Lansdowne, Henry Charles Keith Petty-FitzMaurice, Marquess of, 1845-1927

Secretary of War Taft forwards a message from Japanese Foreign Minister Jutaro Komura thanking President Roosevelt for working to find peace in the Japanese Russian conflict. The Japanese await the president’s return to Washington to contribute to a peace plan. Taft tells Roosevelt that Ambassador Kogoro Takahira seems to believe the Japanese government was being too cautious in their messaging regarding their wish to end the war, about the result of the Battle of Port Arthur, and about Roosevelt’s influence on the peace party. Taft also met with British Ambassador H. Mortimer Durand after Durand spoke to Lord Lansdowne, regarding British and French reaction after the First Moroccan Crisis. Taft also spoke to Durand about his conversation with German Ambassador Hermann Speck von Sternburg.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1905-05-02

Admiral Beresford sends King Edward VII’s good wishes and offers suggestions for a combined British and American fleet. He strongly believes in the success of such a fleet based on the common language, customs, and habits of the two English-speaking countries.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1905-05-07

Admiral Beresford apologizes for not being able to meet with President Roosevelt before he returns to England because he had a message for Roosevelt from King Edward VII. Beresford also wanted to speak with him about the American Navy possibly joining his fleet in the Mediterranean.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1905-05-07

Secretary of War Taft writes to President Roosevelt about the events that will later be called the Moroccan Crisis (1904-1906), which worsened German relations with France and England. At the request of Roosevelt, Taft met separately with the German and British Ambassadors to try to deescalate tensions so that a misunderstanding would not lead to increased hostility. Taft writes also of the Loomis-Bowen affair and of a Japanese minister who spoke of negotiating a peace for the Russo-Japanese War.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1905-04-26

Hermann Speck von Sternburg thanks President Roosevelt for speaking to Secretary of War Taft regarding the Moroccan crisis. Speck von Sternburg asks Roosevelt to pressure England to side with Germany in the conflict. Speck von Sternburg hears that England and France have different interpretations of their agreement regarding Morocco.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1905-04-25

Ambassador Griscom has heard that Secretary of War Taft, Alice Roosevelt, and others will be making a visit to the Philippines in July, and hopes that they will also be able to come to Tokyo, Japan. He updates Taft on the Japanese position regarding the possibility of negotiating peace to end the Russo-Japanese War.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1905-04-06

Acting Secretary of State Adee advises President Roosevelt that during his weekly diplomatic visit, British Ambassador H. Mortimer Durand informed him of the British government’s intention to enter into a financial agreement with Liberia. Durand was misinformed about the failure of the agreement between the United States and Santo Domingo, and Adee told him that the convention had not failed, but is still pending in the Senate.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1905-03-23

Cecil Spring Rice updates Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt on the declining political and social situation in Russia. Although revolution seems to be in the air, Czar Nicholas seems impervious to demands for reform and determined to maintain the autocracy. Crowds are being shot down in the streets, including women and children; trains are being robbed of munitions; and a complete breakdown of order appears imminent. Spring Rice also describes Great Britain’s stance toward Russia, Japan, and America, particularly King Edward VII’s admiration for President Roosevelt.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1905-03-13

Henry White sends President Roosevelt a message from Edward VII. The King wanted to convey his regards and his best wishes for Roosevelt’s success with his second administration and hopes Roosevelt will never be persuaded by any other sovereign or government. The King intends to write Roosevelt shortly. White asks that when Roosevelt replies to the King, he mentions that White delivered the message. White saw Cecil Spring Rice, Arthur James Balfour, and Henry Lansdowne before leaving London, and they were all interested in Spring Rice’s trip to Washington. White also writes that the British government has had two votes of want of confidence in the House of Commons and again in the House of Lords.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1905-02-25

On behalf of Secretary of State John Hay, Assistant Secretary Adee asks William Loeb to make a change to a memorandum about the Congo.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-10-14

The government of the Independent State of the Congo responds to a dispatch from Lord Henry Petty-FitzMaurice Lansdowne regarding developments in the Congo. It details a decree outlining the rights, responsibility, and duties of a committee of inquiry being established in the Congo, and outlines the government’s role in managing the committee.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-09-05

Secretary of State Hay congratulates President Roosevelt on his successful rally. Hay then briefly responds to correspondence from Roosevelt and Elihu Root. He also discusses finding a suitable location for Edwin V. Morgan, former consul to Dalian, and writes that Lord Lansdowne copied Roosevelt’s advice to Japan.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-09-05

