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President Roosevelt rebukes Edgar Williams for the criticisms of his administration, particularly William’s ignorance in blaming the recent economic fluctuations on Roosevelt’s policy of enforcing laws against the wealthy and corporations.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-08-16
President Roosevelt informs Commissioner of Corporations Smith of his recent visit with Charles F. Brooker, and asks Smith to arrange a meeting to go over the matter of selecting a man for the judgeship in Connecticut.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-08-13
In addition to Henry Lee Higginson’s letter, President Roosevelt received many communications from individuals and businesses concerned about the economic downfall and panic. Roosevelt mostly agrees with Higginson, but is confused by some of his points. Roosevelt thinks the global economic circumstances have little to do with any action by his administration.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-08-12
President Roosevelt congratulates U.S. Attorney Sims on the outcome of the Standard Oil case.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-08-05
President Roosevelt approves of Commissioner of Corporations Smith’s publication of a report concerning the Standard Oil Company. Roosevelt will address Smith’s finding about the effect of the tariff on Standard Oil when he returns to Washington, D.C.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-07-25
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
Frank B. Kellogg gives a description of his work with the Standard Oil case after being suggested for the position by Theodore Roosevelt. The Supreme Court recently ruled in favor of the government against the Standard Oil Company, just as Kellogg suggested it would back in 1906.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-10-04
Senator Lodge brings several small matters to President Roosevelt’s attention about Senator William E. Chandler resigning from the Spanish Treaty Claims Commission, interviews that Lodge has had with blenders of whiskey who feel they have been misrepresented by the journalist, Henry Beach Needham, and that Philip Hildreth Reade ought to be promoted to Brigadier General in the United States Army. Lodge also mentions that he gave an off-hand speech encouraging people to support the Republican ticket, but it had been misrepresented in the papers. The senator closes by including a quotation from a man who believed that Roosevelt was a drunkard and addicted to morphine and that his family constantly stays with him to prevent others from discovering his condition.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-09-19
Lawrence F. Abbott thanks President Roosevelt for his letter and the copies of correspondence between Roosevelt and Secretary of the Treasury George B. Cortelyou about campaign contributions. Abbott believes that he now understands the Great White Fleet enough to make a statement about it and asks Roosevelt what is proper to say about the Standard Oil Company.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-09-16
Attorney General Bonaparte informs President Roosevelt about a variety of telegrams he has received pertaining to current issues, such as the trial in Idaho concerning Senator William Edgar Borah, the work of Special Assistant U.S. District Attorney Grace Humiston (Mrs. Quackenbos), and a revised constitution for the Territory of Oklahoma.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-09-10
Attorney General Bonaparte informs President Roosevelt of his meeting with Charles B. Morrison regarding the Standard Oil case. Morrison reported that Standard Oil magnates had met with Frank B. Kellogg and himself confidentially to come up with a settlement that would “preserve them from a criminal prosecution.” Bonaparte told Morrison that the government could not deal more favorably with the Standard Oil Company as compared with the Drug Trust and that the whole matter would have to be presented to President Roosevelt for consideration. Bonaparte also mentions other matters, including correspondence from Governor Charles E. Magoon of Cuba and the present situation in Oklahoma Territory.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-09-08
Otto Gresham corrects a statement made in a prior letter to President Roosevelt. Gresham himself opined that the confession of the Chicago and Alton Railroad and its attorneys would embarrass Standard Oil if the case were reversed. He did not mean to imply that the statement was made by John S. Miller, the attorney for Standard Oil.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-09-06
Attorney General Bonaparte sends President Roosevelt letters from United States Attorney Edwin Walter Sims and Assistant Attorney General Marsden C. Burch along with a clipping about Special Assistant U.S. District Attorney Grace Humiston (Mrs. Quackenbos). Bonaparte thinks his statement will suffice until he gets to Chicago, but the press will likely attack them anyway. It puzzles Bonaparte that Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis does not see that going back on the matter the would be exactly what Standard Oil wants.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-09-05
Attorney Otto Gresham sends President Roosevelt a letter from Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis. Gresham shares his views, as well as the views of various local lawyers and judges, on Landis’s actions and the proceedings of the Standard Oil case. Gresham also summarizes the conversations he had with Landis regarding the potential reversal of the case and the imposition of the fine. After discussing the history of law in Britain, Gresham concludes that the people support Roosevelt in his actions to control the corporations.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-09-04
John Callan O’Laughlin asks William Loeb to suggest hunting locations for his friend Medill McCormick. He hopes Loeb will continue writing occasionally. O’Laughlin encloses several articles.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-08-19
Senator Lodge acknowledges E. T. Colburn and his friend’s concerns over the decline in the stock market. However, this decline results from many causes affecting not only the United States but the world. Therefore, Lodge argues that blaming President Roosevelt’s administration and investigations of corporations is unreasonable and unjust.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-08-19
Brooks Adams writes to President Roosevelt to express his concern and offer advice in regards to Roosevelt’s attempt to “force through a new policy” that is opposed by titans of industry, finance, and the press. Adams also details how opponents support making Joseph Benson Foraker president by capitalizing on the Brownsville Affair. Adams’s primary advice for Roosevelt is to fight relentlessly at every opportunity to eventually force a popular vote on the issue.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-01-06
Paul Morton, President of Equitable Life Insurance, clarifies E. P. Ripley’s stance on President Theodore Roosevelt and the railroads. Morton points out the false information Roosevelt has received regarding the prosecution of the Standard Oil corporation. Railroads are seeing an increase in expenses and a decrease in net earnings. Morton hopes that Roosevelt approves of his letter to Ripley.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-01-04
The writer responds to a letter written by Charles Emory Smith which endorses Lewis Emery for governor of Pennsylvania; they argue that while Emery has in fact fought against Standard Oil and other trusts, and has expressed support for President Roosevelt’s policies in that arena, he is in fact a worse candidate than Edwin S. Stuart.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906
President Roosevelt travels in a riverboat that is headed toward tree branches in the river: “beef trust,” “tobacco trust,” “railroad trust,” “Harriman interests,” and “Standard Oil.” A teddy bear keeps him company in the barge.
Cartoonist Clifford Kennedy Berryman used the title of Mark Twain’s famous book of recollections, Life On the Mississippi, for his depiction of President Roosevelt’s progress toward Louisiana, mid-way through an extended speaking tour in the Autumn of 1907.