Hoar, George Frisbie, 1826-1904

Charles G. Washburn writes to John W. Weeks about their mutual concerns related to the Department of Justice’s enforcement of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act. Washburn summarizes the history of the Sherman Act. He discusses the effect of the 1897 Trans-Missouri case and efforts by politicians, including Theodore Roosevelt, to amend the Sherman Act. Washburn also describes a number of cases which have gone to court under the Sherman Act. 

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-09-28

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

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1903-01-24

Filipino leader Apolinario Mabini has taken the oath of allegiance to the United States.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1903-02-17

President Roosevelt informs Joseph Bucklin Bishop that he met with Edward H. Van Ingen and agrees with their plan of action via letter. Roosevelt has already written to District Attorney Henry L. Burnett about the letter and plans to meet with Burnett, Van Ingen, and William Williams together. He also comments on the trust legislation and the actions of Congressmen George Frisbie Hoar and Charles E. Littlefield. Roosevelt encloses a letter to New York Police Commissioner F. V. Greene and discusses the information he provided Greene.

Collection

Harvard College Library

Creation Date

1903-02-17

President Bishop tells Joseph Bucklin Bishop that he enjoyed his editorial about Senator George Frisbie Hoar and is going to show it to Senator Henry Cabot Lodge.

Collection

Harvard College Library

Creation Date

1903-12-24

President Roosevelt is glad Joseph Bucklin Bishop liked his message about Panama. He writes that he hopes his message will counter Senator George Frisbie Hoar’s resolution and comments on the press coverage of Bishop’s editorial regarding Hoar.

Collection

Harvard College Library

Creation Date

1904-01-06

Senator George F. Hoar, as an old woman waving an umbrella, yells at Uncle Sam as he confidently walks away from her with a shovel on his shoulder and papers labeled “Canal Plans” under his arm. Two diminutive figures labeled “Colombia” and “Philippines” are standing next to Hoar.

comments and context

Comments and Context

George Frisbie Hoar, Republican Senator from Massachusetts, was an old-line part loyalist for years, but a maverick on the issue of expansionism. He was consistent on this issue, to the extent of speaking out against the Spanish-American War; a leading opponent of territorial expansion and acquisition of defeated Spanish possessions, he never actually joined the American Anti-Imperialist League. The organization, founded by Mark Twain and whose members included former president Grover Cleveland, made prominent arguments in public debates but was short-lived.

Seven men dressed as Roman senators are labeled “T.C. Tillman, Lodge, Stewart, Morgan, Quay, [and] Hoar.” George F. Hoar is speaking to the others while pointing at a diminutive President Roosevelt standing in their midst. Caption: Senator Hoar’s Decree–Hereafter, when he wants to talk, let him ask us and say “please.”

comments and context

Comments and Context

At the time of this cartoon, Senator George Frisbie Hoar of Massachusetts was having one of his perennial dust-ups with President Roosevelt. Their intra-party clashes had begun in 1889, when Roosevelt was appointed to head the Civil Service Commission. Roosevelt always considered Hoar to be honest and acknowledged him as distinguished, but in private correspondence referred to him as a silly and self-absorbed Mugwump. Hoar, a Republican, was nevertheless an ardent anti-imperialist, and in this context he took up the cause of Apolinario Mabini, Filipino insurrectionist. Old and feeble, Mabini was nevertheless denied return to the Philippines from exile unless he declared allegiance to the American-backed administrations there. Hoar was a thorn in Roosevelt’s side on the issue, and the senator went public with his disdain for the young president. In Pughe’s cartoon, one of the senate’s leaders, observing the denigration of Roosevelt was Hoar’s fellow senator from Massachusetts — Henry Cabot Lodge, probably Roosevelt’s closest friend.

A statue labeled “Thomas Jefferson The Father of Expansion” stands at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in Saint Louis, Missouri, with Puck directing the attention of George Frisbie Hoar and other anti-expansionists Edward Atkinson, Carl Schurz, and Charles Francis Adams, who look on in disbelief.

comments and context

Comments and Context

The Louisiana Purchase Exposition was planned for 1904 to commemorate the centennial of President Jefferson’s acceptance of Napoleon’s offer to sell vast Western lands — actually French claims to lands — on the American continent. It was planned for St. Louis, the “Gateway To the West,” then one of the largest cities in the United States.

George F. Hoar, Carl Schurz, David B. Hill, and former Massachusetts Governor George S. Boutwell place their “Anti-Expansion Speech” at the feet of a huge American soldier holding a rifle and the American flag, while opposite them Filipinos place guns and swords at the soldier’s feet. Caption: The American Filipinos and the Native Filipinos will have to submit.

comments and context

Comments and Context

Pughe’s cartoon is a diplomatic portrayal of a rather diplomatic cessation of hostilities and American military withdrawal from the Philippines, where insurrection had raged, with brutality on the “Filipino” and American sides almost from the moment of Spanish surrender in 1898. Senator George Frisbie Hoar (R-MA), the most prominent Congressional opponent of the “pacification” by American troops, had demanded investigation of American atrocities. In 1902 an American Marine was tried for the murder of 11 Filipinos; and an American general was convicted of ordering the death of all males over 10 years old on one of the Philippine islands (he was verbally reprimanded, returned to the United States, and discharged). On July 4, 1902, President Roosevelt ordered the full and complete pardon and amnesty to all Philippine citizens and rebels. This cartoon appeared between the surrender of the last rebel leader and the announcement of United States troop withdrawal.