William Lawrence Penfield discusses the rules for the capture of vessels at sea, including whether the captor has the right to destroy the vessel. He speculates on the effect such policies would have if the United States and Great Britain went to war, noting that “unless United States cruisers are authorized to destroy, in case of military necessity, neutral vessels carrying arms and…other contraband goods to Great Britain, the United States Government would be put at a great disadvantage…” He also discusses the situation with the Knight Commander and the possible effects of suggestions by Lord Lansdowne.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-08-04

In his review of Henry J. Hendrix’s Theodore Roosevelt’s Naval Diplomacy, William N. Tilchin examines each of the seven chapters of the book, highlighting both the issues where he disagrees with Hendrix and praising him for “a well-crafted narrative account” of diplomatic milestones in Theodore Roosevelt’s presidency. Tilchin challenges Hendrix on the latter’s account of the Venezuelan crisis of 1902 – 1903, and he takes exception with one of the conclusion’s assertions, but he finds great value in Hendrix’s chapters on the Panama Canal, the Ion Perdicaris affair, the Treaty of Portsmouth, and Roosevelt’s transformation of the United States Navy. Tilchin’s review includes a number of references to prior works on Roosevelt’s diplomacy, highlighting the historiographical debates which have marked issues addressed by Hendrix. 

Three photographs of naval commanders under Roosevelt and two illustrations, including the book’s cover, supplement the text. An advertisement for chocolate bars from The Chocolate Lady of Oyster Bay, New York, appears at the end of the review.

William N. Tilchin praises Stacey A. Cordery’s Historic Photos of Theodore Roosevelt not just for its collection of photographs, but because he feels that it merits reading as “a fine brief biography of TR.” Tilchin includes twelve selections from the work that include captions penned by Cordery. Henry J. Hendrix finds that Iestyn M. Adams’s Brothers Across the Ocean does an admirable job of explaining how Great Britain and the United States put aside their differences to forge an informal alliance during Theodore Roosevelt’s presidency, but he admonishes Adams for failing to utilize more American works in his study and for characterizing Roosevelt as “immature and bellicose.” 

The book review section also includes a text box with the vision statement of the Theodore Roosevelt Association.

Lyle A. McGeoch examines the state of relations between the United States and Great Britain when Lord Lansdowne served as Britain’s foreign secretary from November 1900 to December 1905. He highlights the negotiations concerning the Hay-Pauncefote treaty, the settlement of a boundary dispute between Canada and the United States, and a crisis stemming from Venezuela’s debt to Great Britain and Germany. McGeogh also looks at how Lansdowne struggled with the appointment of an ambassador to the United States, his difficulty at times in dealing with the personal style of diplomacy employed by President Theodore Roosevelt, and Lansdowne’s recognition of growing American power in the first decade of the twentieth century.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

Creation Date

1979

Ambassador White discusses Sir Cecil Spring Rice’s plans to travel to the United States and the issues related to the trip. He also shares information and various updates with President Roosevelt.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1905-01-13

The explanation from Edward Marjoribanks, Baron Tweedmouth, regarding the letters sent between him and German Emperor William II have not contradicted any of the statements by The Times or added to the explanation Acting Prime Minister H. H. Asquith gave to Parliament. Given the tone of the comments by several politicians, The Times comes to the conclusion that many people think that these sorts of letters should remain entirely private, and that any mention of international relations and naval policy should be done through official channels and not personal letters. While the letters have been treated as personal communication by many people, there is no doubt that William II wanted to influence thinking about British naval policy with them. The Times calls for the publication of the letters, as proof that they did not discuss policy would quiet public anxiety about the matter.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-03-10

Edward Marjoribanks, Baron Tweedmouth, Henry Charles Keith Petty-FitzMaurice, Marquess of Lansdowne, and Archibald Philip Primose, Earl of Rosebery recently gave speeches on the letters exchanged between Tweedmouth and German Emperor William II. Lansdowne feels that Tweedmouth has broadly handled the events well, although there are broader questions about whether these extra-official communications are proper. Rosebery worries about Great Britain becoming a laughingstock in the international community due to the handling of the subject by the press.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-03-10

The Daily Telegraph feels that the sooner the recent business regarding the letter from German Emperor William II to Baron Tweedmouth is forgotten, the better. The letter has been stated to have been personal and private, and will therefore not be published, despite requests for the contrary from some parties. Nevertheless, there is a general feeling that such communication from foreign sovereigns should not be a normal occurrence, as people in positions of power are not able to separate their private lives from their political ones, much as they may wish to do so.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-03-10