International Peace Conference

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Elihu Root

President Roosevelt sends Secretary of State Root an article from the London Times, and wonders if the United States should intervene in Venezuela if it does not pay its debts, as decided by the International Peace Conference at the Hague. Roosevelt says he supposes they should decline to meet with the Korean mission if they come to the United States. In a postscript, Roosevelt encloses a copy of the Tokyo Puck, lamenting its sensationalism. Secretary of War William H. Taft is planning a trip to the Philippines, and Roosevelt asks Root’s thoughts on Taft stopping in Siberia or Japan on the way.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-07-29

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Telegram from Theodore Roosevelt to Elihu Root

President Roosevelt asks Secretary of State Root about his opinion regarding a proposal by Great Britain at the International Peace Conference at the Hague. Roosevelt is inclined to agree with Admiral Charles S. Sperry’s views.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-07-29

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Andrew Carnegie

President Roosevelt is pleased by what Andrew Carnegie is going to do for the Bureau of American Republics, and believes he has done something similar for the Hague Peace Conference. His gifts significantly aid the cause of peace for both hemispheres.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-01-02

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Paul-Henri-Benjamin Balluet to Theodore Roosevelt

Baron Estournelles de Constant informs President Roosevelt of his upcoming visit to America to speak at the Carnegie Institute.  He hopes his speech, entitled “American youth and American faith regenerating European old age and skepticism”, will spawn “great confidence” upon the younger generation of Americans.  He will arrive in Washington on the eighth, avoiding any speaking engagements until he receives Roosevelt’s advice on how do so.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-03-05

Creator(s)

Estournelles de Constant, Paul-Henri-Benjamin Balluet, baron', 1852-1924

Letter from Andrew Carnegie to Theodore Roosevelt

Andrew Carnegie tells President Roosevelt that he believes the priority at the next Hague Peace Conference must be the establishment of an international police force.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-02-14

Creator(s)

Carnegie, Andrew, 1835-1919

Letter from Edward Grey to Theodore Roosevelt

British Foreign Secretary Grey updates President Roosevelt about James Bryce’s plans regarding his upcoming trip to Canada and the ongoing conversations about the best position to take at the International Peace Conference. Grey hopes the diplomatic debacle following Jamaican Governor James Alexander Swettenham’s refusal of American help after the Kingston Earthquake is blowing over, as well as the conflict between the Japanese Government and America regarding California. Grey thinks that King Léopold II of Belgium should relinquish control of the Congo, which he believes should pass to the Belgian Government.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-02-12

Creator(s)

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

Letter from Nicholas Murray Butler to Theodore Roosevelt

Nicholas Murray Butler updates President Roosevelt on the progress being made to establish the Association for International Conciliation, with funding from Andrew Carnegie. The peace work of the association is to be done as quietly as possible and in accordance with the wishes of Roosevelt and Secretary of State Elihu Root. In addition, Butler offers Roosevelt his support in regard to the Brownsville affair and encourages Roosevelt to keep up a “stiff front” to the “Senate oligarchy.” Butler also shares his observations regarding how railroad officials are trying to make the new railroad rate law unpopular, but concludes that, despite challenges, the law will succeed in the end.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-01-21

Creator(s)

Butler, Nicholas Murray, 1862-1947

Letter from Whitelaw Reid to Theodore Roosevelt

Ambassador Reid updates President Roosevelt about his diplomatic activities and assures him that he has been keeping Secretary of State Elihu Root in the loop. Reid suspects that the Russians and Germans are trying to get an American diplomat to make a statement regarding disarmament, so they can better position themselves at the upcoming Peace Conference.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-02-18

Creator(s)

Reid, Whitelaw, 1837-1912

The emancipation of the Tsar

W. T. Stead relays the history of Russian Emperor Nicholas II’s reign up to this point, and asserts that his unpopularity with his people and inability to act rests on the bureaucracy built up by his ministers. Stead believes that Nicholas will be “emancipated” from the limits of autocracy and bureaucracy by the upcoming election of the Duma. When the Tsar and Duma meet, Stead predicts that they will be able to work well together.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1905-10-12

Creator(s)

Stead, W. T. (William Thomas), 1849-1912

Copy of note handed to the President by Baron Rosen

The Emperor of Russia urges the United States to participate in a second Hague Conference. Russia would like to set forth proposals as the basis for deliberations.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1905-09-13

