Oil industries | - Theodore Roosevelt Center

Concentration in industry

Charles Richard Van Hise speaks of the nuances present in monopolies and unrestricted competition in the American economy. Van Hise gives the railroads system as an example of successful use of commissions with no price competition. His thesis proposes there can be great economic advantage to maintain a concentration of industry and therefore those corporations should not be broken up by enforcing the Sherman Act. Instead, commissions should be created to determine prices and Van Hise provides a list of powers these commissions should have and how to achieve success.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-11-09

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Frank B. Kellogg

Theodore Roosevelt thanks Frank B. Kellogg for giving him the information he asked for. Although Roosevelt doubts the Congressional Committee will call upon him, he wants to have the facts about Standard Oil and be able to point out the good of the anti-trust law.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-10-10

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to James Rudolph Garfield

President Roosevelt asks Commissioner of Corporations Garfield if there is a reason that the Interstate Commerce Commission should not go ahead with the oil investigation. Roosevelt does not want them to interfere with the actions of Garfield, and asks him to speak with Interstate Commerce Commission chairman Martin A. Knapp to discuss the issue.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-04-16

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Francis S. Monnett

President Roosevelt explains to Francis S. Monnett that the Interstate Commerce Commission has only temporarily stopped their investigation into the oil matters, and that they will resume again later without any damage to the investigation.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-04-16

Letter from James Rudolph Garfield to Theodore Roosevelt

Commissioner of Corporations Garfield informs President Roosevelt that the report on oil will be finished soon but not to publish it before consulting with Attorney General William H. Moody to ensure that pending charges are not disrupted by publication of the report. Garfield finds it interesting that some claim foreign trade is being hurt by these charges but that the oil and beef industries are profiting from violating federal law. Garfield is monitoring a fascinating local election which Representative Theodore E. Burton of Ohio is leading. Some in the election are pushing for an open convention.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-09-03

Letter from Ethan Allen Hitchcock to Theodore Roosevelt

Secretary of the Interior Hitchcock responds to President Roosevelt’s request for information regarding an account of the correspondence featured in a New York Sun editorial from August 16, 1906. Hitchcock tells Roosevelt that he was not responsible for the editorial except to the extent that correspondence referenced was issued by his authority. The correspondence, which he summarizes, pertains to the hearings before Hitchcock on the leasing of oil lands and natural gas wells in Indian Territory and the Territory of Oklahoma.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-08-22

Letter from Hamlin Garland to Theodore Roosevelt

Hamlin Garland praises President Roosevelt’s efforts to take on the oil and beef industries. Garland assures Roosevelt that he is doing the right thing in breaking up monopolies. As a man who espouses the free trade philosophy, Garland wishes Roosevelt would stay another four years, but does not oppose William Jennings Bryan in the upcoming election. Many others, including Bernard Shaw, Rudyard Kipling, and more also approve of Roosevelt. Garland has been received very well by Ambassador Whitelaw Reid and saw Roosevelt’s daughter, Alice Roosevelt Longworth, at an event recently.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-06-16

Letter from William Peters Hepburn to Theodore Roosevelt

William Peters Hepburn is in receipt of President Roosevelt’s note of the 29th which referenced Standard Oil and the coal ownership propositions that were put in the rate bill by the Senate.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-05-30

Letter from Martin A. Knapp to Theodore Roosevelt

Chairman Martin A. Knapp acknowledges President Roosevelt’s letter regarding the investigation the Interstate Commerce Commission is undertaking. Knapp wishes to inform Roosevelt about certain facts that the Commission “cannot ignore,” mainly the circumstances by which the Kansas City inquiry began.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-03-22

Telephone message from Francis B. Loomis

Assistant Secretary of State Loomis discusses a call from the Standard Oil Company regarding the impact of the Chinese boycott on the sale of oil. The Standard Oil Company would like Secretary of War Taft to attend a meeting in Canton.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1905-09-02

Letter from Thomas Sammons to Francis B. Loomis

Thomas Sammons sends a copy of his dispatch to Minister Rockhill about the attempt to prevent the unloading of American oil in China due to the boycott.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1905-08-02

Letter from Thomas Sammons to William Woodville Rockhill

Thomas Sammons says that the Japanese unloaded the American shipment of oil instead of the Chinese because of the boycott of American goods in China.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1905-08-02

Letter from Julius Gareché Lay to Francis B. Loomis

Ambassador Lay explains that the Chinese boycott of American goods has not affected the American oil industry. He describes threats to those who continue buying American goods or working for American businesses, their violation of the treaty, and the possible dangers to American missionaries.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1905-07-24

Standard oil

Sheet music for “Standard Oil,” a song about John D. Rockefeller and his history with Standard Oil. One verse mentions President Roosevelt and his efforts to break up the company. Cover is red, white, and black with a can of oil, a sign “J.D.R.,” and Uncle Sam. At the top of the cover, the sheet music is “dedicated to Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis.”

Collection

Dr. Danny O. Crew Theodore Roosevelt Sheet Music Collection

Creation Date

1907