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President Roosevelt explains to Paul Morton that E. P. Ripley’s accusations regarding his “assault on the railroads” are untrue. Roosevelt has done nothing to intentionally turn public opinion against the railroads, and the prosecution of the Standard Oil Company is warranted. He asks Morton which specific act Ripley takes issue with.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-01-02
President Roosevelt tells Edward Henry Harriman that he had spoken to special prosecutor Frank B. Kellogg regarding Harriman’s request to defer the upcoming hearing regarding the Interstate Commerce Commission’s investigation of the Union Pacific Railroad Company. However, Roosevelt tells Harriman that deferring would interfere with the other duties of commission members, and regrets to inform him “that it is impossible to comply with your request.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-12-12
President Roosevelt tells Edward Henry Harriman that subpoenas have already been sent out regarding the Interstate Commerce Commission’s investigation into Harriman and the Union Pacific Railroad. Roosevelt states that he cannot heed Harriman’s request of a delay under the circumstances, but that he will meet with special prosecutor Frank B. Kellogg as soon as possible to discuss the matter. Roosevelt thought that the delay beyond December 25th would have been adequate, and regrets “extremely that you didn’t communicate with me in time” before the chain of events that “will now cause such dislocation of business to alter.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-12-11
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
Charles Stedman Hanks details what he views as problematic statistical inaccuracies practiced by railroad companies and their statisticians that will interfere with the effectiveness of the Hepburn bill. In his letter, Hanks describes the “terminal game” document as a “hypothetical case” based on facts he had Mr. Harriman work out, which he hopes will impress upon President Roosevelt what the railroad terminal situation means as applied to the statistical reports and to the regulation of rates by the Commission. The document includes an illustration.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-01-10
Rhode Island Senator Nelson W. Aldrich and President Roosevelt shake hands. There is a “Roosevelt Aldrich rate bill” on the table.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-05-25
President Roosevelt sits at a desk with two pens—one “for pure food bill” with a tag of “souvenir for meat trust” and one “for railroad rate bill” with a tag of “souvenir for railroad trusts.” Caption: President Roosevelt signed the statehood bill with two pens, using a gold pen to write the name “Theodore” and an eagle quill for “Roosevelt.” The pens will be placed in the archives of the Oklahoma Historical Society as souvenirs of the event.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-06-20
President Roosevelt wears a “rate bill” outfit and holds a “big stick” and a pitchfork as he stands in front of a “trust” man. Caption: Sic semper tyrannis.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-05-09
President Roosevelt shows Uncle Sam a “quilting bee in aid of the suffering public.” Rhode Island Senator Nelson W. Aldrich, Pennsylvania Senator Philander C. Knox, Ohio Senator Joseph Benson Foraker, Wisconsin Senator John C. Spooner, Iowa Senator William B. Allison, and Texas Senator Joseph W. Bailey sit at a table stitching amendments on a “rate bill” quilt. Spanish Treaty Claims Commissioner William E. Chandler looks through a window and holds a paper that reads, “I’m no liar.” There is a portrait of George Washington on the wall.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-05-15
President Roosevelt walks through a forest and is about to step on a “rate bill” animal trap. “The Senate” watches from behind the trees. Caption: Senator Rayner—”But I do say, and I say it again with the greatest respect and reverence for the President, and that the President is so constituted that he cannot look at a trap without fooling with the spring!”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-05-15
President Roosevelt is surrounded by a number of percussion instruments: “railroad rates” cymbals, a “sugar trust” bass drum, “beef trust” and “standard oil” timpani, a “race suicide” rope tension snare drum, a “muckrakers” triangle instrument, and a “drug trust” drum.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-05-12
Speaker of the House Joseph Gurney Cannon holds a gavel and holds the docile lamb of the “House” under his thumb. Meanwhile, President Roosevelt holds a big stick behind his back and watches as an unruly “Senate” goat eats the “railway rate bill.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-05-01
President Roosevelt uses “the big stick” with a “White House amendment to R.R. rates bill” tag to poke a “Senate” beehive. A number of bees swarm out and sting Roosevelt.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-04-05
President Roosevelt plays a fife as Speaker of the House Joseph Gurney Cannon and South Carolina Senator Benjamin R. Tillman beat on “House” and “Senate” drums respectively. William Loeb walks behind them with a “railroad rate bill” flag that uses a “big stick” and pitchfork as a flag pole. They are dressed in colonial attire, in a recreation of the famous painting The Spirit of ’76 by Archibald Willard.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-03-21
A “rate bill” man with a locomotive head leaps over a Republican elephant and a donkey ridden by South Carolina Senator Benjamin R. Tillman, dressed as a circus clown. President Roosevelt stands in front of a pillow while Uncle Sam looks on.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-03-04
This newspaper article includes a number of cartoons and photographs about “railroad rate legislation.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-01-07
President Roosevelt, West Virginia Senator Stephen B. Elkins, Ohio Senator Joseph Benson Foraker, Pennsylvania Senator Philander C. Knox, Iowa Representative William Peters Hepburn, and Rhode Island Senator Nelson W. Aldrich all stir a “R.R. rates bill” soup in a pot shaped like the United States Capitol building.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-02-19
President Roosevelt and South Carolina Senator Benjamin R. Tillman go fishing in a “senatorial pool.” At the bottom of the pool is “the railroad rate bill” turtle, a “Philippine tariff bill” alligator, a “statehood bill” frog, and a “Santo Domingo” fish. On the ledge are two crayfish by a “bait amendments” can.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-01-25
President Roosevelt points a gun at a “statehood bill” animal while a “Panama” alligator, a “R.R. rates” walrus, a “Philippine tariff” water buffalo, and a “Morocco” leopard look on.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-01-21
A “railroads” football player jumps on a “small snipper” who holds a “railroad rate regulation” football. President Roosevelt rushes toward them with his “big stick” as the “beef trust” and another trust look on and laugh.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-10-15