Your TR Source
Theodore Roosevelt declines an invitation from W. H. Newburn, explaining that he will only be in Alliance, Ohio, for twenty minutes. Roosevelt writes that he looks forward to meeting with Newburn and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Engineers on Decoration Day.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1912-05-13
President Roosevelt congratulates Interstate Commerce Commission Chairman Knapp and Commissioner of Labor Neill, saying he is pleased. (Knapp and Neill mediated a settlement between forty-three railroads and two railroad unions, increasing employee wages and averting a strike.)
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-04-04
President Roosevelt wants Speaker Cannon to explain the stall of the passage of the bill limiting railroad employees’ hours of service, and to know how he can assist. As it was part of their platform in the last election, Roosevelt feels that should Congress fail to pass such a law the Republican Party would be seen to have breached the voters’ trust.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-02-06
President Roosevelt informs John Morley of Ottawa, Canada, who will be joining them for dinner. Roosevelt is inviting several politicians as well as individuals from the railroad labor unions.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-10-25
Arthur C. Culver, Recording Secretary of of the Highland Lodge, No. 467 of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen, invites Theodore Roosevelt to attend a “Grand Union Meeting of the Railway Brotherhoods” in the region, to take place in 1912. Culver asks for a few minutes of Roosevelt’s time when he passes through Albuquerque to meet with him and explain what the organization has in mind.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-03-04
Representative Cannon tells President Roosevelt that he is gratified by the kind tone of Frank P. Sargent’s letter and by the fact that Sargent seems to understand his attitude, though there are reports among railway laborers in Chicago that Cannon is unfriendly to railway brotherhoods. While Cannon believes there is value in organized labor, he does not agree with those who, following the lead of Samuel Gompers, seek class legislation and wish to blacklist those who do not agree. These, says Cannon, “are the worst enemies that organized labor can have.” Cannon thinks Gompers’s principal fight is against Roosevelt, yet the labor leader levels his attacks against those in the administration who are not quite as strong. Cannon reveals his campaign tour strategy for the coming months and discusses the local conditions he recently observed in Maine.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-09-14
Torn fragment with crossed-out title reading “Report of Receipts & Disbursements of the Third Avenue Railroad Employees Association from January 1st, 1909 to January 31st, 1911.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-02-03
Commissioner General of Immigration Sargent agrees with Le Grand Powers that collecting statistical information on labor unions would be valuable. Sargent argues that labor unions are most successful when “organized on the principle of freedom of action and no coercion.” He points to the railway brotherhoods as an example.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1903-10-06
On behalf of Theodore Roosevelt, his secretary requests Senator Dixon’s opinion on the suggestion that Roosevelt write personal letters eliciting the support of officers of the Railroad Trainmen’s Union. He also encloses a letter from E. Mont Reily regarding the situation in Texas.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1912-05-01