Negotiation

President Roosevelt thanks Thomas Fortune Ryan for his note and explains that he understands why Fortune has called upon Theodore P. Shonts for a new position, and that it would not be right to object. However, he is thankful that they could make arrangements for Shonts to stay in his current position as Chairman of the Isthmian Canal Commission for an extra six weeks.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-01-22

Ambassador Takahira has received telegrams from the Japanese government expressing their gratitude for President Roosevelt’s actions in the pursuit of peace. The Japanese government hopes that the Russian plenipotentiaries will be granted full authorization to “negotiate and conclude the terms of peace.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1905-06-28

University of California President Wheeler thinks that President Roosevelt and Edward Harriman need to talk face-to-face about the impending railroad legislation. Wheeler says that, contrary to rumor or gossip, Harriman prefers Taft as the next president to anyone else.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1905-06-19

The Japanese Minister Takahira thanks President Roosevelt for his “wise and discreet efforts in the interest of peace.” The Japanese government shares his interest and will send a formal reply once Roosevelt’s note is received. Regarding the meeting place for plenipotentiaries, Takahira thinks Cheffoo, China, will be most suitable, as it is not tied to any political centers. Takahira inquires if it is known who will be chosen as the Russian plenipotentiary.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1905-06-09

Andrew Dickson White asks President Roosevelt if he can make use of the “Special Mediation” as given in Title II, Article VIII of the 1899 Hague Arbitration Convention to end the “Eastern War.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1905-05-31

Baron von dem Bussche-Haddenhausen replies to President Roosevelt’s “telegraphic letter” to tell Roosevelt that Russia has rejected the idea of peace because of the unfavorable conditions. However, Lamzdorf informed the German ambassador that the Russian conditions of peace had already been communicated to France.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1905-01-17

Theodore Roosevelt writes his son Kermit and daughter-in-law Belle about President Woodrow Wilson’s failure at attempting a peace negotiation which enraged the American public. He encloses a check from Scribners for Kermit’s poem and says he has finished his speaking tour for the liberty loan. A letter from Endicott Peabody of Groton School was enclosed.

Collection

Harvard College Library

Creation Date

1918-10-20

Vignette cartoon with a central image showing President Roosevelt sitting with Russian, Japanese, and possibly Chinese figures at his summer retreat at Oyster Bay; his personal secretary, William Loeb, is serving drinks. The vignette scenes suggest that the Russo-Japanese war, and the control of Manchuria and Vladivostok, be decided by competitions between the Russian leaders and those of Japan and China, such as a swimming race, a wood-chopping contest, a tennis match, and a contest of telling the tallest fish story.

Comments and Context

Puck cartoonists L. M. Glackens and S. D. Ehrhart joined forces to draw the magazine’s semi-regular centerspread genre cartoon commenting on current events, this page on the upcoming negotiations to end the Russo-Japanese War. There was one month to go before commencement of talks. Approximately two months after this cartoon’s publication, a Treaty of Peace was signed.

The cartoonists had innocent fun, suggesting feats of strength and skill to settle the conflict, dismissing the bloody and exhaustive carnage in the Far East, and ignoring what was at stake with the United States — President Roosevelt’s personal prestige, and America’s potential role as a world power.

Theodore Roosevelt is glad that James M. Sullivan agrees with him on Arbitration Treaties.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1912-05-31

President Roosevelt responds to a telephone message Senator Bourne left with William Loeb. As Roosevelt has told Bourne and John D. Archbold previously, he feels that it is a waste of time and unwise to try to carry on negotiations through Bourne, and says that the Standard Oil people should decide what course they wish to follow, and then communicate directly with Frank B. Kellogg or Attorney General Charles J. Bonaparte. The letter from Bonaparte that Roosevelt previously read to Bourne was not meant to be specific guidelines, but was only meant to give Bourne an indication of the feeling within the Department of Justice.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-07-03

