Socialism

Charles R. Neumeister writes to President Roosevelt to offer his insights on an article by the Socialist journalist Joseph Wanhope that covers the 1906 Moyer-Haywood murder trial and the 1904 trial of miners accused of attempted train derailments in Cripple Creek, Colorado. Neumeister is a detective, who was hired by the Mine Owners Association, and he refutes Wanhope’s claim that railroad detectives tried to derail the train and blame miners. Neumeister believes Wanhope’s claims are “baseless” and the entire trial was a miscarriage of justice against the mine owners.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-05-20

Creator(s)

Neumeister, Charles R. (Charles Richard), 1869-

The Thirteenth Assembly District Republican Club of Kings County encloses a “libelous and defamatory” newspaper to inform President Roosevelt of “what is going on among the sympathizers of the Moyer-Haywood people.” The Club opines on a recent Labor Parade as a “fearful exhibition of treasonable thought and acts.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-05-10

Creator(s)

Thirteenth Assembly District Republican Club of Kings County

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-04-24

Creator(s)

Schneider, Joseph P.

Recipient

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Language

English

Ambassador Reid reports to President Roosevelt about affairs in Europe. Reid’s impression is that neither Great Britain nor Germany want tensions to escalate to a war, and he is still trying to get more details about their negotiations. Reid informs Roosevelt that the King seems to be in ill health. He is also worried that Roosevelt’s friend, Silas McBee, is stirring up trouble by seeming to interfere in debates about the Education Bill. Reid referred the Grocers’ Federation to Secretary of Agriculture James Wilson and Secretary of Commerce and Labor Victor Howard Metcalf so that they might receive more information about complying with America’s meat inspection laws, and he enclosed a copy of a speech he gave at Cambridge on the American Revolution. Reid concludes by saying that he hopes the British government will help the United States settle disputes with Canada.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-08-16

Creator(s)

Reid, Whitelaw, 1837-1912

President Roosevelt’s letter to Ernest Hamlin Abbott’s father arrived while his father was away. Abbott will forward the letter if possible and if not, he will hold it until his return. Abbott congratulates Roosevelt on his success in dealing with questions concerning the nature of government.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-07-12

Creator(s)

Abbott, Ernest Hamlin

Before President Roosevelt gives his planned “The Man with the Muckrake” speech, Frank Putnam of National Magazine asks him to read an article which he believes demonstrates that there is genuine, widespread resentment about economic oppression throughout the country. Putnam admires Roosevelt and believes that he could play a role in the “Third Revolution,” which will free people from “industrial bondage.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-04-11

Creator(s)

Putnam, Frank Arthur, 1868-1949

Cecil Spring Rice provides Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt with a detailed synopsis of the ongoing turmoil in Russia, including student demonstrations, labor strikes, and violent police reprisals. Spring Rice believes Roosevelt has seen accounts of the “inconceivable brutality” of the attacks on students and Jews, and that the “accounts are not exaggerated.” He believes the army is the only organized force left in Russia but wonders how long it will last. Spring Rice believes that no one either trusts or likes Sergei Vitte or his government and due to all the uncertainty “the forces of anarchy flourish.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1905-11-27

Creator(s)

Spring Rice, Cecil, Sir, 1859-1918

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-12-04

Creator(s)

Unknown

Language

English

Period

Progressive Party Candidate (1911-1912)

William N. Tilchin examines the contents of Outlook Editorials which consists of eleven editorials written for The Outlook magazine by Theodore Roosevelt over five months in 1909. Tilchin contends that the editorials show Roosevelt’s combination of of advancing progressive ideas with a commitment to finding practical, common sense solutions to problems. Tilchin quotes extensively from the editorials within sentences and in twelve excerpts that demonstrate Roosevelt’s penchant for balance and moderation. The editorials discuss a variety of topics from socialism, to immigration, naval preparedness, and the inheritance tax. 

Photographs of Roosevelt, the Great White Fleet, and the cover of Outlook Editorials supplement the text. 

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

Creation Date

2013

Nick Salvatore examines the growth of the corporation in the decades after the Civil War, and he also notes the many political movements and parties that emerged during Theodore Roosevelt’s political life to manage these combinations. Salvatore details Roosevelt’s response to industrial concentrations, including the reforms enacted during his second term in office like the Hepburn and Pure Food and Drug Acts. Salvatore asserts that Roosevelt wanted to enact reforms and oversee corporations to forestall revolution, hoping to prevent the rise of Socialism. He concludes his essay with a look at the campaign of 1912, highlighting the policy positions of Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, and Eugene V. Debs. 

In addition to a photograph of Salvatore, the essay features two photographs of Roosevelt in dynamic speaking poses, as well as a photograph of Debs. A text box at the end of the article contains the vision statement of the Theodore Roosevelt Association. 

