Monetary policy

Creation Date

1907-09-24

Creator(s)

Letter from Henry Lee Higginson to Theodore Roosevelt

Henry Lee Higginson felt obligated to bring the volatility of the stock market to President Roosevelt’s attention, and sent a telegram earlier in the day. While the market leveled out by the end of the day, Higginson does not believe it will last unless investors are reassured by a statement from Roosevelt and the Interstate Commerce Commission. The railroad industry in particular requires support. Higginson makes it clear that his concern is not just for the wealthy, but that the “multitude” is being affected by the financial crisis.

Collection

Higginson, Henry Lee, 1834-1919

Creation Date

1907-03-26

Creator(s)

The evolution of the dollar

The financial situation for laborers and capitalists in 1875 and in 1900 is depicted. The high interest earned by the dollar was good for the capitalist in 1875. As interest on the dollar dropped, the financier saw his investments earning less in 1900, but the situation improved for the laborer because the dollar went further. Caption: The laborer’s dollar grows, and the capitalist’s dollar shrinks.

Collection

Creation Date

1900-01-10

Creator(s)

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Leslie M. Shaw

President Roosevelt provides Leslie M. Shaw with lists of the Commissioners “to test and examine the weight and fineness of the coins reserved at the several mints during the calendar year 1902.”

Collection

Creation Date

1903-01-17

Creator(s)

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Elmer H. Youngman

In response to Elmer H. Youngman’s letter, President Roosevelt notes that a “distressing feature” of the monetary measure that was passed is that the majority of the best-informed monetary experts in the country were unable to agree on any substantive measures to take. The current measure is a makeshift one, and Roosevelt hopes that in the future they will receive more assistance from “the well-informed monetary authorities” to pass a permanent measure that is “square and honest.”

Collection

Creation Date

1908-06-02

Creator(s)

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Leslie M. Shaw

President Roosevelt will bring up former Secretary of the Treasury Shaw’s proposal with the current Secretary of the Treasury George B. Cortelyou, but notes how difficult it is to get any agreement about the currency.

Collection

Creation Date

1907-11-02

Creator(s)

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to J. H. Woodard

President Roosevelt was unaware that J. H. Woodard was currently a railroad president and denies that there is any intention to introduce what Woodard calls “rubber money.”

Collection

Creation Date

1903-08-26

Creator(s)

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Joseph Gurney Cannon

President Roosevelt reviews potential currency legislation and is debating when to hold an extra session of Congress.

Collection

Creation Date

1903-08-24

Creator(s)

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Joseph Gurney Cannon

President Roosevelt is concerned about the attitude of gold Democrats and businessmen on the currency matter and asks Representative Cannon to read the enclosed letter from Hugh Henry Hanna.

Collection

Creation Date

1903-01-29

Creator(s)

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Lyman J. Gage

President Roosevelt will read the pamphlet and wishes that Congress would allow “greater elasticity in the currency.”

Collection

Creation Date

1903-01-12

Creator(s)

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Henry Lee Higginson

President Roosevelt has had difficulty with the part of his message concerning currency, as he must consider what is possible as well as what is right. Roosevelt does not want to use language that will bring him so far ahead of his party that they will not follow him. He wishes for abundant and elastic currency, but wants to avoid giving justification to William Jennings Bryan and his followers, who were “carried off their feet by the cheap money craze.”

Collection

Creation Date

1901-11-30

Creator(s)

Letter from Elisha Ely Garrison to Theodore Roosevelt

Elisha Ely Garrison opines to Theodore Roosevelt that “no honest man who has the broad interests of the people at heart and who understands the [Senator Nelson W.] Aldrich scheme can be for it.” He explains to how his own opinion differs from that of Victor Morawetz, and how while Morawetz favors control of currency by humans, he advocates for scientific and mathematical control of currency.