Creator(s)

Rosen, Roman Romanovich, Baron, 1847-1921

The success of the arbitration project

The writer believes that the adoption of Article 27 of the Arbitration Project ensures the success of the Hague Conference and of efforts for peace. The Article recognizes the duty of each nation to seek arbitration in the Permanent Court of the Hague of any dispute that threatens to lead to war. Had the Article been adopted earlier, the Spanish-American War could have been avoided.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1905-09-09

Creator(s)

Unknown

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Francis William Bird

Theodore Roosevelt would like to talk with Francis William Bird about the country’s pacifist response to international affairs, which treat the Hague peace conventions as mere “scraps of paper.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1915-09-03

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Charles Sumner Bird

Theodore Roosevelt appreciated Charles Sumner Bird’s editorial. He would like to talk to Bird and to his son about the country’s failure to stand for international justice, in response to Germany’s recent actions, which “trample under foot” the Hague peace conventions.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1915-09-02

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Albert J. Beveridge

Theodore Roosevelt agrees with Albert J. Beveridge’s opinion that additional battleships would have given Spain the excuse to avoid the Spanish War. Roosevelt mentions the high quality of the naval program when he was president and reiterates that World War I was not caused by anything connected to the freedom of the seas.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1916-01-24

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Charles S. Sperry

President Roosevelt writes a letter of praise for Rear Admiral Charles S. Sperry, noting his various achievements during the course of Roosevelt’s administration.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1909-02-27

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Andrew Carnegie

President Roosevelt stands by his decision to expand the Navy despite earlier statements that he would not do so. Roosevelt tells Andrew Carnegie that while confidentiality prohibits him from revealing all of the reasons for his decision, rising global tensions and the failure of the Second International Peace Conference at The Hague to establish a way to enforce disarmament provide ample reason for him to want to improve the United States’ own Navy.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-11-19

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Whitelaw Reid

President Roosevelt is very busy due to the financial crisis and can only send a short letter to Ambassador Reid thanking him for clippings and speeches. Roosevelt heartily agrees with Reid’s comparison of a story about a New England farmer and the pig and the International Peace Conference at The Hague.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-11-02

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Andrew Carnegie

President Roosevelt thanks Andrew Carnegie for a clipping of Carnegie’s interview. Roosevelt appreciates Carnegie defending him against George Brinton McClellan Harvey, who recently attacked Roosevelt in the European press, but believes Carnegie attaches more importance to Harvey than Roosevelt does. Roosevelt is more concerned about keeping peace with Japan than with the International Peace Conference underway at The Hague.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-07-15

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Elihu Root

President Roosevelt discusses several topics with Secretary of State Root. Roosevelt had intended to appoint William Penn Duvall to Quartermaster General, but Secretary of War William H. Taft strongly recommended James Buchanan Aleshire instead. Roosevelt has called upon Attorney General Charles J. Bonaparte to investigate the difficulties of Japanese immigrants in San Francisco. Roosevelt has been hearing “howls” over an agreement with Germany. Roosevelt feels Andrew Carnegie’s New York peace conference has weakened the United States’ chances at the International Peace Conference at the Hague, and so has not been following developments there.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-07-02

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Cecil Spring Rice

President Roosevelt shares his thoughts on various topics with Cecil Spring Rice. Roosevelt is planning to swap foreign assignments between John B. Jackson and Richmond Pearson, mentioning that Pearson had trouble with missionaries in Persia. While Jackson has done well as Minister to Greece, Roosevelt does not approve of his strong pro-Russia feelings. Roosevelt thinks the Russian people are good, and feels badly that they oscillate between despotism and anarchy. Roosevelt is interested in what Spring Rice says about the movement of Islam in Persia toward more tolerance, and gives his opinion about progress in Islamic countries in relation to Buddhism and Shinto. The violent incidents in San Francisco towards Japanese immigrants concerns Roosevelt. Roosevelt thinks everyone should be in favor of peace and temperance, but he feels professional advocates of both talk a lot without ever getting anything done. At home, Roosevelt is trying to keep a balance between plutocrats and labor unions. Roosevelt hopes to see Spring Rice and his wife soon.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-07-01

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919