Italy

Letter from Whitelaw Reid to Theodore Roosevelt

Whitelaw Reid updates President Roosevelt on diplomatic affairs in London. Reid has spoken with several British authorities regarding Roosevelt’s upcoming African safari. The Japanese Ambassador to Great Britain, Jutarō Komura, met with Reid at a luncheon given for members of the Olympic committee and emphasized that he and the Japanese Emperor recognized the United States as a friend. The Chinese Ambassador held a dinner and expressed friendly regard toward the United States. Reid provides a detailed description of two controversial Olympic races in London: in the 400 meter race, an American was disqualified for breaking the rules, and in the marathon, the Italian winner was disqualified in favor of an American. Reid notes that the American athletes, while somewhat justified in their frustrations, were seen by the British press as ill-mannered. Finally, Reid says he doubts that Roosevelt can make private visits to Paris and London on his way back from Africa without giving offense to government officials who would expect a state visit.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-08-11

Letter from Lloyd Carpenter Griscom to Theodore Roosevelt

American Ambassador to Italy Lloyd Carpenter Griscom recounts a conversation he had with Emperor William II of Germany. Ambassador Charlemagne Tower will be leaving his post in Germany, and the Emperor disapproves of his replacement, David Jayne Hill. Tower has done much to improve the social stature and importance of the American Embassy in Berlin, and the Emperor believes that Hill is not up to the task of maintaining that level of influence. He would prefer that Griscom or some other man take the position, and asks Griscom to relay this message to President Roosevelt. Griscom, chagrined, says he is happy with his post in Italy and is not asking for the appointment to Germany.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-03-18

Legislation on the continent of Europe

This report compiled by Luther Hess Waring contains the laws of various European countries regarding futures, options, and other limitations that affect stock exchanges. The countries included in the document are Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland, with particular attention paid to the German Empire.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-03-19

Letter from Henry White to Theodore Roosevelt

Regarding the central bank question, Ambassador White informs President Roosevelt that he has spoken to Luigi Luzzatti, an Italian financier. He believes that sooner or later, the United States will need to move to a central banking system, and that the men in the country are capable of rising to the challenge. Luzzatti provided several examples of banking systems in other countries and noted that Italy modeled their bank after Germany’s. Currently Luzzatti is working to establish an international conference on banking and would like the United States’s cooperation. White briefly congratulates Roosevelt on the progress of the Great White Fleet. White also updates Roosevelt on the progress of the embassy in France, which will finally be able to host the official reception for newly arrived ambassadors and officials. The record includes a handwritten letter and a typed transcription.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-01-31

Letter from Lloyd Carpenter Griscom to Theodore Roosevelt

Ambassador Griscom showed King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy the new $10 and $20 gold pieces President Roosevelt had minted. The King has an extensive coin collection, and loved the coins, but as an expert offered comments that the relief was too high, which will make them unrecognizable after a few years of use, as well as difficult to stack. He would like Roosevelt to visit Italy to shoot after his term is finished. Griscom has been shooting with the King and says he is a good shot.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-02-10

Letter from Charles J. Bonaparte to Theodore Roosevelt

Attorney General Bonaparte will not be able to attend the cabinet meeting scheduled for Friday. Bonaparte reiterates that in his annual report he did not make any suggestions of anti-trust or interstate commerce law changes outside a few minor procedural changes and believes it would be outside the jurisdiction of the Department of Justice to do so. Bonaparte has also asked Mary Grace Quackenbos to prepare a report on her charges of peonage against Orlando B. Crittenden to be delivered to the Italian government.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-11-27

Letter from Henry White to Theodore Roosevelt

Ambassador White summarizes a series of informal meetings he had with several European bankers and politicians regarding establishing a central bank in the United States, the effect of the Panic of 1907 on European investors’ confidence in American markets, and avenues of international cooperation to prevent or mitigate future financial crises. White recounts general support for a central bank in the U.S. among the European financial community and expresses his own support for holding an international conference to examine transnational approaches towards financial crises.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-11-18

Gleaves-Davison report on duty in Europe

Naval officers Albert Gleaves and Gregory C. Davison present the first part of a three-part report detailing their recent tour across Europe to purchase whitehead torpedoes and gather information on naval technology.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-08-10

Armored vessels building or to be built for Italy, Brazil, Argentine and Chili

This memorandum describes the types of armored vessels being built for the countries of Italy, Brazil, Argentina, and Chile, with details including the location of construction, name, type and displacements of the ships, and current condition of the ships. One ship being constructed in Italy is reported to be for Japan. A number of smaller ships are being built for Brazil in England. Argentina and Chile have no ships under construction.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-07-29

Letter from Edward Grey to Theodore Roosevelt

British Foreign Secretary Grey informs President Roosevelt that Ambassador H. Mortimer Durand will be replaced, and while he understands Roosevelt’s desire to have Arthur Lee in his place, that is politically impossible. Temporarily, Esmé Howard will be sent to Washington as Councillor to the Embassy. Grey appreciated Roosevelt’s explanation of his telegram to German Emperor William after the Portsmouth Peace. Grey explains that his foreign policy is not anti-German, but to be independent he feels it necessary to strengthen the entente with France and come to an agreement with Russia. Grey believes that his generation has had enough of war, and the British people feel a special bond with the United States. Grey hopes the dispute between Canada and the United States over Newfoundland will soon be settled. He also adds that many in Great Britain are upset over reports of slavery and plunder in the Belgian Congo.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-12-04

