Moody, William H. (William Henry), 1853-1917

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to William Eleroy Curtis

President Roosevelt has looked into the matter of Gore Canyon, and he provides William Eleroy Curtis a thorough accounting for the actions of the government in allowing a railroad to go through there instead of reserving the land for the work of the United States Reclamation Service. Roosevelt was told by many people in Colorado of the importance of a railroad through Gore Canyon in opening up more of the state for settlement and development. Furthermore, the Reclamation Service had not taken and was not in the position to take any steps towards developing Gore Canyon as a reservoir. Although the land had been withdrawn, when a judgement was passed in favor of the railroad, Roosevelt agreed and had Attorney General William H. Moody dismiss the government’s follow-up proceedings. Roosevelt asks Curtis to treat the portions of the letter containing quoted correspondence as private but allows him to use the rest of the letter.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-05-19

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Henry Cabot Lodge

President Roosevelt sends Senator Lodge a history of the Chandler-Bailey-Tillman matter regarding the passage of the Hepburn Act.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-05-19

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to S. H. Cowan

President Roosevelt agrees with S. H. Cowan that he would have preferred the Long amendment to the Hepburn bill rather than the Allison amendment, but feels that the bill overall is satisfactory and that the amendments have improved it.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-05-21

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to William B. Allison

President Roosevelt tells Senator Allison of the many discussions he has had about the pending rate bill and its proposed amendments. While Roosevelt approved of many suggested amendments and made suggestions on how to alter others, he has never insisted that any amendment be made to the bill in order for it to be signed into law.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-05-14

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Owen Wister

President Roosevelt had recently finished Owen Wister’s book Lady Baltimore, and sends Wister his thoughts and criticisms of the work. While he enjoyed the story, Roosevelt believes the book is unfairly critical of northerners and uncritical of southerners. Similarly, Roosevelt points out that while the book lauds the past at the expense of the present, there are many examples of violence, brutality, greed, and other vices in the past. Roosevelt also remarks on the status of African-Americans, and while he agrees with Wister in certain regards, believes the work has gone too far in the racist stereotypes. He hopes that Wister will be able to visit him soon. In a postscript, Roosevelt mentions a number of other books he has read or is reading that similarly make readers “feel that there is no use of trying to reform anything because everything is so rotten that the whole social structure should either be let alone or destroyed.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-04-27

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Philander C. Knox

President Roosevelt approves of the bill that Senator Knox and Secretary of the Navy William H. Moody fixed, but recommends the addition of a part better defining their aim in determining whether the commission exceeded its authority under the Interstate Commerce Act. Roosevelt believes most of this is merely an academic argument though, as many senators feel it is unwise to deviate too far from another amendment.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-04-22

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Thomas Collier Platt

President Roosevelt promises Senator Platt to take up the case of Lieutenant Commander John Allan Dougherty to see if he can be detailed where Platt wishes. Regarding a federal judgeship in New York, Roosevelt promises to consider Robert C. Morris with Platt, as well as with Secretary of State Elihu Root and Attorney General William H. Moody. He comments that, “it is the kind of appointment in which we really cannot pay heed to my personal feelings or those of anyone else, but only to the consideration of getting the very best man that is to be obtained.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-04-20

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Otto Gresham

President Roosevelt tells Otto Gresham that he believes the recent decision in the beef trust court case to be bad law, and that “from the moral and social standpoint it was a blow to righteousness in the community.” Roosevelt believes Commissioner of Corporations James Rudolph Garfield and Attorney General William H. Moody acted well throughout the trial.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-03-29

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to John J. Sullivan

President Roosevelt has called U.S. Attorney John J. Sullivan’s report to Attorney General William H. Moody’s attention.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-03-19

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Francis J. Heney

President Roosevelt, Secretary of the Interior Ethan Allen Hitchcock, and Senator Philander C. Knox all feel that Francis J. Heney should have sent his telegram about District Attorney William C. Bristol to Attorney General William H. Moody. Knox believes that the Senate would reject any renomination of Bristol on the grounds that his letter explaining his conduct is unsatisfactory. They will probably send the evidence against Bristol to the Oregon Bar Association. Roosevelt does not feel that under the circumstances, Bristol can be retained.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-03-07

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to James Wilson

President Roosevelt tells Secretary of Agriculture Wilson that based on Attorney General William H. Moody’s experience with the beef trust people, Roosevelt believes that they will stop at little to stop an ordinary investigation. He would like a “first-class man” to meet with Upton Sinclair, get the names of his witnesses, and then work in the industry. The man’s identity should be kept secret, and Wilson should not make an appointment without consulting Roosevelt.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-03-12

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Charles Emory Smith

President Roosevelt asks Charles Emory Smith if the enclosed letter to Attorney General William H. Moody covers Judge Hosea Townsend’s case. Smith should tell his friends that, like in Alice Through the Looking-Glass, “what the President tells them three times is true–and I have said this thirty times three.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-03-03

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to A. J. Cassatt

President Roosevelt and Attorney General William H. Moody agreed with the Interstate Commerce Commission on an amendment to the Hepburn railroad rate bill that meets the point that A. J. Cassatt made in his letter. However, Senator Philander C. Knox disagrees with the amendment and prefers the bill as-is, and Roosevelt has given up the effort to pass the amendment. Roosevelt believes that the Hepburn bill should be passed in its current form.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-02-22

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Ethan Allen Hitchcock

Following the report from Burns, President Roosevelt notified Attorney General William H. Moody that he would appoint Grosvenor A. Porter to succeed Benjamin H. Colbert as United States marshal in Indian Territory. Roosevelt asks Secretary of the Interior Hitchcock to have his department make specific recommendations for actions that should be taken regarding the matters discussed in Burns’s report.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-02-23

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Ethan Allen Hitchcock

President Roosevelt forwards Attorney General William H. Moody’s views on the Burns report to Secretary of the Interior Hitchcock. Roosevelt believes that Burns should supplement his report by specifically stating specifics about the wrongdoings of the people mentioned in it so that he can assess what actions should be taken, and by which departments.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-02-26

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Henry Cabot Lodge

President Roosevelt encloses a copy of the defamatory letter for Senator Lodge and notes that he needs to read the New York Herald. Roosevelt will consider Dargan’s son for judge if the new district is created in South Carolina, although he would prefer a Republican if there are any Republicans who are fit for the office.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-02-27

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Joseph Gurney Cannon

President Roosevelt encloses a copy of Attorney General William H. Moody’s proposed amendment to the railroad rate bill, which he would like Speaker of the House Cannon to show to Representative A. Barton Hepburn. Moody, Roosevelt, and two members of the Interstate Commerce Commission find the amendment satisfactory, and believe that it would avoid any question of the constitutionality of the bill. After Cannon and Hepburn have discussed the matter, Roosevelt would like Cannon to see him to discuss matters.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-02-19

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Jonathan P. Dolliver

President Roosevelt encloses a copy of Attorney General William H. Moody’s proposed amendment to the railroad rate bill, which he would like Senator Allison to show to Senator Moses E. Clapp. Moody, Roosevelt, and two members of the Interstate Commerce Commission find the amendment satisfactory, and believe that it would avoid any question of the constitutionality of the bill.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-02-19

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Nathan Bay Scott

President Roosevelt has forwarded Senator Scott’s brother-in-law’s letter to Attorney General William H. Moody.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-02-21

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Pierre Wibaux

President Roosevelt does not know anything about the case Pierre Wibaux mentioned, but has forwarded the letter to Attorney General William H. Moody.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-02-01

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919