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Assistant Secretary of the Navy Roosevelt informs Representative Bingham he will visit Philadelphia the following week. Roosevelt asks Bingham for a formal list of matters to investigate while he is there.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1897-05-21
Assistant Secretary of the Navy Roosevelt instructs naval constructor Francis T. Bowles to investigate the matters mentioned in the enclosed letters. Bowles should give special attention to the letters from Dennis A. Janvrin and Francis A. Eve.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1897-05-10
James E. West thanks Samuel Gompers for his courteous letter and appreciates the full report of the Executive Council of the American Federation of Labor regarding an investigation into the Boy Scouts of America. As the chosen committee investigates, the Boy Scouts of America are prepared to respond to any request the committee may make of them.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-12-18
Samuel Gompers informs James E. West of the receipt of his letter and provides the full report of the Executive Council of the American Federation of Labor regarding an investigation into the Boy Scouts of America. A committee was formed to thoroughly investigate the Boy Scout Movement and report on its influence. Gompers reports that he will share more after the next Executive Council meeting.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-12-15
James E. West writes Samuel Gompers regarding the news that the American Federation of Labor plans to review the Boy Scouts of America to determine the influence and affect on labor the Boy Scout movement is having. West offers to provide someone from the organization to answer questions as well as printed or written material and looks forward to the suggestions of the Federation.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-12-01
W. P. Dewey is interested in Theodore Roosevelt’s position on the conduct of courts and judges. He recently became aware of the issue concerning receiverships and reorganizing corporations through receiverships resulting from court actions. Dewey believes in the need for an investigation into the matter and proposes Roosevelt carry it out.
William E. Glasscock appreciates the Richard Randolph McMahon’s approval of Glasscock’s plan to challenge the election of Senator’s William E. Chilton and Clarence Wayland Watson. Glasscock will provide the letter written by McMahon to the press because it argues the case of an investigation so well. Glasscock plans to petition Congress for an investigation at the opening of the next session.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-10-02
Frank St. Clair asks Theodore Roosevelt for information about Jared B. Flagg, whom he investigated while Police Commissioner of New York City.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1910-12-28
Lucius B. Swift reports to William Dudley Foulke about some of the preliminary results of the National Civil Service Reform League’s investigation into charges that William H. Taft or President Theodore Roosevelt improperly appointed people to civil service positions in order to nominate Taft as the Republican candidate for president. There has been no evidence found connecting Taft or Roosevelt to such a scheme, and Swift says that he agrees with Roosevelt’s sentiment that the office holders simply felt what was a broader popular sentiment in favor of Taft. Roosevelt’s efforts to remove the classified service from politics, in fact, have been very successful.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-11-30
Hans A. Koenig questions President Roosevelt about his actions while serving as Governor of New York, as described in Charles Edward Russell’s book Lawless Wealth. Koenig asks for an explanation regarding the allegedly suppressed reports on investigations into the State Trust Company and into illegal bank deposits made by “prominent men.” Specifically, Koenig states that if the charges made in the book against Secretary of State Elihu Root are true, then he is not fit for his position.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-10-06
William Dudley Foulke tells President Roosevelt that he has heard from Elliot H. Goodwin about his interviews with Roosevelt and Charles J. Bonaparte. Foulke cannot pursue an investigation himself, and thinks that it should not be done until it can be done adequately. He comments on several newspapers in Indiana, and encloses an address he gave yesterday on the topic of criticism concerning Roosevelt’s attitude toward William H. Taft.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-03-07
William Dudley Foulke tells Elliot H. Goodwin that he is always in favor of investigation of improper use of patronage, but thinks that the suggestion to investigate the use of patronage in favor of William H. Taft, as suggested by the Indianapolis News, does not make sense. Foulke also tells Goodwin about some of the proceedings of a recent Indiana Civil Service Reform Association meeting.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-02-22
Acting Commissioner-General of Immigration Larned informs William Loeb that the report on the Japanese requested by President Roosevelt will be prepared as soon as possible. Larned sees no reason prohibiting the following of some Japanese immigrants “to find out what they really do.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-08-16
N. M. Ruick provides Attorney General Bonaparte information on a conspiracy to defraud the United States of timber lands in Idaho. Ruick mentions that Governor Steunenberg was involved in the conspiracy, and suggests the possibility that Steunenberg’s murder case is being used to check the investigation of the frauds.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-03-29
Theodore P. Shonts, Chairman of the Isthmian Canal Commission (ICC), explains the ICC’s policies regarding passenger accommodation for employees and their families to President Roosevelt, who had reminded Shonts to conduct an investigation on this matter. With increased traffic as of late, some employees have been assigned to second-class accommodations so that women and children might receive the superior accommodations; superior accommodations are also given to all passengers connected to the ICC in any way and employees recruited from the U.S.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-12-06
Alford Warriner Cooley writes to fulfill President Roosevelt’s request for a statement of Cooley’s legal experience for use in his confirmation hearing with the Senate Judiciary Committee. Cooley details his educational background, his legal experience in New York, and his work as Civil Service Commissioner and the Commissioner of Immigration at the port of New York.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-12-06
Ezra William Decoto, Probation Officer of Alameda County, was instructed to investigate conditions at the Golden Gate Orphanage and Industrial Farm run by Wilfred C. Bourne and his wife, Alice A. Bourne. This report includes testimonials from the State Board of Examiners, the Farmers and Mechanics Bank, and the Santa Rosa Chamber of Commerce, all of whom think the management and conditions at the orphanage are positive and benefit the children living there.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-12
William H. Fleming approves of President Roosevelt’s treatment of the “race problem,” and he thinks the appointment of a commission to investigate facts and make recommendations about racial tensions would be useful. Fleming says some political factions will oppose the commission because they “do not wish to have the light turned on.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-11-02
Manila Archbishop Harty writes to Reverend Doyle expressing gratitude for Doyle’s work with the Catholic church. Harty reveals his disappointment that some preachers in the Philippine provinces have left their preaching positions and have taken positions with the Bureau of Education. Harty says he is investigating these former preachers and making sure they are abiding by the laws.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-06-22
John Campbell Greenway reports to Chief of the United States Forest Service Gifford Pinchot that J. B. White has been appointed to act as the representative of President Roosevelt in the Cass Lake Indian Reservation investigation. Roosevelt also continues to collect unbiased information on the matter.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-11-28