Letter from Nicholas Murray Butler

In a letter to an unspecified party, Columbia University President Butler speaks about how organizer of the Association for International Conciliation baron Paul-Henri-Benjamin Balluet Estournelles de Constant has requested Butler’s help organizing public relations in regards to the agency. He states that it is particularly desirable for the American representatives at the upcoming Hague Conference to be able to rely upon “instructed and sympathetic public opinion.” Butler asks for the recipient’s opinion on who should be asked to join a related committee.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-12-05

Letter from John C. Freeman to Theodore Roosevelt

Professor John C. Freeman writes President Roosevelt regarding former Ambassador Bellamy Storer’s recent defense of the dismissal of Consul Carlton Bailey Hurst. Freeman shares a number of stories about what he has seen and heard—particularly in terms of nefarious behavior—among five U.S. diplomats in Europe. The letter largely focuses on the behavior of Hurst, who was appointed by McKinley as Consul General at Vienna in 1897 and later removed from office. Freeman notes that Hurst and his wife attended one particularly outrageous drunken party during their tenure in Vienna that ended with a “certain” attendee dancing the Can-Can while kicking out the room’s lightbulbs. Freeman closes by saying that he believes “all five bad consuls are now out of the service,” and again notes his extreme distaste for Hurst.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-12-14

“Superior speed” in battleships

A recent report suggested that improving the speed of battleships was very important. The writer of this article concludes that if advances in this regard were unlimited, it would of course be extremely important; but there is a limit on speed that ships can reach which cannot be easily passed without extreme expense or sacrificing other important qualities.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-10-03

Letter from J. J. Jusserand to Theodore Roosevelt

Jean Jules Jusserand thinks President Roosevelt is right to appreciate Georges Clemenceau, who he says operates with cool-headedness and good sense. Jusserand told Clemenceau the things Roosevelt had said about him, and he assures Roosevelt that Clemenceau was delighted to hear them. Jusserand follows news of Russia and Cuba, as well as Roosevelt’s proposed spelling reforms.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-09-14

Plan of adjustment

This document outlines the plan of the Dominican Republic for adjustment of its debts to various parties through the collection of a tariff and the issuing of bonds. It includes plans for adjustment of debt to specific nations and claim holders.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-09-12

Letter from Henry White to Theodore Roosevelt

Ambassador Henry White reports to President Roosevelt on a week he spent with King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy. White and Emmanuel discussed international disarmament, about which both were skeptical. They talked about Vatican relations with many nations, especially Italy and France, and of how the Jesuits were involved. White also describes hunting ibex and shares that the king offered to send Roosevelt some ibex heads.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-08-29

Letter from Andrew Carnegie to Theodore Roosevelt

Andrew Carnegie agrees with President Roosevelt on disarmament, although he recognizes that it will be difficult to formulate a satisfactory plan. Carnegie says Roosevelt’s declaration that the United States does not seek to increase the present Navy but only to maintain it will be the great force making for agreement. Carnegie criticizes the practice of failing to give previous notice of war before attacking, and presents the “League of Peace” idea as the easiest and best solution. He encourages Roosevelt to be the one to formally propose it, as the United States is the only great power “free from international jealousies.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-08-27

Letter from Whitelaw Reid to Theodore Roosevelt

Ambassador Reid reports to President Roosevelt about affairs in Europe. Reid’s impression is that neither Great Britain nor Germany want tensions to escalate to a war, and he is still trying to get more details about their negotiations. Reid informs Roosevelt that the King seems to be in ill health. He is also worried that Roosevelt’s friend, Silas McBee, is stirring up trouble by seeming to interfere in debates about the Education Bill. Reid referred the Grocers’ Federation to Secretary of Agriculture James Wilson and Secretary of Commerce and Labor Victor Howard Metcalf so that they might receive more information about complying with America’s meat inspection laws, and he enclosed a copy of a speech he gave at Cambridge on the American Revolution. Reid concludes by saying that he hopes the British government will help the United States settle disputes with Canada.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-08-16

Letter from Henry White to Theodore Roosevelt

Ambassador White is returning to Italy after having visited England, where President Roosevelt was unanimously praised. White thinks King Edward VII of Great Britain may be somewhat jealous of Roosevelt supplanting him as “the great peacemaker of the world.” White had a substantial conversation with British Secretary of War R. B. Haldane wherein Haldane stated his belief that Roosevelt and the United States may be able to influence the world to accept a global reduction of armaments. White will go shooting with King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy soon, and will try to get a sense of his views on the matter of disarmament as well. White has so far avoided making any sort of comment about Roosevelt’s views on the matter, but asks what his thoughts are.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-07-30

Letter from Whitelaw Reid to Theodore Roosevelt

Whitelaw Reid is holding President Roosevelt’s letter to the King until he returns from vacation. If Roosevelt wants it sent immediately, Reid can do so sooner. He goes on to discuss the general state of European politics.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-03-29