and Secretary of War Taft agrees.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-03-30

President Roosevelt directs James Jeffrey Roche to his statement regarding the need for absolute neutrality. He intends to have genuine neutrality. However, Russia cannot make preposterous demands. Roosevelt does not see any reason why a cable from Guam to Japan should not be approved.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-03-16

President Roosevelt provides documentary evidence that Apolinario Mabini is not detained in Guam and is free to leave the island. However, Mabini cannot enter the Philippines until taking the oath of allegiance, and Roosevelt reiterates his belief in the government’s right to prevent entry into the Philippines.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1903-02-23

In light of the most recent report by Secretary of the Navy Victor Howard Metcalf, Secretary of State Root recommends that no further action be taken by Congress in regard to setting up a system of government for American Samoa. The natives there already have a “just conception” of the type of government that best suits them and interference from Congress would make a mess of it.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-04-02

John Callan O’Laughlin passes on a memorandum to President Roosevelt that may assist in the meeting with Japanese Ambassador Kogoro Takahira. In a recent conversation, Takahira asked if Roosevelt had considered an exchange of notes regarding the inclusion of the Pacific in the proposition, similar to the Franco-Japanese agreement. Japan would respect American territorial rights in Hawaii and the Philippines in exchange. O’Laughlin quotes notes delivered from previous Secretary of State John Hay to the Powers and lists the advantages of the assurances the United states would receive from Japan in exchange for the inclusion of the Pacific, as well as the potential objections.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-10-25

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.  

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-08-16

Retired Rear Admiral Manney outlines the reasons he believes sending the Great White Fleet to the Pacific Ocean is unwise given the tensions between the United States and Japan. Because Japan is not a wealthy nation, Manney believes it will not attack and occupy targets that would be expensive to win and maintain, and that therefore neither the Philippines nor Hawaii are in danger of attack. Rather, Manney describes in detail how the Japanese could gain control of bases from which to attack both the Pacific and Atlantic coasts of the United States, how such attacks would affect the U.S., and how long it would take the fleet to return to the Atlantic as a consequence. Because much more damage can be done to the United States on the Atlantic coast rather than the Pacific, it makes more sense to keep the fleet in the Atlantic, in case of war with Japan.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-07-19

Admiral George Dewey reports to Secretary of War Taft on a meeting of the Joint Board regarding the steps the United States should take in the event of a war between the United States and Japan becoming imminent. Because of the strength of Japan in the Pacific Ocean, the United States would have to be on the defensive there until reinforcements could be sent from the Atlantic. The Board recommends specific actions the United States should take immediately, moving coal, equipment, and forces to the Philippines, to be better prepared.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-06-18

Emperor Mutsuhito received the telegram from President Roosevelt that was sent over the newly laid cable between Guam and Japan. Mutsuhito reciprocates Roosevelt’s expressions of goodwill and good wishes.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-06-26

President Roosevelt plants a tree with several fruits on it: “Guam,” “Hawaii,” “Santo Domingo,” “Porto Rico,” “Panama,” and the “Philippines.” The ghost of George Washington appears out of the “White House.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-02

Uncle Sam holds “Guam,” “Philippines,” “Hawaii,” and “Porto Rico” in his arms as he reaches for “Panama.” “Mexico,” “Central America,” and “Colombia” are hidden in the foliage.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1903-12-20

Henry Martyn Hoyt responds to a request from President Roosevelt for legal advice concerning Japan’s request to lay a cable from Yokohama, Japan, to Guam. Because of Japan’s conflict with Russia, its telegraphic communications with other nations have been suspended. Hoyt discusses whether it would be seen as “hostility” toward Russia if the United States, as a neutral nation, grants Japan’s request. From a legal standpoint, he sees no reason why the U.S. should not grant the request.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-02-24

William H. Taft is globe-trotting from the “Washington White House” to the “Guam White House,” the “Philippine White House,” the “Hawaiin [sic] White House,” the “Cuban White House,” and the “Porto [sic] Rican White House.”

comments and context

Comments and Context

Puck, like most Americans by mid-1907, had come to assume that President Roosevelt’s not-so-subtle intention to engineer the Republican Party’s nomination of Secretary of War William H. Taft as his successor, would succeed. And, further, that Taft’s election over any putative Democratic candidate was also likely.

Secretary of the Navy Moody responds to a verse written by Commissioner of Pensions Eugene F. Ware regarding the administration of Guam.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1903-02-28

Secretary of the Navy Moody denies Senator Hoar’s allegations that Apolinario Mabini is confined under guard on Guam. Seaton Schroeder, late Governor of Guam, will return in two weeks and will be able to provide detailed, up-to-date information on the situation.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1903-02-26