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President Roosevelt informs Attorney General Bonaparte that he concurs with Solicitor General Henry Martyn Hoyt’s argument in the recent lawsuit against the Anaconda Company. Although Roosevelt would like to prosecute the companies involved, he decides to leave it up to his successor due to his term ending soon.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1909-02-18
President Roosevelt suggests William Cullen Dennis as a possible candidate to appoint as Assistant Attorney General. Dennis is currently serving as Assistant Solicitor in the Department of State, and Roosevelt has heard good reports of him from Assistant Secretary of State Robert Bacon. Secretary of State Elihu Root is also writing Attorney General Bonaparte a letter to this effect. In a postscript, Roosevelt opines that Thomas Carl Spelling is “of pretty small caliber to argue that commodities case,” and tells Bonaparte that they should put their best man on it.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-12-24
President Roosevelt informs Senator Knox of a conversation that he had with Solicitor General Henry Martyn Hoyt, and explains how the payment the United States made to France for the Panama Canal was handled.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-12-08
While President Roosevelt acknowledges Surveyor General of New Mexico Llewellyn did not benefit from the land transactions, he was not “careful and vigilant” in following the law. Roosevelt requests Llewellyn’s resignation.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-12-07
President Roosevelt sends Governor Winthrop of Puerto Rico an enclosed letter and some papers from Acting Attorney General Henry Martyn Hoyt which he says are self-explanatory. As Winthrop is actually on the ground and can get full knowledge of the situation, Roosevelt asks him to make a careful investigation of the case.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-07-27
President Roosevelt comments to Attorney General Moody on the state of several cases currently being prosecuted, potentially being brought to trial, or being appealed. He was disturbed by the judgement of Judge George C. Holt that Moody referred to, and feels that while it is inevitable that “even a good judge will go wrong in a percentage of cases,” this was an important case in which Holt missed the larger Governmental questions. Roosevelt would like to prosecute other cases without reference to the one Holt decided, and wishes to use the case as an example to argue for the right of appeal, so long as he can do so without offending Holt. He would be glad if there is reasonable ground to proceed against Standard Oil in antitrust suits, as several special counsels think there is.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-07-21
President Roosevelt greatly appreciated a recent editorial by Frank Irving Cobb, and believes that Cobb is correct in highlighting the administrative work of government of enforcing and administering laws as important. Roosevelt names a number of people involved in his government who he believe are doing very good work.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-07-03
Assistant U.S. Attorney General Cooley happily received word from Solicitor General Henry Martyn Hoyt and President Roosevelt that he “was back in the world again.” Both Ward and Elihu Root have promised to assist him with navigating the incoming administration, and Cooley and his wife, Susan Dexter Dalton Cooley, are grateful for the support of their many friends. He finds the end of Roosevelt’s presidency bittersweet, and wishes that the entire “Tennis Cabinet” could keep their jobs. He is very sorry that Secretary of State Robert Bacon and Secretary of the Interior James Rudolf Garfield will likely “not be retained.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1909-01-31
Former assistant attorney general Alford Warriner Cooley has been told that he should be able to go back to work in the early spring. Cooley does not think he should remain in the west, and would have liked to start up a practice in New York, except that he has been advised by his doctor to avoid the strain. It seems that resuming his job in the Department of Justice makes the most sense for his financial and physical health, and he asks Roosevelt’s advice of how to raise this question with President-Elect William H. Taft.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-12-21
Attorney General Bonaparte reports that, as President Roosevelt instructed, the lawsuit against Amalgamated Company will not be instituted until Roosevelt directs. However, such a suit could not compel the smelters to shut down until a final verdict was given. It would be a voluntary action on the company’s part to shut down the smelters at the beginning of the case. While Roosevelt wants the Department of Justice to investigate some alternative propositions concerning the situation in Anaconda, Montana, Bonaparte notes that the Department of Justice has no facilities for handling such scientific questions. Nevertheless, he promises that the department will investigate “as actively as possible.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-12-08
Attorney General Bonaparte updates President Roosevelt on a variety of cases the Administration has in courts. First, Civil Service Commissioner Alford Warriner Cooley is reluctant to travel to Colorado or Oregon because two cases relating to civil service law will be tried in the Supreme Court soon. Second, Bonaparte has sent a report about a scandal involving New Mexico judge Daniel Hugh McMillan to New Mexico, as the report damages only McMillan. Bonaparte has also arranged for Thomas Carl Spelling and L. Allison Wilmer to prepare and conduct cases against coal-carrying roads under the Hepburn Act. Finally, Bonaparte encloses a communication relating to matters regarding the Alaska Syndicate and the Morgan-Guggenheim interests in Alaska. A dispute between Senator Simon Guggenheim and Governor Wilford B. Hoggatt over land rights of railroads has led to bloodshed.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-02-08