Anti-imperialists George Frisbie Hoar, Carl Schurz, Edward Atkinson, Charles Francis Adams, and Andrew Carnegie are drowning in “Quicksand of Public Opinion,” with the U.S. Capitol building in the background.

comments and context

Comments and Context

The underlying issues of America’s anti-imperialists (the men depicted here, as well as Mark Twain and several other prominent figures) remained in 1902. Those included the constitutionality and moral implications of empire, but as Spain’s surrendered territories accommodated themselves to new flags and occupiers, the problems receded from headlines. A month before this cartoon’s publication, President Roosevelt formally (though not entirely cleanly) ended armed conflict in the Philippines. Rebel leader Emilio Aguinaldo and other insurgents surrendered, military atrocity charges were addressed, and a general amnesty for rebels was declared. Anti-imperialists back in America might have felt subsumed by the quicksand of irrelevance.

George F. Hoar sits on the U.S. Capitol dome using a telegraph to send a “wireless” message “Keep it up! We are with you!” across a body of water to the insurgent forces fighting against American troops in the Philippines. At the base of the Capitol are several men waving “Anti-Expansion” banners.

comments and context

Comments and Context

Republican Senator George Frisbie Hoar of Massachusetts was the most prominent sitting politician in the small but influential band of anti-Imperialists following the Spanish-American War. Mark Twain, William Jennings Bryan, and a number of prominent newspaper editors were loudly opposed to expansion. This cartoon by Pughe was published at a time when American troops were dying in American efforts to pacify the Philippines, and suggested that aid and comfort were being telegraphed to the rebels. “Wireless telegraphy” was a recent innovation, so the cartoonist included a popular topic in that regard.

Representatives of the “Democratic, Republican, Populist, [and] Prohibition” parties carry a larger-than-life-sized President William McKinley on a sedan chair, and wave their hats as a show of support for McKinley’s policies. Behind them, on the right, are standing William Jennings “Bryan,” former senator George Frisbie “Hoar,” and Edward “Atkinson” (head of the Anti-Imperialist League) dressed like Filipinos. The U.S. Capitol building is in the background. Caption: All parties support him now, – except the unreconstructed Filipinos.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1901-05-29

Illustration showing Senator George Frisbie Hoar having a troubled sleep due to writing on his bedroom wall, as stated at the Ohio Republican convention in Columbus, Ohio, April 1900: “We have faith in American patriotism, character, and capacity, and we know that American government will extend the inestimable blessings of freedom, law, and civilization to the peoples who are brought under our protection” signed, “Rep. State Platforms.” Also shows a portrait of the Filipino insurgent leader Emilio Aguinaldo on the wall.

comments and context

Comments and Context

Massachusetts Senator Hoar was one of a handful of Republican leaders who opposed the Spanish-American War. He was a lifelong anti-Imperialist — for instance, thwarting efforts to annex Hawaii by any means — but was particularly opposed to the activities of the United States in the Philippines after the Spanish-American War. He decried efforts to suppress the rebellion led by Emilio Aguinaldo and he publicized many of the charges of brutality and torture leveled at American forces. This cartoon depicts Hoar’s fevered sleep, avoiding the writing on the wall. The portrait of Aguinaldo mocks his admiration for the rebel leader.

President William McKinley stands on the steps to the U.S. Capitol, holding up two flags, one labeled “Expansion” and the other labeled “Sound Money.” Tiny figures at the foot of the steps show William Jennings Bryan and his “Anti-Expansion” and “16 to 1” followers trying to dislodge the flag poles.

comments and context

Comments and Context

Puck never shed its Democratic roots more than in campaigns where William Jennings Bryan was its party’s nominee, especially in 1900. The portrait of McKinley virtually is hagiographic. Even with two major issues, the Democrats found scarce traction with voters. The Anti-Expansion “pigmies” include Carl Schurz, left; and Joseph Pulitzer, right. Two of the “16 to 1” (free silver) opponents are Senator George Frisbie Hoar, left; Adlai E. Stevenson, with the straw hat; and Bryan, with the banner.

Illustration showing Senator George Frisbie Hoar standing, full-length, wearing a child’s nightgown, holding up in his right hand a candle labeled “Twaddle” and clutching a wooden doll labeled “Philippine Question.” Hoar was generally an anti-Imperialist, though Republican, and a fervent proponent of immediate independence for the Philippine Islands.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1900-01-17

President Roosevelt thanks Samuel W. Small and Mr. Howell for their aid. Roosevelt believes that Senator Francis Marion Cockrell and Senator James B. McCreary will support the Panama treaty. He has been surprised at the opposition in the Southern states and if it could be arranged he would retire from politics to get the treaty passed.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1903-12-29

George B. Cortelyou encloses a letter from President Roosevelt to Senator George Frisbie Hoar for Secretary of War Root’s confidential reading.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1902-12-23

President Roosevelt informs Governor Taft that he will speak with Cardinal Gibbons regarding the influence of the friars on the Filipino movement for a church independent of the Catholic Church. Roosevelt requests Taft’s opinon on the effect of Apolinario Mabini’s return.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1902-12-26

President Roosevelt met with Oliver Wendell Holmes and is satisfied with him as a United States Supreme Court nominee. Roosevelt wrote to Senator George Frisbie Hoar to inform him of Holmes’s selection and asks Senator Lodge to also contact Hoar.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1902-07-25