Your TR Source
Paul V. Collins informs Theodore Roosevelt that Minnesota and Dakota farmers opposed Canadian reciprocity, citing economic losses and betrayal by the administration, and describes efforts to organize a Farmers’ League for protection of agricultural interests.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-09-13
Joseph A. Ferris states that the auditor position has nothing to do with Stark County, North Dakota, and the salary is around $1,000 per year based on the valuation of Billings County, North Dakota. Sylvane M. Ferris never spoke to Senator Porter J. McCumber because Alexander McKenzie claimed he would handle the matter. Ferris thanks William Loeb and President Roosevelt for their assistance.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-01-28
President Roosevelt asks Postmaster General Meyer to look into the matter of Thomas J. Ford, who he has heard is an honest person and should not lose his job in the San Francisco Post Office. Roosevelt also asks Meyer to speak with Senator Porter J. McCumber and United States Representative Asle J. Gronna about the postmaster of Milton, North Dakota, as he would like Meyer’s advice on the issue.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-02-29
President Roosevelt writes to Attorney General Bonaparte about James Wickersham. Roosevelt does not believe that they should pay him his salary as judge because Wickersham is preparing to run for Congress in the fall. Roosevelt is unsure of how to proceed on this issue.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-03-23
President Roosevelt has reviewed Secretary of Agriculture Wilson’s papers and Senator Porter J. McCumber’s argument. He agrees that a mixture of two whiskies should be labeled as “blended whiskey.” However, he understands that such a label does not inform the consumer whether it is a blend of two whiskies or that of whiskey and a neutral spirit or grain distillate. The Pure Food Law is “largely a labeling law,” and such wording is potentially deceptive to the consumer. Roosevelt suggests potential alternative terminology to differentiate the types of mixtures. He consulted with medical professionals who agree.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-03-16
President Roosevelt has learned from Commissioner of Pensions Vespasian Warner that many of the pensions recently awarded have gone to those who have the “most political influence,” rather than the most deserving. He asks to meet with Representative Sulloway, as well as Warner and Senator Porter J. McCumber, to speak about the matter and come to a solution that will “avert a scandal.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-02-14
President Roosevelt sends Representative Sulloway the text of legislation proposed by Senator Porter J. McCumber on military pensions. Roosevelt asks if Sulloway’s House Committee on Invalid Pensions could act on such a law, which Roosevelt deems “admirable.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-02-09
President Roosevelt comments to Attorney General Moody on the state of several cases currently being prosecuted, potentially being brought to trial, or being appealed. He was disturbed by the judgement of Judge George C. Holt that Moody referred to, and feels that while it is inevitable that “even a good judge will go wrong in a percentage of cases,” this was an important case in which Holt missed the larger Governmental questions. Roosevelt would like to prosecute other cases without reference to the one Holt decided, and wishes to use the case as an example to argue for the right of appeal, so long as he can do so without offending Holt. He would be glad if there is reasonable ground to proceed against Standard Oil in antitrust suits, as several special counsels think there is.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-07-21
President Roosevelt asks Attorney General Moody if it would be possible to send some people to Alaska to investigate North Dakota Senator Porter J. McCumber’s allegations against Alaska District Judge James Wickersham. Roosevelt mentions he may also ask Moody to send some men to Oklahoma to investigate the situation there, as Secretary of the Interior Ethan Allen Hitchcock has taken a disliking to Oklahoma Governor Frank C. Frantz and has sent an agent to investigate him who in the past has made a “yellow-magazine report.” He does not wish these sorts of investigations to become over-zealous. Roosevelt does not wish to interrupt Moody’s vacation, but asks him to find out about these two matters.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-07-06
President Roosevelt has appointed Sylvane M. Ferris Register of the Land Office in North Dakota. He advises Ferris to write North Dakota Senators Porter J. McCumber and Henry Clay Hansbrough to ensure his appointment is not held up.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-09-23
Gifford Pinchot writes to Republican Committee Chairman Will H. Hays to see who in the Senate would be the most effective voice to present their point of view. Porter McCumber is a farmer and represents that interest. However, there may be a more “effective mouthpiece.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1918-09-10
Gifford Pinchot writes to Republican Committee Chairman Will H. Hays about the importance of farmers to the Republican Party. He believes it is the farmers of Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, and Illinois that will be most vital to the next presidential election, not those of New York and Pennsylvania. Pinchot feels the danger that the Democratic Party may end up becoming the progressive party in the United States, particularly if it draws in the returning veterans of World War I. For the Republicans to attract them, the party must offer more than policies that the veterans will accept; Pinchot says that it must “label those policies with the names of men whom they will follow.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1918-09-04
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-12-10
O'Laughlin, John Callan, 1873-1949
Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919
English
Paul V. Collins suggests Theodore Roosevelt discuss Canadian Reciprocity from an antagonistic perspective while in St. Paul, Minnesota. Collins details Northwestern farmers’ and politicians’ outrage over Reciprocity, arguing that the administration is unaware of and out of touch with the region, especially regarding the cattle and dairy industries. He also requests that Roosevelt send a telegram of support to take to the Congressional Legislative Committee.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-04-03
M. L. Ayers acknowledges Frank Harper’s letter of February 26 stating Theodore Roosevelt’s policy of non-interference with appointments of the new administration. Still, Ayers pleads his case by citing conversations between Roosevelt and Sylvane M. Ferris on June 10, 1908. Ayers also describes the actions already taken by Ferris to resolve the matter himself and the reasons Ferris was unwilling to contact Roosevelt himself. Finally, Ayers restates his offer to pay for Harper to send a cable to Roosevelt.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1910-03-02
M. L. Ayers, owner of The Dickinson Press, requests that Frank Harper, Theodore Roosevelt’s executive secretary, cable Roosevelt (who at the time was on his African safari) a message regarding difficulty with the re-appointment of Sylvane Ferris, Roosevelt’s former ranch hand in Medora, as register in the U.S. Land Office in Dickinson, North Dakota.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1910-02-23
Myron L. Ayers, proprietor of The Dickinson Press, is trying to reach Theodore Roosevelt regarding the reappointment of Sylvane M. Ferris as Register of the U.S. Land Office in Dickinson, which appears to be in jeopardy. Roosevelt is on his African trip, and Ayers inquires of Abbott (editor of Outlook) when Roosevelt will return.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1910-01-24
Senator Albert J. Beveridge says that President Roosevelt should speak with Senator Thomas Henry Carter about the battleship bill. He also should try to speak with Senator Porter J. McCumber to get his support or neutrality.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-04-23
Simon Cordery examines the relationship between Theodore Roosevelt and the nation’s railroads. Cordery highlights some of the significant episodes in Roosevelt’s life made possible by train travel like his trip to the Dakota Badlands in 1883, his exhausting campaign tour as a vice-presidential candidate in 1900, and his “Great Western Tour” as president in 1903. Cordery notes Roosevelt’s affection for the railroad workers and his disdain for their employers. Roosevelt saw the employees, with their difficult and dangerous jobs, as embodying the strenuous life while he wanted to curb the economic and political powers of their bosses. Cordery highlights the Northern Securities Case which dismantled a combination of railroads on the northern Great Plains and the debate over whether the railroads should provide free travel to the president.
The article features nine photographs, including three of Roosevelt and trains, and two political cartoons.
Indiana Senator Albert J. Beveridge hopes President Roosevelt can see Senators Joseph Benson Foraker, Porter J. McCumber, Henry Clay Hansbrough, and R. A. Alger on the statehood matter before Monday.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-01-07