Collection

Garrison, Elisha Ely, 1871-

Creation Date

1911-03-04

Creator(s)

Address delivered by William H. Taft, Secretary of War, at a dinner given by the Americans of Shanghai, under the auspices of the American Association of China, on Oct. 8th, 1907

Secretary of War Taft speaks as a traveler rather than as a government representative. He begins by explaining the relationship of the United states to the Philippines and that there will be no sale of the islands. He then outlines the policy of the United States toward China as it relates to trade, the expansion of China, and monetary reform. Taft explains that the “China for the Chinese” attitude is in favor of China’s own growth. Taft also discusses education of the Chinese in America, improvement in relations between the two powers, and the creation of a United States Circuit Court for China. For additional developments, Taft suggests the further development of the court and the establishment of a suitable government building in Shanghai.

Collection

Taft, William H. (William Howard), 1857-1930

Creation Date

1907-10-08

Creator(s)

Letter from Leslie M. Shaw to Theodore Roosevelt

Secretary of the Treasury Shaw responds to press coverage of the Treasury Department’s policies. Shaw argues that more money is needed in the summer due to higher demand for hard currency. Despite the opposition to the increase by opponents of Wall Street, Shaw says he has heard from many in business who appreciated his actions.

Collection

Shaw, Leslie M. (Leslie Mortier), 1848-1932

Creation Date

1906-10-27

Creator(s)

Letter from John Byrne to Theodore Roosevelt

John Byrne argues about the importance of the currency question and urges President Roosevelt to be a leader on the issue.

Collection

Creation Date

1904-07-26

Creator(s)

Byrne, John, 1842-1905

The good boy

An elderly woman labeled “Republican Party” sits in a rocking chair, knitting. John Sherman sits on a low stool on the left, reading a book labeled “Sound Finance,” with a toy “pop-gun” on the floor next to him. A cake labeled “Presidential Nomination 1896” sets on a table on the right. Caption: He has put away his naughty “sectionalism” pop-gun, and is real good now. Puck hopes it isn’t on account of the cake.

Collection

Pughe, J. S. (John S.), 1870-1909

Creation Date

1895-02-27

Creator(s)

Forced to peddle, though he is rich

Uncle Sam is pictured as a peddler offering “Bonds Sold For Gold” on a snowy street where he encounters a diminutive figure labeled “Canada” holding a paper labeled “Sound Currency System.” She points to Uncle Sam’s bag of “Silver.” Standing on balconies labeled “England – Sound Currency System,” “France – Sound Financial System,” “Austria – Sound Financial Policy,” “Russia – Sound Financial Policy,” and “Germany – Sound Currency System” are the Prime Minister of Great Britain, Lord Salisbury; the President of France, Felix Faure; the Emperor of Austria, Franz Joseph I; the Emperor of Russia, Nicholas II; and the German Emperor, William II; and standing on an unmarked balcony is the King of Italy, Umberto I.

Collection

Creation Date

1896-02-05

Creator(s)

Not this time!

President Cleveland is at the helm of the “Ship of State,” its sails labeled “Honest Pensions, Wilson Tariff Bill, Sound Financial Policy, Adherence to the Traditional Policy of Non-Interference,” [and] Economic Government,” as it sails past the “Rocks of Disaster” upon which are the remains of a shipwreck labeled “Sherman Silver Law, McKinley Bill, Fraudulent Pensions, [and] Jingoism,” and a group of marooned sailors labeled “McKinley, Lodge, Tom Reed, [and] Quay.” Also present are Benjamin Harrison, Whitelaw Reid, George F. Hoar, and William E. Chandler. Caption: The political wreckers see their hopes again indefinitely postponed.

Collection

Creation Date

1895-03-06

Creator(s)

In darkest congress

President Grover Cleveland stands on the floor of the House of Representatives, among congressmen, many dressed as natives, holding a large book labeled “Sound Money Message.” Caption: The missionary is all right; but the heathen are terribly hard to convert.

Collection

Pughe, J. S. (John S.), 1870-1909

Creation Date

1895-12-18

Creator(s)

It can not pass while he is there

President Cleveland stands on the steps to the “U.S. Treasury,” holding a large sword labeled “Sound Money Policy,” with left hand raised to stop the progress of an eight-headed, silver-scaled hydra labeled “Free Silver Craze.” The heads are identified as “Jones, Crisp, Peffer, Harvey, Stewart, Wolcott, Bland, [and] Blackburn.”

Collection

Creation Date

1895-06-19

Creator(s)