In two quotations taken from the Theodore Roosevelt Cyclopedia, Theodore Roosevelt criticizes socialism as being “blind to everything except the merely material side of life,” and as having no moral foundation. People who call themselves socialists can range from anarchists to progressive reformers. Roosevelt highlights his Progressive movement as being focused on “social consciousness as an antidote to [the] class consciousness” of the socialist movement.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

Creation Date

1909-1913

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Theodore Roosevelt argues for adoption of a middle ground in economic arguments between those who advocate for unlimited individual freedom and those who argue for state control and ownership. He contends that advocates of unchecked individualism and socialism actually work to undermine their stated goals, while a middle ground of some state control and the encouragement of free enterprise and initiative promises the best outcome.

A photograph of Theodore Roosevelt seated at a desk accompanies the article.

A listing of the officers of the Theodore Roosevelt Association as well as the members of the executive, finance and Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace committees is found on page two of the essay.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

Joseph Schwarz argues that the recent increase in socialist votes during the recent election sustains Theodore Roosevelt’s judgment as a leader and statesman. Roosevelt’s repeated warnings against the advance of socialism have gone unheeded. In the future, when the socialist vote is running into the millions, the Republican and Democratic parties will call Roosevelt to the presidency. 

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-11-13

Creator(s)

Schwarz, Joseph

A circular by Charles J. Kluser denouncing the Socialist speaker Eugene V. Debs, labeling him a revolutionary and a liar, and begging any Christians not to pay to see him speak.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-10-12

Creator(s)

Kluser, Charles J. (Charles Joseph), 1856-1939

The writer of the article draws parallels between corruption and graft in politics and the corrupt practices that allow big businesses to accumulate and control most of the money in the country. The article quotes heavily from an article in Everybody’s Magazine by Lincoln Steffens that criticizes the few rich businessmen who control most of the capital of the country. 

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-02-10

Creator(s)

Unknown

William Jennings Bryan, William Randolph Hearst, and Alton B. Parker are at the starting line of a race. Bryan wears weights on his legs that read “Kansas City platform” and “Chicago platform” and has a feather in his hat that reads, “I got a new job,” Hearst rides a “regular in both campaigns” barrel with deflated wheels, and Parker rides a donkey with “1896” and “1900” on his legs. David B. Hill gives Parker advice while Grover Cleveland watches Democratic National Committee Chairman James K. Jones write down odds. George Gray, Richard Olney, Arthur P. Gorman, and Dame Democracy watch from a covered box. Uncle Sam watches from behind.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-03-27

Creator(s)

Berryman, Clifford Kennedy, 1869-1949

President Roosevelt holds a bag labeled “Doctor Roosevelt” and speaks to Uncle Sam, who holds a mirror and is looking at the “socialism” growth on his neck. Beside him is a “Doctor Roosevelt’s Reform Remedy.” Caption: Doctor Roosevelt–We have arrested the growth on your neck nicely. All you need is to continue taking my remedy and a cure is guaranteed. Note–The socialist vote is greatly decreased in socialistic centers. A handwritten note is also included: “This looks good to all of us.”

comments and context

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-11-06

This newspaper article begins by quoting from Jacob Gould Schurman and notes he advocated “substantial concessions to the radical sentiment of the country.” While Schurman will never openly side with radicals, the writer believes his thoughts are indicative of the rest of the United States. As Schurman demonstrates, there is “real sympathy” between William Jennings Bryan’s radicalism and republicanism. The article suggests that President Roosevelt has tried to bridge the gap between the two positions and that Schurman’s advice of a “modern reform policy” like that in Russia is “the most sagacious policy” conservatism can adopt to retain power.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-12-20

Creator(s)

Unknown

In excerpts from his speech, Jacob Gould Schurman discusses concerns with large corporations and ways to make competition fairer. He believes the solution is not socialism. Rather, he suggests the public should abolish special privileges to corporations. Schurman is glad President Roosevelt mentioned this issue in his annual message and agrees with his suggestion of giving the Interstate Commerce Commission more power. In addition, Schurman suggests other policies for reform, including an income tax and changes to the tariff and the Philippine policy. Schurman looks forward to when the Philippines will have an independent republican government.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-12-20

Creator(s)

Schurman, Jacob Gould, 1854-1942

British Prime Minister Henry Campbell-Bannerman, wearing a “Radical Promises” cloak, rides a horse with a “Radical Major” harness and a “Socialism” tail. The horse is kicking up the dust of “Distrust,” “Financial Insecurity,” “Faddism,” “Confiscation,” and “Experiment.” Caption: Lady Godiva:—”Good Gracious! If this covering blows off they’ll discover that I’ve nothing underneath!”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-08-08

Creator(s)

Halkett, George R. (George Roland), 1855-1918