New York Stock Exchange

Theodore P. Shonts is concerned about the financial uncertainty that is shaking the country. Railroads are defaulting on loans, the value of investments is shrinking, and many investors are selling off their stocks, flooding the market and driving prices even lower. Shonts suggests that President Roosevelt could calm fears by making a statement of the government’s future intentions regarding the railroads. Shonts also proposes that George B. Cortelyou, recently named Secretary of the Treasury, visit New York and offer to meet with financiers, either individually or as a group, to try to identify solutions.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-03-23

Creator(s)

Shonts, Theodore P. (Theodore Perry), 1856-1919

A large teddy bear hits the “New York Stock Exchange” with a big stick, sending several men flying out as well as “securities” and “stocks.”

comments and context

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-03-16

Two men struggle to keep a small boat in rough waters from foundering against the “Administration Light,” a lighthouse in the shape of Theodore Roosevelt’s face. The larger man is J. P. “Morgan.” The smaller man, James J. “Hill,” holds a rope in the form of a ticker tape labeled the “New York Stock Market.” In the rough waters are both “undigested securities” and “circuit court decisions.” The flag hoisted on the mast is labeled with a dollar sign.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1903-04-16

Creator(s)

Bush, Charles Green, 1842-1909

President Roosevelt believes that the members of the New York Stock Exchange should support New York Representative Herbert Parsons and the Republican candidate for governor of New York Charles Evans Hughes and failing to register or to vote in “support of these men is a betrayal of decent citizenship.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-10-14

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Elijah E. Knott accuses the New York Stock Exchange of being “the most un-American institution” in the country. It is the guardhouse of all corrupt, law-defying corporations and goes against Theodore Roosevelt’s policies. New York should break up this monopoly. Knott suggests Roosevelt write an article for The Outlook on regulating stock markets. 

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-11-11

Creator(s)

Knott, Elijah E. (Elijah Edward), 1855-1923

Henry B. Joy is busy and finds it difficult to arrange an interview with Arthur L. Holmes and prefers that he write a letter instead. He comments on washed sales on the New York Stock Exchange and how they mostly stopped under Governor Charles Evans Hughes’s administration. Joy feels that America is strangling business enterprise and industry unnecessarily through prejudice towards corporations, which pose no threat if adequately regulated. 

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-10-31

Creator(s)

Joy, Henry B. (Henry Bourne), 1864-1936

Tensions are high because of the financial panic and President Roosevelt believes it would be best to reschedule the sittings with Bay Emmett for his portrait.

Collection

Harvard College Library

Creation Date

1907-11-01

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Dwight Braman informs President Roosevelt confidentially about a Wall Street conspiracy against Roosevelt and the Republican administration. A syndicate formed by J. Pierpont Morgan and others bought up government bonds and then attempted to force the money rate up to 40%. The United States Treasury would then have to buy the bonds back at inflated rates. The plan failed due to the intervention of Russell Sage, one of Braman’s clients. Braman has also been working to solve the coal strike and he encloses a letter from John Mitchell which details his efforts.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1902-10-07

Creator(s)

Braman, Dwight, 1861-1929