Your TR Source
Legislation regulating interstate commerce in items produced by convict labor. Such goods which are transported into any state or territory are subject to the same laws as other goods produced in the area.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-04-04
Attorney General Bonaparte forwards a letter to President Roosevelt. It raises the question of whether it is advisable to recommend any modifications to the Sherman Anti-Trust Law or the Interstate Commerce Law at the present session of Congress, and how such modifications should be framed. Both the government and trusts want changes made to the existing laws, but the kinds of changes they desire are very different. Bonaparte concludes that it will not be possible to come to an agreement with the trusts about how the laws should be modified.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-12-02
Clipping of an article about Senate proceedings regarding the Interstate Commerce Commission and Senator Benjamin R. Tillman and Senator Shelby M. Cullom’s options towards it.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-11-25
Assistant Attorney General Purdy reports his thoughts to Attorney General Bonaparte regarding legislation to be undertaken in the wake of the financial panic. Rather than formulate new legislation in response to the crisis, Purdy details the “evils” of the Sherman Act so that Congress may address them. Purdy argues that the Sherman Act outlaws all trusts, no matter if they are good or bad, which is impractical to enforce. Purdy believes it would be better and more expedient to outlaw the bad practices of certain trusts rather than making all trusts illegal. If Congress does not agree, however, then all methods of business should be modified to “meet the literal requirements” of the Sherman Act, by creating some simple and efficient legislation to immediately break up all trusts.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-11-04
The Daily Telegraph reports on a speech by President Roosevelt in which he insisted on the peaceful nature of the Great White Fleet’s movement and reiterated his plans to regulate trusts via existing laws rather than attempting new legislation.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-10-03
In the script for an economic policy speech to be delivered at the Cincinnati Music Hall before many captains of industry, President Roosevelt argues that the trusts are a natural result of the prosperity brought by the Industrial Revolution and that we cannot pride ourselves on progress while denouncing the men whose “commanding business ability” made it possible. He uses the example of how one can control the Mississippi River’s flooding but not prevent it; therefore, America cannot end corporations but can and must study and regulate them. Roosevelt urges calm, informed evolution on the issue of trusts, not rancorous revolution. Labeling the “demagogic denunciation of wealth” to be unwholesome and even dangerous, he asserts that the public’s objection to any corporation should be based on its conduct, not its size or wealth. Roosevelt opposes lifting tariffs for trust-made goods, as that would hurt smaller producers and wage workers more than the trusts. Since most trusts conduct interstate commerce, Roosevelt recommends federal oversight, calling for legislative solutions and perhaps a constitutional amendment. He reminds the crowd that, as part of the executive branch, he is limited in his ability to stop the trusts alone.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1902-09-20
Message given by President Roosevelt to Congress at the beginning of the second session of the Fifty-seventh Congress in which Roosevelt describes his legislative priorities for the year.
Sagamore Hill National Historic Site
1902
President Roosevelt, in the “GOP Back Yard,” stands atop a box on top of a barrel and leans over a fence. On the other side of the fence, Attorney General Philander C. Knox holds a paddle labeled “Sherman and Interstate Commerce Laws,” and he is about to paddle the rear end of a large boy, “The Trust.” The boy has his head turned toward Roosevelt and is broadly smiling, with his right hand slightly covering the smile. The left hand of the boy is protecting his rear end. Caption: “Roosevelt (to Knox): Make all the noise you can; but remember, we can’t afford to hurt him.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1903-05-04
Chairman Bacon announces a convention of delegates to be held in Chicago, Illinois, which is intended to impress upon the United States Congress the need for railroad rate regulation.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-09-18
Editorial discusses recent Supreme Court decisions involving trust regulation and compares them with views espoused by Theodore Roosevelt.
Sagamore Hill National Historic Site
1913-09-01
Petition from the United States government laying out an antitrust case against the Northern Securities Company.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1901
In response to S. Janette Reynolds’s request, Frank Harper summarizes Theodore Roosevelt’s views on the temperance movement. Roosevelt supports the initiative and referendum which will allow a majority of each state to decide on temperance. He is opposed to the shipping of liquor into states that have prohibited it as he favors the “enforcement of every law on the statute book.” As an example, Harper points to Roosevelt’s enforcement of the blue laws when he was the Police Commissioner of New York City.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1912-10-02
Theodore Roosevelt does not believe blind tigers should be protected under the Interstate Commerce Law.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1912-07-06
Theodore Roosevelt likes William E. Bennett’s speech and does not see anything he disagrees with. He does not want to amend the Sherman Anti-Trust Law but wants to draft laws similar to the Interstate Commerce Laws.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-11-21
President Roosevelt advocates for amending the Sherman Anti-Trust Law to better enable it to be enforced. If it cannot be amended, a new law granting the federal government authority to review and regulate corporations should be passed.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-12-03
Theodore Roosevelt believes Senator Jonathan Dolliver and Representative William Hepburn both played significant roles in creating the Act referenced in a previous letter. Roosevelt says Dolliver had as much to do with its passage as anybody in Congress, and without him, it would not have passed through the Senate.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1914-10-02
President Roosevelt rejects Seth Low’s proposition to simply insert the word “unreasonable” and put in an amnesty clause. He worries that this would represent a backwards step in the supervision and control of corporations. However, Roosevelt would support a provision that gives the Interstate Commerce Commission control of common carriers and allows the Commission to approve of consolidations and traffic agreements.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-11-21
President Roosevelt will consider Oklahoma Governor Haskell’s letter carefully. Roosevelt reminds Haskell, however, that the matters mainly concern Congress, where legislation is under consideration to decrease the amount of assistance given to people who violate local prohibition statutes under the interstate commerce rules.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-04-13
President Roosevelt believes that former Georgia Governor Northen has been misled in his assessment of interstate commerce law regarding segregation. Had Northen read the Interstate Commerce Commission’s opinion and read the law, he would understand that he should address his queries to someone “whose duty it was to take the initiative” in appealing to the state commission. Roosevelt notes that the courts back up the law in this case. Roosevelt also notes that Judson C. Clements, a Georgian, is on the Interstate Commerce Commission and he is “simply endeavoring to stand behind the good men of the South” and that it is “foolish” for southerners to protest against the government taking notice of non-obedience of a federal statute.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-04-11
President Roosevelt informs Chicago Great Western Railroad President, A. B. Stickney, that he found his letter interesting and asks him for specific recommendations for changing the law.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-04-03