Moyer, Charles H.

President Roosevelt asks Albert Shaw to reproduce a cartoon from Puck. As Roosevelt has no plans to hold another position in public office, the upset on Wall Street will have no lasting effect on him, but he comments on the related press coverage. The New York Sun has tried to disparage the Great White Fleet, but Roosevelt is certain Shaw understands that the fleet’s journey is necessary. Roosevelt asks Shaw to lunch with Mark Twain and Frank Nelson Doubleday on Friday the 13th.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-09-03

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

President Roosevelt shares his thoughts regarding the upcoming presidential election and the land fraud case against Idaho Senator William Edgar Borah with William Allen White. Roosevelt outlines his personal reasons for supporting Secretary of War William H. Taft for president as well as the political considerations necessary to secure his nomination. In the case of Borah, Roosevelt would like White to come to Oyster Bay to discuss the matter with him and Attorney General Charles J. Bonaparte; Roosevelt thinks it would look bad for Borah to come himself, and asks White to bring Borah’s lawyers on August 9.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-07-30

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

President Roosevelt considers Oscar K. Davis’s reporting on the land fraud case in Idaho to be admirable and gives his word careful consideration. Roosevelt believes that the worst thing he can do is to be seen as shielding Idaho Senator William Edgar Borah from prosecution, but if what Davis says about the grand jury proceedings is true, he will remove District Attorney N. M. Ruick at once. Roosevelt will bring up the matter with Attorney General Charles J. Bonaparte.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-07-20

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Thomas B. Stuart analyzes the “class struggle” aspects of the Big Bill Haywood case. Stuart discusses the case as it relates to legal ethics and the court system in Colorado.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-09-03

Creator(s)

Stuart, Thomas B., 1859-1926

Idaho Governor Gooding laments to President Roosevelt that most people associated with the prosecution of the alleged murderers of Governor of Idaho Frank Steuenberg have been indicted and accused of connection with the alleged timber land frauds in the state.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-04-15

Creator(s)

Gooding, Frank Robert, 1859-1928

Detective Pinkerton updates Governor Gooding on their investigation into the Western Federation of Miners (W.F.M.). Pinkerton learned that the W.F.M. is pursuing a strategy to implicate the late Governor in fraudulent timber sales. In doing this, Pinkerton believes the Western Federation of Miners hopes to “discredit him (Governor Steunenberg) in the eyes of the people in order to help the cause of the defendants,” Bill Haywood, Charles Moyer, and George Pettibone.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-04-05

Creator(s)

Pinkerton, William A. (William Allan), 1846-1923

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.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-04-04

Creator(s)

Crimmins, Thomas

The Daily News covers Grand Jury disclosures in the land fraud case of Charles H. Moyer, Big Bill Haywood and George A. Pettibone. The disclosures seem to indicate a connection to the late Idaho Governor Frank Steunenberg, as well as an anonymous message that was sent to Moyer, Haywood, and Pettibone’s attorney. Significant support of Moyer, Haywood, and Pettibone was also noted in a series of speeches made at the Coliseum protesting their incarnation. 

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-03-31

Creator(s)

The Daily News

President Roosevelt is happy to hear that his son Kermit is running and rowing. Roosevelt hopes to finish dictating some speeches so he can take a vacation. He adds that the “labor people” insist on having a row with him, and he wrote a letter to the Charles Moyer-William Haywood Defense Fund. Roosevelt closes by saying how lucky he is to have Secretary of State Elihu Root and Secretary of War William H. Taft, and he believes Taft should be nominated next for president.

Collection

Harvard College Library

Creation Date

1907-04-23

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

President Roosevelt tells Lyman Abbott that he is amused that the Outlook just printed an article that comes close to expressing his own views on socialism. Roosevelt compares some of the figures involved in socialist movements of the present to figures of the French Revolution, and says that while the French Revolution was beneficial and necessary in its early stages, it turned sharply towards evil as it progressed. Roosevelt has sent Abbott the open letter that he wrote to Rudolph Spreckles.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-06-18

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

President Roosevelt explains his thoughts related to socialism, saying that socialists do some good in waking some people up to the evils of modern life and the great disparities of wealth, but that for the most part they “merely add to the mass of aimless discontent.” Roosevelt discusses several instances in which socialism praises people who he believes do not deserve it, such as Eugene V. Debs. He believes that socialism also is frequently associated with an “only partially concealed crusade against domestic morality.” For Roosevelt, trending too far towards the ideas of socialism is just as bad as going too far towards the actions of swindling financiers or corrupt politicians.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-06-17

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

President Roosevelt appreciates Professor Davenport’s article in The Outlook. Roosevelt believes that he has dealt fairly with labor unions, although sometimes he has acted to keep them in check.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-07-13

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

President Roosevelt is glad to hear more about Senator Knox’s address at Yale, especially his reference to the Girondists. He wants people to understand that “to be moderate does not mean to be timid.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-06-24

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

President Roosevelt expresses his concern about Senator William Edgar Borah’s alleged connections to timber stealing and the potential impact on the Haywood-Moyer murder trial.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-05-08

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

President Roosevelt sends photographs of him jumping a horse to United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom Reid. He directs Reid to present the photographs to King Edward VII if he would like them. Roosevelt comments on the newspaper clippings that Reid sent, noting he was surprised at how Englishmen responded to Robert Bond’s criticism of New Newfoundland’s status in the British Empire, given their response to the proposed discriminatory legislation against Japanese students in California. Lately, Roosevelt has been most interested by his “encounter with the ultra labor men and socialists over the Moyer-Haywood-Debs matter.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-05-15

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

President Roosevelt liked John Campbell Greenway’s letter and sent it to Secretary of War William H. Taft. Roosevelt asks if Greenway has seen his letters in response to the Moyer-Haywood affair.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-05-07

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-05-07

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Recipient

Pringle, John Dunbar, 1854-1922

Language

English

President Roosevelt responds to a letter from William Henry Jackson, sent on behalf of the Cook County Moyer-Haywood-Pettibone Conference. Jackson had taken exception to an earlier letter in which Roosevelt had referred to several people, including Charles H. Moyer and Big Bill Haywood, as “undesirable citizens.” Roosevelt stands by his description of Moyer, Haywood, and Eugene V. Debs as undesirable citizens, although he assures Jackson that his statement was not an attempt to influence the outcome of the trial of Moyer and Haywood for the murder of former Idaho Governor Frank Steunenberg.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-04-22

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

President Roosevelt comments on and advises Kermit Roosevelt on his athletic abilities and pursuits. He is “up to my ears in work,” which includes dictating speeches. Archibald “Archie” Roosevelt commented that it seems Roosevelt is currently under attack more than at previous times. Roosevelt felt it best to “attack aggressively and fearlessly” in his letter to the Moyer-Haywood Defense Association. He finds comfort in having Secretary of War William H. Taft and Secretary of State Elihu Root with him and hopes Taft will be nominated for president.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-04-23

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-04-25

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Recipient

Bonaparte, Charles J. (Charles Joseph), 1851-1921

Language

English