Your TR Source
Lieutenant Ellicott thanks Governor Roosevelt for acknowledging his pamphlet on the Battle of Manila Bay and for the high commendations Roosevelt gave his reconnaissance work in Hawaii.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1899-08-27
President Roosevelt introduces Albert Bushnell Hart of Harvard University to the representatives in Alaska, Hawaii, and the Philippines.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-04-23
Acting Secretary of the Navy Newberry’s letter helped President Roosevelt better understand the situation. Roosevelt believes the best itinerary for the Great White Fleet to follow is through the Straits of Magellan and returning through the Suez Canal, but he seeks advice from the Chief of the Bureau of Navigation, Admiral Willard H. Brownson. Roosevelt also believes several reporters should accompany the fleet.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-08-10
President Roosevelt will show German Ambassador Sternburg’s letter to Secretary of State Elihu Root. He does not think that the settlement in Mexico and Hawaii of former Japanese soldiers is part of some plan by the government of Japan but rather believes it is due to their disinclination to return to a boring peacetime life.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-07-24
President Roosevelt believes the arguments of Admiral H. N. Manney against sending the naval fleet to the Pacific are absurd. If the arguments were true in a time of peace, they could more readily be applied in the event of war, in which case the United States should resign itself to giving up the Philippines, Hawaii, and Alaska, as well as Puerto Rico and the Panama Canal.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-07-24
President Roosevelt sends Major General Bell’s report to Secretary of War Taft. Roosevelt compares the threat of Japan conquering California in a war to the possibility of losing the Philippines or Hawaii. Roosevelt will do his best to prevent any wrong being done to Japan. He will also keep the country in readiness should war break out, though he expects that having someone like Senator Eugene Hale as chairman of the Senate Committee on Naval Affairs may make that difficult.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-07-23
President Roosevelt tells Lyman Abbott that he agrees with his position about the naturalization of the Japanese in Hawaii.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-01-18
President Roosevelt has heard nothing bad about Judge Humphreys except for his temper. He wonders if David Starr Jordan knows of Mr. Sewall or Samuel Parker and how they are viewed by the people of Hawaii. Roosevelt would be extremely grateful if Starr could provide a full statement with reference to “Hawaiian conditions.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1901-10-21
President Roosevelt asks Attorney General Knox to read and return some newspaper clippings. He believes they must be “more than careful” not to build up an Anti-American Native Faction in Hawaii, and wishes they could send someone out there to report on the situation.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1901-10-09
Governor Carter’s time in the executive office for the territory of Hawaii will be ending in November. Carter has no interest in continuing his time in the position, but he hopes President Roosevelt might do something for Alatau L. C. Atkinson, secretary for the territory. Atkinson does not wish to become governor, but if he were promoted to another government position, and Carter’s successor were named early, the latter could take Atkinson’s position as secretary. The new governor would be able to become familiar with the duties of the office before acceding to the governorship at the end of Carter’s term.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-03-25
Brigadier General Murray contests several statements made by Mr. Archibald regarding the incompleteness of the fixed defenses of the Pacific Coast harbors. Murray assures Chief of Staff Bell that the mines used in the coastal defense system are controlled from shore and are harmless to friendly vessels. Murray also notes that submarines are promising war vessels but they have not yet proven to be valuable and, therefore, Mr. Archibald’s suggestion to adopt submarines for the defenses of the harbors is “preposterous.” Murray does believe, however, that submarines possess decided merit for uses supplemental to fixed defenses in harbors where mines cannot be used.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-01
In compliance with a letter he received from the President’s secretary, Secretary of War Taft sends President Roosevelt a letter from James F. J. Archibald that relates to the submarine defense of the Pacific Coast and Hawaiian islands, and reports from General Arthur Murray, the Chief of Artillery, and General William W. Wotherspoon, Acting Chief of the Army Third Division, General Staff.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-01-24
