Taxation

Part four of Hearings before the committee on interstate commerce starts part way through a hearing in which Mr. Martin answers questions from the senators regarding the dissolution of trusts and the consequences to stockholders. A statement of Andrew Jaritz begins on page 174 in which Jaritz presents his ideas and conclusions on the permanent and progressive habits of economic legislation and the need for economic principles. Jaritz suggests the government frame trusts within the context of the economy and work for the people to set reasonable prices and prevent waste by the producers and the consumers. The government could then profit from the savings and continue regulating and enforcing economic legislation by forming a new department of economic policy.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-11-17

Creator(s)

United States. Congress. Committee on Interstate Commerce

Frederick W. Kruse writes to Police Commissioner Roosevelt in support of his actions regarding the excise statute of 1892.

Collection

Harvard College Library

Creation Date

1895-07-17

Creator(s)

Kruse, Frederick W., 1852-1938

President Roosevelt informs American Paper and Pulp Association President David S. Cowles that he believes that wood pulp and forest products should not pay any duty. Roosevelt writes that timber in the United States is being depleted, and that exhaustion should be checked instead of stimulated.

Collection

Harvard College Library

Creation Date

1907-11-11

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Theodore Roosevelt assures Anna Sloan Bissell that the information printed in the Sun regarding his payment of taxes while fighting in Cuba during the Spanish-American War was false.

Collection

Harvard College Library

Creation Date

1910-10-20

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Theodore Roosevelt writes that he enjoyed Jose Custodio Alves de Lima’s visit to his home. He asserts that it is not possible for him to advise another country regarding taxation, but that the United States believes that export taxes are damaging. Roosevelt emphasizes that he supports reciprocity between the United States and Brazil.

Collection

Harvard College Library

Creation Date

1916-08-19

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

President Roosevelt tells Charles N. Fowler, Chairman of the Committee on Banking and Currency, that he hopes something can be done about the currency during the session. Roosevelt feels that a measure highlighting three or four aspects that would offer relief could get through rather than asking for radical legislation. He suggests addressing the “three-million limit,” the handling of customs receipts, provision for increasing the currency of smaller denominations, and a taxed emergency currency.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-01-20

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

President Roosevelt tells Senator Aldrich that there has been a demand for action on asset banking, but now is not the time for radical legislation. Instead, he would like to get though a measure addressing three or four minor points that could offer relief to the currency situation.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-01-20

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

John Graham Brooks relates to President Roosevelt a conversation he had at one of the recent meetings of Economic Clubs from all over the New England area. At the Portland, Maine, meeting, the leader of the Massachusetts socialists criticized Roosevelt and his policies. The gentleman claimed that Roosevelt was “embarrassing,” criticized his “new attitude on taxation and coal lands,” and added that the socialists hope a “safe man” becomes his successor.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-12-23

Creator(s)

Brooks, John Graham, 1846-1938

President Roosevelt holds a sack and has a sign tied around his neck, “Specials today: Inheritance Tax, Income Tax, Federal Control of Mineral Lands.” In the foreground a Teddy bear rips out pages of a “Democratic Recipe Book” while William Jennings Bryan says, “I always said he was a Democrat.” The cow beside Bryan says, “My book!”

comments and context

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-06-11

President Roosevelt holds a bow with an arrow labeled “Tariff Revision” and two other arrows in his mouth, “Income Tax” and “Inheritance Tax.” Just beyond him is a man labeled “Trusts” with a large apple labeled “The Tariff” on his head. The man has the arrows, “Anti-rebate,” “Anti-trust” “Railroad Rate Law,” and “Pure Food” in his chest, and he is saying, “The most unkindest cut of all!” Caption: “See if you can hit the apple, Mr. Roosevelt.”

comments and context

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-12-15

William E. Chandler discusses taxation legislation and its relationship with the railroad industry.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1905-10-13

Creator(s)

Chandler, William E. (William Eaton), 1835-1917

Former New York Senator Albert A. Wray shares some of his thoughts regarding trusts and corporations with President Roosevelt. Wray believes the establishment of a Bureau of Corporations, or an expansion of the Interstate Commerce Commission would be an effective way of licensing corporations to do international and interstate business, and would prevent them from watering down their stock. Wray believes this watering of stock “is the root of all the trust evils,” and presents evidence to support his proposal.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1902-10-22

Creator(s)

Wray, Albert A. (Albert Alexander), 1858-1924

On behalf of Theodore Roosevelt, his secretary politely asks William T. Hornaday to refrain from using Roosevelt’s name in connection with the tax on cartridges. Roosevelt thinks his name being used in this manner might imply that he is tendering advice on every matter that comes up.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1913-05-12

Creator(s)

Secretary of Theodore Roosevelt

Theodore Roosevelt’s secretary informs U. S. Kendall that Roosevelt has never advocated for the adoption of a single tax and any assertions to the contrary are false.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1912-11-02

Creator(s)

Secretary of Theodore Roosevelt

Theodore Roosevelt would like a “very heavy tax” on the celibate and the childless. The money from the tax would be given to mothers of large families.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-05-12

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Theodore Roosevelt’s secretary informs B. F. Boos that Kermit Roosevelt does not possess any invoice for the sample marbles. They were acquired in Italy and given to Warrington Dawson in Paris, who would have shipped them sooner to New York had he not fallen ill. Roosevelt’s secretary instructs Boos to have the duties assessed and paid and to forward the marbles to Oyster Bay, after which the account for these services will be paid.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-04-28

Creator(s)

Secretary of Theodore Roosevelt

Theodore Roosevelt supports progressive and “well-nigh expropriatory taxation of swollen inheritance.” He does not care for the income tax and dislikes taxes on small incomes and inheritances. Roosevelt objected to Amos Pinchot and George L. Record because they took positions “too far off to one side.” He views the Industrial Workers of the World as representing destruction, not advancement.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1915-02-06

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Theodore Roosevelt agrees with William T. Hornaday that a tax on cartridges will meet the expenses of the McLean law (most likely a reference to the Weeks-McLean Act).

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1913-05-02

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

President Roosevelt appreciates William Dean Howells’s letter. He does not believe in “violent revolution” rather “steady and healthy growth in the right direction.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-08-28

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

President Roosevelt thanks James Hulme Canfield for the letter, and asks whether he is interested in taxation policy. He would like Canfield to discuss the issue with Columbia University President Nicholas Murray Butler, as it is an issue he wants to take up in the future.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-07-25

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919