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President Roosevelt thanks W. W. Deatrick for the article. He has sent it to the Public Printer, Charles A. Stillings.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-01-01
President Roosevelt has received public printer John S. Leech’s telegram, and directs him to restore William J. Manning and keep the emergency room as it was. Roosevelt asks Leech to explain his reference to a letter from William L. Mattocks. He does not intend to interfere with the details of Leech’s work, but he expects any direction he gives to be followed. It appears to Roosevelt that Leech has undone work of the National Civic Federation in creating a model emergency room in the Government Printing Office, and Roosevelt does not want the work of former Public Printer Charles A. Stillings undone in this regard.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-07-11
President Roosevelt asks William Sidney Rossiter, Chief Clerk of the Census Bureau, to investigate a recent increase in the cost of printing to the Department of Agriculture.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-03-31
President Roosevelt has not heard from Representative Landis regarding his previous letter, so he assumes that Landis does not know anything that would reflect poorly on Charles A. Stilling’s integrity. Roosevelt will request his resignation as Public Printer, but will make explicitly clear that this is not a reflection on Stillings’s integrity.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-03-14
President Roosevelt asks Representative Landis, Chairman of the Committee on Printing, whether he has found anything in his investigations that would seem to affect the integrity of Charles A. Stillings.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-03-08
President Roosevelt tells Secretary of the Treasury Cortelyou that he would like Public Printer John S. Leech to keep reports from Charles A. Stillings about the Government Printing Office and compare them with reports from George C. Havenner and William Sidney Rossiter. Roosevelt highlights some areas that he considers of particular importance in this matter.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-02-12
President Roosevelt writes to Representative Landis to provide a written record of the progress of the governmental investigation into the Government Printing Office under Charles A. Stillings. He had directed George Clement Havenner to investigate the office, and the resulting report–which Roosevelt encloses–is condemnatory of Stillings. Roosevelt also comments on the actions of the Committee on Printing in the House of Representatives, which Landis chairs. Altogether, Roosevelt has suspended Stillings and will put William Sidney Rossiter in his place for now, and will direct him to cooperate with Landis’ committee.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-02-05
President Roosevelt considers the allegations made against Public Printer Charles A. Stillings in Senator Burkett’s letter to be lacking in sufficient evidence, but will consider an investigation into Stillings if more concrete facts come to light.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-11-07
President Roosevelt is amused with “the way the English took it.” (This is likely referring to the spelling reform which Public Printer Charles A. Stillings aided.) Roosevelt tells novelist Hamlin Garland to visit him in Washington D.C., so they can discuss his opinion on “lynching and several other problems.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-10-09
President Roosevelt thanks Mary Cadwalader Jones for her letter. He believes they are “nearer together” on thoughts of spelling reform than Jones thinks and suggests she read pamphlet issued for the government departments on the matter.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-09-10
President Roosevelt hopes to accomplish the proposed spelling reform by bringing it to attention and encouraging scholars and educators to handle it “with the freedom of thought and action which they use toward…other subjects of human thought.” He will wait a few months before giving the Public Printer the orders, which C. P. G. Scott, Secretary of the Simplified Spelling Board, suggests.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-08-28
President Roosevelt informs Brander Matthews that he has instructed Public Printer Charles A. Stillings to follow the rules of Matthews’s Spelling Reform Association, and that William Loeb will use the updated spelling in Roosevelt correspondence as well.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-08-22
President Roosevelt is “much impressed” by what S. S. McClure says about Charles A. Stillings and would like to compare him to R. R. Bowker to see who is best to appoint to Public Printer.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-10-11
Senator Lodge writes William Loeb about two appointments at the Government Printing Office. He does not want to trouble President Roosevelt with the matter, but would like two men to be reinstated to their posts.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-04-27
R. R. Bowker’s wife, Alice Bowker, found a quote which they thought may interest President Roosevelt. Bowker regrets the bother about Charles A. Stillings, as he knows that Roosevelt worked hard to get the best person as Public Printer.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-03-05
August Donath writes to William Loeb about a concerning article in the Washington Times that suggests Public Printer Charles A. Stillings might be removed from his position. Donath is confident that the accusations against Stillings are unjust and that he has no animosity towards organized labor. If a new public printer is selected, Donath suggests that it should be someone who can influence unionized printers in the campaign.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-12-09
John Adams Thayer shares his idea of starting a national journal with President Roosevelt, which Roosevelt would edit post-presidency. Such a publication would give Roosevelt free rein to discuss the country’s problems and act for the common good.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-08-12
John H. Vivian examines the controversy that swirled around President Theodore Roosevelt’s executive order of August 1906 mandating a simplified form of spelling in certain government documents. He looks at the reaction of newspapers from around the country, and says that their initial reactions were overdone but were later tempered. He also examines the reaction from some agencies of the federal government, and notes opposition to the plan in Congress that centered less on concerns about spelling and more on Roosevelt’s use of executive power.
This article is also noteworthy as it is the first article in the Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal to have endnotes.