Your TR Source
Victor E. Fribourg asks Theodore Roosevelt for his views on the organized labor movement for the closed shop to aid him in his debate on the subject.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1912-01-06
Ernst Benninghoven asks Theodore Roosevelt to read the enclosed article and then tell the public why Roosevelt has so much to say against James B. McNamara and Joseph J. McNamara yet nothing to say against President and General Manager of the Los Angeles Times Harrison Gray Otis who has humiliated labor organizations for the last twenty years. Benninghoven says that even lawyer Francis J. Heney agrees Otis should be in jail.
Roosevelt wrote against the McNamara brothers, who had committed the 1910 Los Angeles Times bombing. He wrote an editorial in The Outlook called “Murder is Murder.”
Robert Underwood Johnson acknowledges receipt of Theodore Roosevelt’s note and is not sure why he did not do it sooner. The book by Warrington Dawson has been given to the book department. Johnson is glad Roosevelt and has enjoyed spending time with his son, Owen Johnson.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-12-13
Samuel Strasbourger writes of the importance the moment. President Taft has called a special session of Congress to deal with tariffs, reciprocity, and other big issues facing the nation. Strasbourger believes the Republican Party can continue to make the country and its people prosperous if they stick to Republican principles. Taft will need to continue to be firm and courageous and be willing to be vilified to do what is right for the country.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-09-05
President Roosevelt returns the letter from James Duncan, which Daniel J. Keefe had sent. While Duncan is not doing as well as Keefe, Roosevelt is glad that he wrote to Samuel Gompers about James Wallace Van Cleave and notes that William H. Taft would not be influenced by Van Cleave.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-10-09
President Roosevelt thanks Barton Orville Aylesworth, President of the Colorado State Agricultural College, for his letter. Roosevelt asks if Aylesworth saw an address he delivered last year which dealt with the subject. Roosevelt further suggests Aylesworth should get in touch with Henry S. Pritchett to discuss this topic further.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-09-23
President Roosevelt tells Charles S. Mellen in confidence that he may appoint Judge Walter Chadwick Noyes for the circuit court judge position in Connecticut, even though he has a higher opinion of lawyer John K. Beach. Judges, Roosevelt believes, especially federal judges, should be “the judge for everyone.” They should be able to sympathize with the labor faction and capitalists alike. Unfortunately the judges in New York do not understand the labor side. Roosevelt hopes to meet Noyes soon and see if he holds these qualities.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-08-31
Abram I. Elkus sends Theodore Roosevelt materials relating to information about the New York Factory Investigating Commission and points out two names in labor union leadership who are also members of the Commission. He says he will try to meet Roosevelt’s views if this material is not what he wants.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-10-13
Albion B. Turner encloses his article on corporation laws and worker conditions and asks for Theodore Roosevelt’s comments.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-09-19
W.E. Pulsifer sends Theodore Roosevelt a copy of the recently published History and Problems of Organized Labor by Dr. Frank Tracy Carlton. He hopes that Roosevelt will enjoy it, due to his interest in organized labor, and hopes Roosevelt will reply with his thoughts.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-09-15
On behalf of the Committee of the Moyer-Haywood Protest Conference, Thomas Crimmins criticizes President Roosevelt for his negative characterization of William Haywood and Charles Moyer. Crimmins points out that Haywood and Moyer have not yet been charged with a crime and are widely believed to be innocent victims of a foul conspiracy. Crimmins expresses concern that Roosevelt’s words will poison the minds of the general public, as well as the possible jury for their trial.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-04-04
Paul Morton returns the page from Boston’s Evening Transcript with feedback. Morton believes the main reason that railroad service has deteriorated is because of the large volume of traffic they are forced to move. Morton also thinks that shippers are using railroads cars for storage instead of the transportation of goods. According to Morton, labor unions play a part in the inefficiency in the railroad service.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-02-05
Paul Morton believes President Roosevelt’s position is that neither labor nor capital should dominate the White House, but both should be treated with “exact justice.” Morton assures E. P. Ripley that Roosevelt is not against anyone who happens to be rich, but he does believe that many large fortunes in the country have been achieved in unfair ways and that a rich man should not be able to dodge responsibilities or be given special privileges because of his wealth.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-12-31
This pamphlet provides a history of the conflict between the Los Angeles Times and the Typographical Union, which it says started in 1890 and continued for sixteen years.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-12-14
Republican Party official F. Norton Goddard continues his campaign for Marcus M. Marks to be appointed postmaster. Goddard has enclosed two more letters of reference, from labor representatives Samuel B. Donnelly and Edward A. Moffatt, as well as a clipping of a newspaper column. Goddard has heard that Governor Odell wants William R. Willcox, a former commissioner of Mayor Seth Low, to be postmaster. Goddard thinks Willcox is a poor choice.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-11-16
John E. McKenna, of the Boston Clothing Cutters and Trimmers’ Union, writes a letter of reference for Marcus M. Marks for the position of Postmaster of New York. Marks forwarded this letter to Norton Goddard. Marks writes to Goddard, at the top of the first page, that McKenna’s support was “unsolicited.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-11-14
F. Norton Goddard summarizes why he has proposed Marcus M. Marks for postmaster.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-11-14
Representative Tawney encloses a letter from Thomas-Louis A. Valiquet. The matter affects many laboring men on the Great Lakes. Valiquet and Mr. O’Neil, also a labor leader, together represent about 200,000 men. Tawney believes that President Roosevelt has previously received a letter from Mr. Dover, transmitting a letter from Mr. O’Neill, relating a conversation with Senator Marcus Alonzo Hanna regarding hydraulic dredges on the Great Lakes. Tawney knows Valiquet and O’Neil personally and vouches for them, especially because they have done good work for the national Republican campaign. Valiquet would like to confer with Roosevelt before any decisions are made.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-11-05
President Roosevelt gestures at “Dr. Roosevelt’s peerless, political panaceas” with “satisfaction guaranteed or your vote refunded.” There are jars for “labor unions,” “the trusts,” “the farmers,” “tariff revisionists,” “railroads,” “the newspapers,” and “employers.”
C. R. Macauley’s cartoon of President Roosevelt as a snake-oil salesman peddling rostrums — pandering to various constituencies — was standard fare for any cartoonist in any campaign, regarding any politician of any party. Roosevelt frankly admitted to cultivating support from many corners and even engaging in political give-and-take — with “due regard for opportunism” yet never sacrificing righteousness (as he said in a 1914 court case in which he was sued for libel by a machine politician).
President Roosevelt rides alongside a bull labeled “organized labor vote” as a “third term” bear labeled “I am blind” watches from atop a fence post. William H. Taft attempts to get the African American vote with some “salt.”
Cartoonist W. A. Rogers, who had moved to the New York Herald from his longtime post with Harper’s Weekly, correctly pictured the political situation facing President Roosevelt and his chosen successor William H. Taft, in 1908. Roosevelt endeavored to be as neutral in the contest as he could be — this was preceding the nominating convention, and Taft still had Republican rivals aspiring to the presidency — so he balanced an interest in party cohesion with subtlety influencing events for Taft.