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As Theodore Roosevelt is well known for his interest in improving the welfare of United States citizens, Lee C. Spooner sends Theodore Roosevelt a manuscript he has written on the subject of whether poverty can be abolished in the United States. He believes it contains several suggestions which, if implemented, would be helpful to a great number of people.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-03-18
Lee C. Spooner believes Americans share the sentiment that poverty can and must be abolished and proposes how this can be accomplished, primarily by turning competition into cooperation. He argues that the laborers are the enemy of the republic, as they either turn to crime or revolution. To feel the responsibility of citizenship, the laborer must first own property. Spooner proposes they be granted a one-acre, suburban tract of land with a house through a federal initiative. Next, the prohibition of liquor will prevent laborers from wasting their earnings. Instead, they can then invest their earnings in federally regulated trusts. This redistribution of wealth will bring “socialism by purchase” and the end of poverty.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-04-19
E. W. Williamson expresses to Theodore Roosevelt that he is in urgent financial need and respectfully requests $40 to cover pressing obligations. He explains that he has secured a job starting on the 15th of the month and promises to repay the amount. Williamson recalls assisting Roosevelt during military service and hopes Roosevelt will remember his past support.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-09-09
According to the essay, beginning life in poverty can be the catalyst to create a “full and rounded life, the only real kind of success.” Life must have a certain amount of material goods, but after those are attained it is the elements of the soul that matter the most. People who are rich also live a life of distraction. In contrast, poverty can give people the opportunity to pay closer attention to the world around them.
Sagamore Hill National Historic Site
Unknown
Theodore Roosevelt confirms to Walter A. Black that when he is fighting for the poor man, the work is in the interests of the rich man, as well, because “this country will not permanently be a good place for any man to live in unless it is a good place for all men to live in.” The policies he is advocating must be adopted, in order for democracy to flourish.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1912-06-03
Theodore Roosevelt thanks Professor Hollander for the book and states it should be easy to eliminate poverty.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1914-11-07
Theodore Roosevelt comments on his belief in the need for social insurance and pensions to avoid poverty for Americans in old age. Roosevelt also states that there must be some kind of pension for widows left with children, as well as some kind of support for deserted wives and children.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1912-12-11
President Roosevelt thanks Corinne Robinson and her husband Douglas Robinson for bringing the chair from Venice. He was feeling bad about the depression and the poor, but the New York contingent awakened a healthy desire in him to “take the tuck out of them.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-12-25
President Roosevelt thanks Albert Bushnell Hart for his letter and commends his planned study of poor white and black country districts in the South.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-02-26
President Roosevelt would like to have Ludwick C. Young restored to his position of clerk. Census director S. N. D. North vouches for him. Mrs. Young also does sewing for Edith Roosevelt. Even in the midst of poverty, the Young family tries to help others.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-08-05
Jules Dzianott was exiled to Russia after the Polish Revolution of 1863 and cannot return to his country or family. He asks Theodore Roosevelt for material help. Dzianott is reading Roosevelt’s African Game Trails.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-11-14
Emma M. Stimson attaches a poem and writes to Theodore Roosevelt, a stranger, about her family’s personal troubles and poverty, as well as her family’s reluctance to give up their house which has become difficult to manage. Stimson had attempted to reach out for assistance, including writing to Andrew Carnegie’s “Hero Fund” to see if her “invalid” father could receive some form of pension, but they were denied outright. Currently her family is receiving aid from a local support group, but while Stimson appreciates the kindness, she is anxious about not having a permanent solution if the aid suddenly stops. Finally, Stimson gives Roosevelt a list of references for who could validate her story, and asks if there is anything he could do for her family.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-08-31
L. J. Wright is glad to have seen Theodore Roosevelt again and shares the “many strange things” that have occurred since she last saw him in Springfield, Illinois. She hopes that Roosevelt will be able to help her sons better positions and wages. She informs Roosevelt that she and her family feel that “every thing goes wrong since you are no longer at the head of the nation.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-04-06
Coralie Morantin asks Theodore Roosevelt for help. Her husband, Jules Morantin, is in the hospital, and she is caring for three young children. She has no money, is about to be evicted, and her husband is unlikely to recover.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-03-23
Nora Elizabeth Scanlon’s family is impoverished, and she heard that Theodore Roosevelt is sympathetic to Irish Catholics. She asks Roosevelt to have Postmaster General Frank H. Hitchcock reinstate her husband, Jeremiah Scanlon, to his position as a mail carrier. She also wrote to King George V since she only moved to the United States because her wealthy father was killed during the agitation in Ireland.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-01
J. Corry Baker urges Theodore Roosevelt to return to the presidency of the United States in 1912, “for the sake of the poor.” Baker notes that many of his neighbors are disappointed in President William H. Taft.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1910-01-06
John J. Cronin writes in response to President Roosevelt’s criticism of his article in the Review of Reviews, especially Roosevelt’s assertion that he has a depraved moral character. He discusses the size of American families, especially poor families. Cronin argues that children are behind in school because of physical defects like epilepsy and that the “better class” should observe this and “preserve their stock.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-05-02
Laura d’Oremieulx Roosevelt writes to Secretary of the President Loeb on behalf of Marie Sidonie Thieriot, the widow of her late cousin Jacob H. Thieriot, in the hope that she may speak with President Theodore Roosevelt about the matter. Thieriot is in delicate health and almost penniless, and Roosevelt would like to do what she can to help her.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-09-10
Ambassador Meyer updates Theodore Roosevelt on the socioeconomic conditions in Russia. Meyer discusses the problems of working with the Russian government.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-07-11
Edward C. Stokes writes to President Roosevelt in response to a letter from Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt regarding the welfare of children in New Jersey.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-09-21