Tillman, Benjamin R. (Benjamin Ryan), 1847-1918

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

President Roosevelt explains to Henry Beach Needham, in confidence, that while he has refused to expressly endorse the last Congress, he believes that election of a Democratic Congress would severely hinder William H. Taft’s future work. He has heard that Needham will write an attack on conditions at the Panama Canal, and insists they discuss it beforehand.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-09-11

President Roosevelt thanks Sherrard Coleman for his nice letter. He tells Coleman that he has felt “intense indignation” at the behavior of Senators Joseph Benson Foraker and Benjamin R. Tillman over the matter in question; they have humiliated themselves by doing “grave damage to the discipline of the army” and have caused “mischief” regarding race relations. He will take up the final matter in Coleman’s letter with General George Bell.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-01-22

President Roosevelt is pleased with the letter Judge Speer sent along with the clippings and details of his speech. He is pleased with Speer’s views on promoting social justice regarding race relations, and is upset that some senators are still using their power to undo advancement of African Americans in society.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-01-18

Alfred Henry Lewis lets President Roosevelt know that he arranged for journalist David Graham Phillips to be at the same dining event as Roosevelt, and Phillips is eagerly looking forward to meeting Roosevelt. In confidence, Lewis also shares some amusing remarks Phillips has made about various prominent personalities in Washington, D.C.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-01-24

William H. Fleming believes that Senator Benjamin R. Tillman’s attack on President Roosevelt was only representative of Tillman’s own beliefs. The Brownsville matter should show Southern whites that Roosevelt is willing “to do justice to them,” while at the same time not having prejudice against African Americans. Senator Tillman predicts an impending race war, but Fleming does not believe this will happen, although it is good that there are not more senators as outspoken as Tillman.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-01-16

Judge Speer provides historical justification for President Roosevelt’s actions in the Brownsville affair, involving the mass dishonorable discharge of African American soldiers, citing George Washington’s similar discharge of rowdy troops. Speer also mentions the Raid on Deerfield during Queen Anne’s War and the siege of Magdeburg during the Thirty Years’ War. Speer disagrees with Senator Tillman’s assessment that Roosevelt “lynched” the discharged soldiers, as did the editorial boards of several prominent Georgia newspapers.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-01-14

The Macon Telegraph describes Senator Benjamin R. Tillman’s inconsistent reactions to President Theodore Roosevelt’s views on race relations.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-01-14

At “Ananias Botanical Garden,” there are a number of potted plants with men’s heads in them: “Tillmanus,” “Forakeria,” and “Harrimanium Americanus.” For the last one, the tag lists “Nativity. . . . Wall Street,” “Stock,” “Veracity,” “Acquisition,” “Aspiration. . . . Senate,” and “Analyzed by Prof. T. Roosevelt, B.S., P. Du, P.D.Q.”

comments and context

Comments and Context

The visual cliche, or device, of political figures as plants in a flower show or botanical garden was frequently employed for decades. In this version (by an anonymous artist in an unidentified publication — at least insofar as the White House scrapbook’s annotation) — the hothouse is named for the Ananias Club. This was President Roosevelt’s partly jocular designation of a fraternity for those whom he considered liars in politics and purveyors of fake news in journalism.

Eight men sleep in a bed with sweat on their forehead as they all dream about “third term sentiment.” The men include Ohio Senator Theodore E. Burton, Benjamin B. Odell, South Carolina Benjamin R. Tillman with a pitchfork, William Randolph Hearst, Ohio Senator Joseph Benson Foraker, Vice President Charles W. Fairbanks, Edward Henry Harriman, and John D. Rockefeller of Standard Oil.

comments and context

Comments and Context

The “Third Term” question was for President Roosevelt like a bad penny or a stray dog that he could not shake. He declared on election night, 1904, that he would not stand for re-election in 1908. He made this clear to politicians and friends and, by implication — for instance, by promoting William H. Taft as a favored successor — but seldom reasserted his intentions to the public. He felt that to say it too often — and the demands to do so were incessant — would have weakened the force of the declination or seemed like “protesting too much.” He said it, and that should have been enough.

