Your TR Source
President Roosevelt thanks United States Attorney Asa P. French for the editorial, and commiserates with him about delays in an ongoing financial investigation.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-09-21
Charles Stedman Hanks gives his opinion on what will make the Hepburn Act more successful and what constitutes a legal merger of railroads. Hanks cites various examples of suspicious stock prices, mergers, and rates of sales for land that indicate the Hepburn Act can be tightened to be more effective in regulating the railroads. He claims that a large percentage of Americans believe that railroad traffic rates are too high.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-01-10
Theodore Roosevelt’s secretary requests that Arthur Dehon Hill arrange a meeting for Roosevelt with Norman H. White while he is in Boston. Roosevelt is eager to discuss the pending lawsuit against New York, New Haven, and Hartford Railroad Company.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1912-04-24
Theodore Roosevelt informs Hugh Gordon Miller that he is correct that Roosevelt is not running for mayor. Roosevelt is also pleased with Miller’s statement about the “Wickersham – New York, New Haven and Hartford” matter. Roosevelt had given the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad “permission” to buy a line of steamships to prevent Charlie Morse from having a monopoly. This in no way affects the actions of President William H. Taft.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1912-12-04
President Roosevelt is pleased that Charles S. Mellen, President of the New York, New Haven, and Hartford Railroad Company has been chosen as a delegate to the Republican National Convention, and invites him to lunch.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-05-13
President Roosevelt was glad to hear of Charles Sanger Mellen’s election to the Presidency of the New York, New Haven, and Hartford Railway.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1903-09-25
Senator Lodge does not think that President Roosevelt should bring a lawsuit against the New Haven Railroad until the Massachusetts case currently in the courts has been decided and they see whether they could be separated from trolleys by law. Roosevelt had asked Lodge to speak with U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts Asa P. French about it before anything was done. Lodge is writing because he saw writing from Attorney General Charles Bonaparte that suggested he were about to bring suit against New Haven, and Lodge believes it would be a mistake to do this if they can accomplish the same result a different way.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-02-03
Senator Lodge reflects on the results of the election and is generally pleased, particularly with the sound defeat of Massachusetts gubernatorial candidate Henry Melville Whitney. Lodge was less pleased by the events in New York which included a fusion of the Republican Party with William Randolph Hearst’s Independence League in New York City and embarrassing behavior by Governor Charles Evans Hughes.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-11-09
Charles S. Mellen acknowledges that the stock of The New York, New Haven, and Hartford Railroad Company has shrunk tremendously, but notes that all railroad stocks have fallen and all railroad corporations are subject to attacks from the government. Mellen cannot guarantee what is going to happen but there is nothing to “warrant apprehension regarding the dividends.” Connecticut Senator Morgan G. Bulkeley assures Mellen that as long as he is an honest man he is in no danger of going behind bars, though Mellen notes that determining if a man is honest depends on one’s point of view.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-10-30
Senator Lodge shares with President Roosevelt the points he went over with Assistant Attorney General Alford Warriner Cooley and District Attorney Asa P. French regarding the investigation of the New York, New Haven, and Hartford Railroad Company and Charlie Morse’s supposed steamship monopoly deal. Lodge discusses his concerns about the severe decline in stocks, the possibility of a financial panic, and the potential impact on future election results.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-08-12
Assistant Attorney General Cooley recounts a conversation he had with Martin A. Knapp regarding a meeting with Charles S. Mellen of the New York, New Haven, and Hartford Railroad Company. At a meeting at the White House at which Roosevelt was present, Mellen seemed unsure if keeping steamship lines operated by his railroad might violate the Sherman Antitrust Act. Knapp’s recollection was that Roosevelt declined to express an opinion in the matter. In light of this, Cooley sees no reason not to proceed.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-08-03
Senator Lodge describes his work in getting an agreement in place for a bill in the the Massachusetts State Legislature regarding the merger of the Boston & Main Railroad and the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad. Lodge says he believes it is a good bill, but the difficulties created by moving stocks between railroads causes him to lose his temper. In another matter, Lodge asks Roosevelt if it is possible to have a detective or Secret Service agents investigate two men who have been making false statements about the Brownsville Affair.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-06-20
Commissioner of Corporations Garfield tells President Roosevelt that Charles S. Mellen of New Haven Railroad will cooperate with the government on railroad reform. Garfield also discusses the appointment of an internal revenue collector in Ohio and a suggested candidate for the Interstate Commerce Commission.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-07-12
Charles S. Mellen, a railroad executive, has requested that Timothy Brynes travel to Washington, D.C., to speak with President Roosevelt concerning important matters. Mellen fears that due to the railroad strikes, it would be be unwise to travel himself as his purpose could be misconstrued and cause the president some embarrassment in the press. Mellen also expresses that he is anxious to learn the president’s wishes regarding the chairman of the Republican National Committee and the vice president.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-05-29
Railroad President Charles S. Mellen writes to President Theodore Roosevelt regarding an editorial about Mellen being chosen as a Chicago Convention delegate. Mellen suggests that he will effectively fulfill the duties of a delegate. In addition, Mellen mentions his plans to go to Washington, D.C., where he anticipates meeting with Roosevelt.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-05-12
The state Republican Convention in Connecticut adopted a resolution supporting President Roosevelt for renomination and named its delegates to the National Convention in Chicago. The fact that the president of the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad, Charles S. Mellen, and two directors, Charles F. Brooker and Edwin Milner, were named delegates proves that not all railroad interests are against Roosevelt.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-05-12
The understanding of the Interstate Commerce Commission is that the Sherman Antitrust Act does not apply to railroads, although without input from the Supreme Court on the matter they are unwilling to state so definitively. In any event, the particular matter of the merger of the New York, New Haven, and Hartford Railroad Company with the Boston and Maine Railroad is not a violation of the act.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-11-08
Many managers of trusts and mergers have been meeting privately with President Roosevelt in light of the administration’s increased prosecutions of trusts in violation of the Sherman Act. It is uncertain exactly what is discussed in their meetings, but most meetings have proven beneficial for the managers and their businesses.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-11-08
Charles S. Mellen, president of the New York, New Haven, and Hartford Railroad Company, and President Roosevelt had an explosive private meeting wherein Mellen asked for an investigation into his company’s planned merger be expedited. The investigation had been a major issue during the recent Massachusetts gubernatorial campaign.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-11-08
Charles S. Mellen had a spirited discussion with President Roosevelt requesting that an investigation into his railroad company’s planned merger be expedited. Mellen objected particularly to the embarrassment such an investigation causes and the indignity of the merger having been a major issue in the recent Massachusetts gubernatorial election.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-11-07