Corps of Engineers Lieutenant Colonel Leach summarizes James F. J. Archibald’s letter to President Roosevelt regarding the weak defense of the Hawaiian Islands. In general, the Pacific Ocean is very poorly defended and should be considered a vulnerability. Leach discuses the logistics of introducing submarine weapons into naval defenses and previous attempts to acquire such weapons. While Leach concedes that Hawaii is lacking in defense, he strongly disagrees with the position that the Pacific Ocean is vulnerable and proves this by listing the local forts and their weaponized capacity.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-01-21
Attorney General Bonaparte relays to President Roosevelt the language of the immigration law enabling the President to prevent the Japanese government from issuing passports for immigrants to the continental United States who first travel through other countries or United States territories and the draft executive order. Bonaparte suggests changes to the order to make it conform with the immigration law.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-03-14
Lyman Abbott would support offering naturalization to Chinese and Japanese immigrants if the Japanese were not already a majority in Hawaii. Abbott feels that a law which would give the Japanese political control in a territory that is important to the United States for both military and commercial reasons would be “extremely perilous.” Abbott returns the letter from President David Starr Jordan of Stanford University and encloses an editorial on the “Japanese question.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-01-17
Rear Admiral Mahan is very worried about reports that claim U. S. Naval ships will be situated in the Pacific. Fearing U. S. forces are vastly inferior to Japan’s, Mahan posits that war with Japan could devolve into a very poor situation for the United States. Should warfare with Japan commence, the United States’ ties to the Philippines and Hawaii might be in danger.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-01-10
Lyman Abbott is not sure what the United States government can do in the cases of the Armenians or the Congo Free State, but believes there is “a real power” in international public opinion. Abbott believes that giving the Japanese suffrage now would put the control of Hawaii in their hands and doubts the wisdom of it for the same reason he doubts the wisdom of giving political control of the Philippines to the Filipinos. Abbott also gives his opinion that Reed Smoot’s religious beliefs as a Mormon should not exclude him from the Senate, unless his allegiance to the Church is “above” his allegiance to the Constitution.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-01-08
David Starr Jordan thinks that if Americanism is the true motto of the country, then Japanese immigrants who meet all the qualifications should be naturalized as citizens. President Roosevelt and his administration have been successful in preventing the creation of a “Jim Crow” class while also protecting America’s dignity in interacting with Japan. Even in interfering in local matters, it has only been limited to when there are possible constitutional violations at stake, like when the local school board in San Francisco made their ruling about the Japanese school-aged children. There are definite economic advantages to maintaining trade with Asia, but an influx of immigration to the United States does raise some valid concerns along economic and social lines.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-01-03
James F. J. Archibald reports to President Roosevelt on the submarine defense of the Pacific Coast and the Hawaiian Islands. Archibald believes America to be “so far behind” other nations in this area of marine warfare—particularly Great Britain, France, and Japan. Upon visiting principal cities and harbors, he finds the Pacific Coast and Hawaiian Islands in a “deplorably defenseless position” and notes that the people living in these areas feel vulnerable because of the large extent of “oriental labor and immigration.” Whereas guns and mines are not ideal defense weapons because of the foggy weather, Archibald feels the Pacific Coast is prime territory for the use of submarines due to the large harbors, climates, and topography of the region. Archibald details the number of submarines and personnel he believes to be needed at each of four geographic locations–the Puget Sound, the mouth of the Columbia River, the San Francisco Bay, and the San Diego Bay–as well as the costs of these fortifications, and he emphasizes that his opinions are shared by military officers and civilian experts.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-01-02
This article, published in The Outlook, seeks to present the principles which “should, and eventually will, determine the whole question of the treatment of the Oriental races in this country.” Considering specifically the case of California, where Japanese children were being excluded from public schools, the article highlights three issues: the prerogative of the states to control and make decisions about public schooling, the right of the Federal Government to determine who may enter into the country, and the power of Congress to make naturalization laws to determine who may become a citizen. After explaining these, the article then applies them to the situation in California.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-12-29