H. V. Meyers informs Theodore Roosevelt that negotiations for building a reservoir in Colorado are nearly complete. He mentions the project will hold 60,000 acre-feet of water and asks for Roosevelt’s views on irrigation, noting his past support. Meyers says construction will begin soon and appreciates any advice Roosevelt can offer.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-09-07

Benjamin B. Hampton explains to Lindsay Denison his recent remarks in further detail. Hampton believes it would be better for President Roosevelt to deal with the tobacco companies directly, rather than through the courts, since it would be faster and potentially more beneficial for both parties. Hampton stresses that he is not well-versed in law or in a position to speak on behalf of the tobacco industry, although he is an advertiser for the American Tobacco Company. Hampton invites Denison to consider the shortcomings of his proposal and to enlighten him as to why it might be ill-conceived.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-10-24

Chargé d’affaires in Cuba Sleeper informs Secretary of State Root that hostilities have ceased in Cuba in the hopes of reaching an agreement between the rebels and the Cuban government prior to the arrival of Secretary of War William H. Taft.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-09-17

Jacob Sleeper, chargé d’affaires in Cuba, informs Secretary of State Elihu Root that the peace efforts of the Cuban veterans led by General Mario García Menocal have failed and that President Tomás Estrada Palma declared martial law and has begun arresting suspected members of the Revolutionary Committee. He also describes the effect of martial law on the city of Havana.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-09-11

Ambassador Meyer agrees with everything President Roosevelt said in his letter and appreciates the opportunity to be in St. Petersburg during the peace negotiations. Meyer is honored to join Roosevelt’s cabinet next winter. Meyer discusses conditions in Russia he has witnessed like Russians living conditions, their oppression, their lack of education, and the difficulty the Socialists or Anarchists will have in convincing the people that the Tsar is not “their little Father.” Meyer expresses his concern that the Revolutionists want everything at once and that none among them is a stand out leader. Meyer discusses the progress of his cure in Bavaria but assures Roosevelt that he is ready to return to St. Petersburg at a moment’s notice.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-09-02

Jacob Sleeper, the chargé d’affaires in Cuba, reports “reliable unofficial information” that a prominent liberal leader has left Havana to meet an insurrectionist leader in Pinar del Rio. The insurrectionist leader will be given the basis for negotiations which were adopted at the conference and a cessation of hostilities will be suggested.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-09-02

Jacob Sleeper, the chargé d’affaires in Cuba, informs Secretary of State Root that the Cuban government’s Amnesty Order had little effect and the rebellion is still active. Sleeper believes that rebel leader Faustino Guerra is waiting for the Cuban government to make the first move, but the government is lacking in men and arms. It is rumored that Colonel Emilio Ávalos y Acosta will attack Guerra’s command near the Bay of Cortez to open up a waterway in case Western Railroad service is interrupted, as Guerra has been threatening to dynamite its bridges. There are rumors of a lack of harmony between the Cuban President and Vice President in regards to patronage and the conduct of the war. Rebel leader Ernesto Asbert is threatening to burn foreign properties unless the government accedes to their demands.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-08-30

John Barrett, former delegate to the Pan-American Conference at Mexico and former Minister to Argentina and Panama, responds to a request from President Roosevelt, to provide observations and data regarding the commercial and political relations of the United States with Latin America.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1905-09-27

Nicholas II praises Theodore Roosevelt for orchestrating the meeting between Russian and Japanese delegates to discuss possible terms of peace in the Russo-Japanese War. He informs Roosevelt that he has instructed Sergei Witte and Baron Roman Romanovich, the Russian ambassador to the U. S., on the extent of Russian concessions with the Japanese.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1905-07-18

Translation of an article that appeared in the Russian newspaper Slovo. Professor Latkine shares his opinions concerning the Russo-Japanese War. He discusses in detail the Japanese conditions for peace, concluding that none of the Japanese conditions are acceptable; therefore, Russia should continue to fight. He adds that if the Russian government decides to pursue peace, the final consent to end the war should come through the Russian people, via their representatives.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1905-05-10