Speaker of the House Joseph Gurney Cannon says, “Tariff revision or an extra session!” in one cartoon. The next includes a teddy bear and President Roosevelt reading a paper that says, “Mr. President: Anything you say goes! California.” Another cartoon depicts a government clerk holding a bag that says, “50% salary increase” while Uncle Sam says, “And more if necessary.” The next cartoon depicts William Jennings Bryan saying to William Randolph Hearst, “After you, my dear Willie!” with a sign that reads, “To presidency.” Another one shows South Carolina senator Benjamin R. Tillman depicted with a pitchfork walking toward the White House with a dove of peace. Finally, the last cartoon depicts Senator Joseph Benson Foraker with a sign that says, “Reenlistment” in front of a group of soldiers labeled, “25th Infantry” — the black regiment at the center of the Brownsville Incident.

comments and context

Comments and Context

When cartoonist Clifford Kennedy Berryman switched, shortly prior to this drawing’s publication, from the Evening Star from the Washington Post, his drawing style improved: a better ability to capture celebrities’ likenesses to place atop little bodies. This cartoon fell back on the erstwhile cartoonists’ annual chestnut — a reliable theme to use once a year, the Valentine cards for politicians — either dream-fantasies or the unlikeliest of scenarios.

Uncle Sam holds a paper to which he has just signed “OK” that reads, “Discharge of Negro Soldiers at Brownsville.” Meanwhile, President Roosevelt has two dogs depicting Senators Joseph Benson Foraker and Benjamin R. Tillman barking at him. He says to Uncle Sam, “Oh! Don’t mind them, Uncle–That’s the only way they can attract any attention–these days!” Caption: And then they can go home and brag that they barked at a real president!

comments and context

Comments and Context

The Denver Post, for about thirty years following the purchase by legendary owners Frederick Gilmer Bonfils and Harry Heye Tammen in the 1890s, was (and remains) one of the most interesting cases in American journalism; and was one of the most successful and influential papers in the active city of Denver and the growing mountain states at the time.

Several senators—West Virginia Senator Nathan Bay Scott, Iowa Senator Jonathan P. Dolliver, Michigan Senator Julius C. Burrows, Pennsylvania Senator Boies Penrose, and Montana Senator Thomas Henry Carter—all white wash Benjamin F. Barnes. President Roosevelt holds the “big stick” and says, “Thicken your white wash and get to work, you clumsy Senate fellows” while South Carolina Senator Benjamin R. Tillman looks on and says, “Shame on you ind your ‘master.'”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-04-29

President Roosevelt plays a fife as Speaker of the House Joseph Gurney Cannon and South Carolina Senator Benjamin R. Tillman beat on “House” and “Senate” drums respectively. William Loeb walks behind them with a “railroad rate bill” flag that uses a “big stick” and pitchfork as a flag pole. They are dressed in colonial attire, in a recreation of the famous painting The Spirit of ’76 by Archibald Willard.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-03-21

President Roosevelt with the big stick and South Carolina Senator Benjamin R. Tillman with a pitchfork hide behind a box as they watch “R. R. lobbyist” rats tear the “Hepburn bill” to pieces. Caption: President Roosevelt joins in a rat hunt.—News Item.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-03-19

A “rate bill” man with a locomotive head leaps over a Republican elephant and a donkey ridden by South Carolina Senator Benjamin R. Tillman, dressed as a circus clown. President Roosevelt stands in front of a pillow while Uncle Sam looks on.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-03-04

President Roosevelt and a Democratic donkey are yoked together with the “railroad rate bill” in a coat of arms that has a “big stick” and a pitchfork up at the top. The phrase at the bottom of the coat of arms reads, “The tie that binds.” Caption: They unite for a common cause.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-03-01

President Roosevelt looks at South Carolina Senator Benjamin R. Tillman holding a “R. R. rates bill” and a pitchfork standing beside Dame Democracy riding on a donkey. Caption: By turning the bill over to Senator Tillman it really becomes a Democratic measure.—News item.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-02

A number of men are in a “railroad rate bill” train car, including President Roosevelt, Speaker of the House Joseph Gurney Cannon, South Carolina Senator Benjamin R. Tillman, West Virginia Senator Stephen B. Elkins, Ohio Senator Joseph Benson Foraker, Iowa Senator Jonathan P. Dolliver, Pennsylvania Senator Philander C. Knox, Texas Senator Joseph W. Bailey, Rhode Island Senator Nelson W. Aldrich, and Wisconsin Senator John C. Spooner. Some of them hold “amendment” cards. Caption: Engineer Roosevelt—”Who’s running this train, anyhow?”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-03-24

President Roosevelt and South Carolina Senator Benjamin R. Tillman go fishing in a “senatorial pool.” At the bottom of the pool is “the railroad rate bill” turtle, a “Philippine tariff bill” alligator, a “statehood bill” frog, and a “Santo Domingo” fish. On the ledge are two crayfish by a “bait amendments” can.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-01-25