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President Roosevelt gives Governor-elect Guild permission to make his statement public. He says that there is no sign that any leaders in Congress are willing to take up tariff revision, and Roosevelt feels it is foolish to attempt to bring up the issue if it has no effective backing. He also praises Lieutenant-Governor-elect Eben S. Draper.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-11-12
President Roosevelt clarifies for Nicholas Murray Butler his position on a tariff which needs revision but hopefully will not damage protective interests in the process. Roosevelt believes the “reciprocity agitation” in New England is foolish and hopes that he can gain reciprocity from Canada.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-08-29
Grant DeWitt Shaft tells Theodore Roosevelt that many people he knows personally in North Dakota, as well as in New York, voted in favor of President William H. Taft’s policy only because Roosevelt supported it. They personally wanted to vote against the government, and Shaft believed that the Republicans would have lost in a landslide if Roosevelt had not stepped in.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-02-03
Frank B. Kellogg urges Senator Nelson to support a revision of the tariff bill that will lower duties. Americans support such a bill, and Kellogg believes that its passage is essential to ensure the continued success of the Republican Party. Kellogg notes that lower duties on raw materials is beneficial to the country, and argues that the wages of laborers have not kept up with the increased cost of living.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1909-05-29
Timothy L. Woodruff, Chairman of the New York Republican State Committee, updates President Roosevelt on the campaign for the 1906 New York gubernatorial election between Republican Charles Evans Hughes and Democrat William Randolph Hearst. Woodruff agrees with Roosevelt that campaign events should not feature Republicans with national reputations, with the exception of Secretary of State Elihu Root, who is from New York. Woodruff says he attempted to prevent Speaker of the House and Illinois Congressman Joseph Gurney Cannon from campaigning for Republicans in New York and, that having failed, has asked that Cannon avoid discussing national Republican issues like tariffs or labor unions. Woodruff includes a letter from a local Democratic lawyer whom Woodruff feels represents many Democrats who oppose Hearst enough to cross party lines to vote for Hughes.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-10-13
William D. Washburn offers President Roosevelt his views on the matter of tariff reform. He has heard that, as the result of a meeting between Speaker of the House Joseph Cannon, James Sherman, and Roosevelt, the issue of revision of the tariff is not going to be a campaign issue. Washburn argues against this, saying that in the states of the Mississippi River Valley, and in Minnesota in particular, the tariff is still an important issue that deserves to be addressed. He points out that when the Whig party dismissed the issue of slavery, a new party rose up to address it and killed off the old one. If the Republican party ignores the issue of the tariff, history could repeat itself.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-08-09
Joseph Gurney Cannon recounts for J. S. Sherman his recent trip through Indiana with local Representative James E. Watson. Watson has recently returned from Missouri where he feels hopeful for the election of Frank B. Fulkerson and Cassius McLean Shartel, and recounts a political fight between Senator William Joel Stone and Governor Joseph Wingate Folk for the same seat. Watson went over the situation in Indiana as well, where demand for free hides like in Massachusetts are fueled by the independent press. Watson would like to take up President Roosevelt on his offer to write a letter on the matter. Cannon hopes the president will address the letter to Watson directly.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-07-30
Governor Guild writes to President Roosevelt about Acting Secretary of the Treasury Robert B. Armstrong and recent public relations scandals relating to his work, including the “pickled sheepskin case,” the cigar stamps, and “reduction of the conveniences of the Port of Boston.” Guild suggests Armstrong might need to be replaced and speaks highly of the work of Deputy Collector Fiske of Boston.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-10-03
Massachusetts Governor Guild sends President Roosevelt copies of a petition in support of Secretary of State Elihu Root and the National Foreign Trade Convention’s position on tariff reform. The petition has been signed by congressmen and state legislatures from both parties.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-02-12
The Chicago Daily Tribune continues their dispatches from President William H. Taft’s campaign tour in the midwest. The reciprocity deal with Canada continues to be a central issue for Taft. Generally, urban voters support reciprocity, but farmers and agricultural workers oppose it. In this article, The Tribune correspondent interviewed men in Illinois’s rural communities to gauge their opinion on Taft. The reporter found that, despite their criticism of reciprocity, most rural voters in Southern Illinois are still planning to support for Taft. The men interviewed also discussed the rising cost of living, Taft’s connection to Wall Street, and the stalled tariff bills. Most men also responded positively to Taft’s recent speech at the St. Louis Coliseum. The article ends with a quote from Illinois congressman, William A. Rodenberg, who is optimistic about Taft’s support amongst Republican voters.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-09-26
The Chicago Daily Tribune continues their series following President William H. Taft on his reelection campaign in the midwest. Following a campaign stop in Kansas City, The Tribune’s correspondent spoke with the public on their impression of Taft. They spoke on reciprocity, tariff policy, and Taft’s personality. Tariffs will likely be a deciding factor for many voters in this area; if Taft is able to lower tariffs, he will win their support. If Woodrow Wilson runs against Taft, “insurgent Republicans” are predicted to vote for Wilson. The split in the Republican Party was evident at the conservative congress where Taft gave a speech. Many praised Taft’s speech and his emphasis on intensive farming. Critics of Taft noted that the President failed to speak on the topic of Alaska development and national resource conservation. The Tribune’s correspondent interviewed men at the Kansas City Board of Trade, who disagreed with Taft’s stance on reciprocity and the wool bill. The correspondent also spoke with retail managers, who critiqued the President’s handling of trusts and passage of the Payne-Aldrich Tariff Act.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-09-27
A baseball game between the “Ultimate Consumer A. C. [Athletic Club]” and the “Monopoly Giants” is underway. A “Giants” ballplayer is sliding head-first into a base and is being tagged out by a “Consumer” ballplayer with a ball labeled “Tariff Reduction.” Although the base runner has not even reached the base, the umpire labeled “Congress” calls the base runner, who winks and points at the umpire, safe. Caption: “He’s safe!”
“Safe” has a double meaning. Besides the baseball context, the Congress–represented by a caricature of Senator Nelson Aldrich of Rhode Island, author of the Payne-Aldrich Act, which raised tariff rates–made things safe for trusts (monopolies), in the eyes of Puck Magazine.
An oversized, bloated man labeled “Protected Monopoly” receives a blood transfusion from Uncle Sam who is being attended to by (left to right) Vice President J. S. Sherman; Senator Nelson W. Aldrich (Rhode Island); Representative Sereno Elisha Payne (New York); and Speaker of the House Joseph Gurney Cannon. Sherman stands on the left, on a stepladder, taking the pulse of the “Protected Monopoly.” Caption: “Uncle Sam–They say he needs it, but he doesn’t look sick to me.”
The subject of the cartoon is the Payne-Aldrich Tariff Act of 1909, the first upward revision of rates since 1897; and which proved massively unpopular with voters, particularly farmers. The Republican tariff was so unpopular that the party suffered major defeats in the 1910 midterm elections. President William H. Taft attempted to ameliorate the perennial tariff woes by drafting reciprocity treaties with many countries, but even the difficult Canadian negotiations could not please the angry consumers and disaffected voters.
An article outlines the efforts of the American Protective Tariff League to fight President Roosevelt and Congressman John A. Kasson’s efforts on tariff revision. The League has defeated the Cuban reciprocity legislation, and it is rumored that it will work to defeat Roosevelt’s renomination for the presidency.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1903-04-16