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President Roosevelt thanks Hanford Crawford and the other members of several Commercial Clubs for the report on their recent trip to Panama to investigate the progress on the Panama Canal.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-01-20
President Roosevelt encloses copies of his message about Panama. Matthew Hale had said that it was difficult to refute the statement that the revolution in Panama had been planned in Washington. Roosevelt believes that the burden of proof is on the person making that argument, and that statements about the date of his message about Panama are a lie. Roosevelt had planned to take the Isthmus through ethical and legal means before the revolution broke out.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-01-06
Although President Roosevelt verbally expressed his appreciation for Colonel Humphrey’s and Lieutenant Murphy’s work in Panama and Venezuela, he does not feel it is appropriate for him to send a letter expressing those sentiments until they have resigned.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-01-07
In the draft of a letter marked “Canceled” at the top, President Roosevelt tells Secretary of the Treasury Cortelyou he approves the issuing of currency and Panama bonds as proposed. Roosevelt has also received word of a currency bill being considered in Congress that would help settle the situation. He emphasizes, however, that business conditions in the United States are still fundamentally sound, and that citizens should not panic and stop trusting banks, or start hoarding savings. As long as people go about their business as usual, everything will be fine and circulation will return to normal.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-11-16
President Roosevelt has considered Secretary of the Treasury Cortelyou’s proposal and approves the issuing of currency and Panama bonds. He has also received word of a currency bill being considered in Congress that would help settle the situation. Roosevelt emphasizes, however, that business conditions in the United States are still fundamentally sound, and that citizens should not panic, stop trusting banks, or start hoarding savings. As long as people go about their business as usual, everything will be fine and circulation will return to normal.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-11-17
President Roosevelt writes to Joseph Bucklin Bishop and is pleased about the libraries. Roosevelt is pleased that Bishop is going to Panama.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-07-12
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.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-04-23
President Roosevelt draws Secretary of War Taft’s attention to a paragraph in the Panama Daily Telegraph. He thinks the United States should “take advantage of [its] intervention to put the Cuban Government on as solid a basis of good legislation as possible.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-04-16
President Roosevelt updates his son Kermit about his mother’s and siblings’ lives, as well as the legislative progress he has made recently. Roosevelt has had difficulties with California, Japan, and Panama. He agrees with Kermit about the merits of Mark Twain and Robert Browning and their use of history as a narrative tool.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-02-16
President Roosevelt thanks the men of the USS Louisiana for their kind gift to Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt. They enjoyed their trip to Panama.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-02-09
President Roosevelt describes his trip to Panama to his son Kermit Roosevelt. They have been extremely busy during their stay. He describes the feeling of coming to Panama and his thoughts about several rebellions that have happened in the area when he first became president. He explains the begins of the canal by the French and how now that the Americans have taken over, the process will be longer than planned. He describes the progress of the canal’s construction as well as the environment of Panama. Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt did not tramp through the mud like Roosevelt did, but she enjoyed herself and the beautiful area.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-11-20
President Roosevelt describes his trip to Puerto Rico. They were greeted in Ponce by Governor Winthrop Beekman and Commissioner of the Interior Laurence H. Grahame then drove by car to San Juan. He describes the plants of the area as well as the character of Grahame and his wearing of a kilt. He comments on Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt’s hatred of car rides. In a postscript, Roosevelt describes his welcome to Puerto Rico by various military members.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-11-23
President Roosevelt describes his trip to Panama and Puerto Rico. He comments on the uniqueness of Panama and the canal project. He praises William Crawford Gorgas’s work regarding the health of the Americans working on the canal. Black workers from Jamaica have not been as healthy, and Roosevelt feels as though they may need to get Chinese laborers as Jamaican Governor James Alexander Swettenham has been disagreeable to work with. He describes the trip and some reading he has done, saying about John Milton, “What a radical republican, and what a stanch partisan, and what an intense protestant the fine old fellow was!” He plans to read more Greek and Roman literature.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-11-23
President Roosevelt encloses a copy of a letter he has just sent to James O’Connell. The labor situation will be referred to in Roosevelt’s upcoming report to Congress on the Panama Canal. He wants Edward A. Moffett or “his comrade” to report on the conditions, but he does not agree with Moffett that there is a need for a labor union for the canal’s commission. Roosevelt also spoke to several railroad men who complained about working overtime and were confused about a recent eight-hour labor law. Roosevelt instructed officers of the commission to reduce the overtime work as much as possible.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-11-27
President Roosevelt recounts the recent Congressional election wins across the country. He applauds the replacement of some Republican leaders in New York and Idaho. He is glad several border states near the South have also done well. Roosevelt and his wife Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt are heading to Panama soon. Their son Ted has come home from Harvard after six weeks there and seems to be “deprest.” He cannot play football on account of his leg and is not popular among his classmates due to his arrest, but he appears to be doing well in his studies.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-11-07
President Roosevelt describes the pets aboard the U. S. S. Louisiana, including two dogs, a cat, three raccoons, and a “tiny Cuban goat.” One of the raccoons sniffed Roosevelt’s fingers, making him afraid of becoming something for the racoon to eat. The crew is very fond of the animals but is not allowed off the boat at landing, otherwise they would bring even more pets aboard. A few days later, Roosevelt recounts their passing by San Salvador, where Christopher Columbus first landed in the Americas.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-11-14
President Roosevelt tells William B. Weeden his opinions and critiques of a book written by Weeden that he is reading on his trip to Panama. He compares the situations of Abraham Lincoln to his own, concluding that he has “bigger men than Lincoln had in his cabinet-men who have the great qualities of Seward, Chase and Stanton, without their great defects.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-11-12
President Roosevelt and Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt had not been able to read Senator Lodge’s book A Frontier Town, and Other Essays until their voyage to Panama. Roosevelt is very pleased with the book and provides his thoughts on several of the essays.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-11-14
President Roosevelt tells his son Kermit Roosevelt that he has been a bit bored on the trip, but he has been reading a lot, and Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt has been enjoying herself. The officers and crew have been very good to them. He describes the sight of the three battleships cruising at night and reflects on his current state as president helping to build the Panama Canal. He outlines their typical day. In an entry a few days later, Roosevelt comments on their reaching San Salvador, where Christopher Columbus first landed in the Americas. They are getting closer to Panama and hope to reach it that afternoon, just six days from when they left Washington, D. C.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-11-14
President Roosevelt asks Maurice Francis Egan to forward his letter to T. A. Daly for him. Roosevelt wishes to meet with Egan when he returns from Panama about Commissioner of Indian Affairs Francis E. Leupp and “our Indian friends.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-11-05