Attorney General Bonaparte informs William Loeb what he has learned with regard to General James Sullivan Clarkson’s request to have his son’s deposition taken in New York. Bonaparte relays that although a deposition cannot be taken, Grosvenor Clarkson is not needed as a witness. If Clarkson decides to attend the trial he will have a United States Marshal assigned to him for protection, however, he should have a note from a physician sent if he chooses not to go.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-12-04
Attorney General of New Mexico Llewellyn informs William Loeb that he is leaving for Rosewell, New Mexico, to act as the Special Prosecutor in the Talmadge land fraud case. He is anxious about the appointment on the Water Boundary Commission and requests that William Loeb write him as soon as he learns “anything whatever” about the Commission.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-12-06
Llewellyn, William H. H. (William Henry Harrison), 1851-1927
Attorney General Bonaparte attempts to dissuade President Roosevelt from a recommendation he had made that all papers containing charges against United States Attorney for the Territory of New Mexico William H. H. Llewellyn be destroyed. Bonaparte assures Roosevelt that the papers are being kept confidential, and believes that destroying them could potentially be illegal in any case. Bonaparte also disagrees with Roosevelt’s suggestion that Assistant Attorney General Henry Martyn Hoyt go to New Mexico accompanied by a “New Mexico contingent,” as doing so could hurt the image of impartiality the Department of Justice is trying to portray.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-11-22
Attorney General Bonaparte gives President Roosevelt details about his encounter with former Illinois Governor Richard Yates. Yates has been offered a job with the Department of Justice and is unsure if he will accept it. Bonaparte is sorry to hear that Solicitor General Henry Martyn Hoyt is having surgery and will be incapacitated for some time. In a postscript, Bonaparte adds that he has spoken with Cardinal James Gibbons. Among other matters, they agree the government should not involve itself in the lawsuit between the Catholic Church and Puerto Rico.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-09-21
Attorney General Moody updates President Roosevelt on the investigation of the cotton scandal and the various employees in the Department of Agriculture involved in the case.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-07-21
Secretary of Agriculture Wilson responds to two letters recently received from President Roosevelt concerning scandal surrounding the cotton report leak. Wilson describes Edwin Sanford Holmes, assistant statistician in the Department of Agriculture, as a “scoundrel.” Holmes has been accused of leaking information to New York brokers who used it to speculate on the market. Wilson provides background information concerning the status of the case. He discusses potential guilt and the possible removal of John Hyde, chief of the Bureau of Statistics in the Agriculture Department.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-07-17
Eugene A. Philbin, an attorney in New York, thanks President Roosevelt for his indirect involvement in a difficult situation involving the New York Foundling Asylum. The sisters of the asylum for the first time sent children to be placed with families in Arizona, where they were taken by a mob. William Loeb referred Philbin to the office of Acting Attorney General Henry Martyn Hoyt, who was able to resolve the situation by involving local authorities. Philbin also briefly mentions matters regarding religious leadership in the Congo and the Philippines.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-10-21
C. F. Heckler informs President Roosevelt that he would prefer to relay the information he has to Roosevelt in person. Heckler mentions Senator Boies Penrose, Congressman Irving Price Wanger, and Assistant Attorney General Henry Martyn Hoyt as people who can attest to his character.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-06-27
Photograph showing President Roosevelt with his “Tennis Cabinet” on the White House lawn on March 1, 1909, when a farewell luncheon was held for the group. Shown from left to right behind Theodore Roosevelt are military aide Archie Butt, Third Assistant Secretary of State William Phillips, Commissioner of the Bureau of Corporations Herbert Knox Smith, Assistant Secretary of the Navy Beekman Winthrop, Chief of U.S. Forest Service Gifford Pinchot, Comptroller of Currency Lawrence O. Murray, U.S. District Attorney Henry L. Stimson, Assistant Secretary of the Navy Herbert Livingston Satterlee, Associate Justice William H. Moody, U.S. District Attorney John Carter Rose, Secretary of the Navy Truman Handy Newberry, G. W. Woodruff, French Ambassador J. J. Jusserand, William Walter Heffelfinger, Postmaster General George von Lengerke Meyer, Commission of Indian Affairs Francis E. Leupp, John Avery McIlhenny, Secretary of the Interior James Rudolph Garfield, U.S. Marshal Seth Bullock, Solicitor General Henry Martyn Hoyt, U.S. Marshal John R. Abernathy, Luther S. Kelly, Secretary of State Robert Bacon, Commissioner of Labor Charles Patrick Neill, William Wingate Sewall, Commissioner General of Immigration Daniel J. Keefe, First Assistant Secretary of State James Callan O’Laughlin, James Bronson Reynolds, Henry S. Pritchett, and secretary William Loeb. In the foreground is the Alexander Phimster Proctor sculpture, “Stalking Panther,” which was presented to Roosevelt by his “Tennis Cabinet” at the luncheon.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
1909-03-01