A remedy for trusts
An octopus named “The Trusts” sits embracing a woman named “Trade.” President Roosevelt turns on the “Publicity” light over them.
Collection
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
Creation Date
Unknown
Your TR Source
Trusts, Industrial--Government policy
Manager Hanna: I don’t think much of this New Trainer’s ideas – that trick is positively brutalizing
Senator Hanna and the Trust look on as President Roosevelt trains the Republican elephant to beat a punching bag labeled Trusts.
Collection
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
Creation Date
1902
Address of President Roosevelt at Cincinnati, Ohio
President Roosevelt addresses his audience in Cincinnati, Ohio, on the subject of trusts and corporations, and the factors and difficulties that the government must consider when contemplating regulation of the trusts. He begins by tracing some of the conditions that have led up to the present situation, and compares the trusts to the Mississippi River, which helps many people but can also threaten great destruction. He makes the analogy that while damming the Mississippi would be futile and harmful, building levees can offer protections without obstructing the river. Roosevelt continues by saying that while there should be some regulation, this must be carefully done so as to effect the desired result on the largest trusts and corporations without imposing more difficult penalties on smaller companies and the laborers who work for the companies.
Collection
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
Creation Date
1902-09-20
Letter from Frank Harper to A. J. Gilbert
Frank Harper defends Theodore Roosevelt against a pamphlet that gives twelve reasons why to vote against Roosevelt. He suggests that there are twelve hundred reasons why to vote against President Taft and describes a similar pamphlet in support of Governor Wilson as full of “empty generalities.”
Collection
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
Creation Date
1912-10-17
Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to William E. Bennett
Theodore Roosevelt likes William E. Bennett’s speech and does not see anything he disagrees with. He does not want to amend the Sherman Anti-Trust Law but wants to draft laws similar to the Interstate Commerce Laws.
Collection
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
Creation Date
1911-11-21
Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Herbert Knox Smith
President Roosevelt advises Herbert Knox Smith, Commissioner of Corporations, that if he is asked to produce any papers in the “Steel Corporation inquiry” to state that he is required to report to the President first. After this, the President will give direction as to what should be made public “as the law requires.”
Collection
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
Creation Date
1909-01-22
Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Charles J. Bonaparte
President Roosevelt would like to discuss the recent decision by the United States Circuit Court of Appeals of Illinois in person with Attorney General Bonaparte and Frank B. Kellogg. Roosevelt feels that the fine Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis initially imposed on Standard Oil was excessive, but would have preferred to modify the fine rather than reverse the decision. In a postscript, Roosevelt agrees with Bonaparte’s view regarding the Standard Oil Case, and sends a clipping about it. In a second postscript, Roosevelt agrees with Bonaparte that John D. Archbold must have had advance notice of the decision. Roosevelt does not believe the railroads should raise their rates until December.
Collection
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
Creation Date
1908-07-25
Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to James E. Watson
President Roosevelt thanks Representative Watson for his willingness to help the Congressional Committee in the upcoming election, and outlines what he thinks are some of the major accomplishments of Congress and relevant points of the Republican platform. Roosevelt believes that the “real evils in our industrial and economic system” have been and will continue to be addressed by “resolute and intelligent legislation and executive action.”
Collection
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
Creation Date
1906-08-18
Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Knute Nelson
President Roosevelt tells Senator Nelson that his memory of the matter Nelson referred to was the same, and that during the discussions of the bill establishing the Department of Commerce and Labor they agreed that the bill in the House did not provide the department with enough power, leading to Roosevelt asking Attorney General Philander C. Knox to prepare an amendment for Nelson to introduce. No one involved with the bill, however, expected a decision like the recent one made by Judge J. Otis Humphry in the beef trust case. If Congress passes a law granting the government the right of appeal, Roosevelt assures Nelson that it will be used in this case.
Collection
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
Creation Date
1906-07-21
Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to James Rudolph Garfield
President Roosevelt writes to Commissioner of Corporations Garfield regarding the results of his investigations into railroad rates. While open rates do not appear to be unlawful, they are a strong argument for the passage of the railroad rate bill currently being considered by Congress. Roosevelt asks for a list of the secret rates that were not discontinued before the publication of the report, as well as a list of cases Rudolph believes should be presented to the Department of Justice for possible action. Roosevelt believes future development on this issue will involve antitrust law instead of interstate commerce law, as the government examines if there is “any radical remedy for the existence of a great corporation acting as the Standard Oil Company has been shown by your report to act.”
Collection
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
Creation Date
1906-05-31
Letter from John Burroughs to Theodore Roosevelt
President Roosevelt is lucky to have identified the Cape May Warbler as John Burroughs has not seen one. Burroughs is glad that Roosevelt enjoyed his Atlantic article and is sending a copy of his article in the Cosmopolitan. Burroughs advocates doing something about the “unfair advantages” that have benefited Standard Oil.
Collection
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
Creation Date
1906-05-10
Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Paul Dana
President Roosevelt disagrees strongly with Paul Dana’s stance against the government’s regulation of trusts. He has consulted a number of Republican leaders and prominent businessmen and feels to do less than he has proposed to regulate trusts would fracture the Republican Party.
Collection
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
Creation Date
1901-11-18
Letter from George W. Perkins to Oscar K. Davis
George W. Perkins sends a statement prepared by Borden D. Whiting arguing that Governor Wilson could have successfully combated business trusts in New Jersey but has failed to act. Whiting suggests that this failure will continue if Wilson is elected president.
Collection
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
Creation Date
1912-10-18
Letter from Norman H. White to William H. Taft
Norman H. White contends that steamers paralleling railroad routes are contrary to the Sherman Act. He finds it odd that the case would be pursued by the Roosevelt administration and then dropped by President Taft and Attorney General Wickersham. White would like to hear Taft’s or Wickersham’s views on the matter.
Collection
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
Creation Date
1912-04-08
Letter from William H. Taft to Norman H. White
President Taft explains why the railroad acquisition suit was dismissed by Attorney General Wickersham. It was decided that the systems were supplementary and not competitive so their consolidation would not constitute an unlawful restraint of trade.
Collection
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
Creation Date
1912-04-05
Letter from Ralph M. Easely to Theodore Roosevelt
Ralph M. Easely responds to Theodore Roosevelt’s recent article, “The Standard Oil Decision – And After.” finding it relevant and true even if it had been written prior to the decision on the American Tobacco Company case. He remarks that, should the United States compete with foreign countries, “it cannot be hobbled by restrictions like those imposed by the Sherman Anti-Trust Act.” Easely encloses a leaflet issued by the National Civic Federation and has marked paragraphs relevant to his discussion of trust regulation, though he remarks that Seth Low has not yet named the sub-committee it refers to. Easely closes by congratulating Roosevelt on his recent “whack” on those who fight for peace at any price, comparing Roosevelt’s views of international peace and his own on “industrial peace.”
Collection
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
Creation Date
1911-06-02
Letter from Charles E. Magoon to Theodore Roosevelt
Charles E. Magoon congratulates Theodore Roosevelt on the recent unanimous Supreme Court decision to dissolve the Standard Oil Company and the American Tobacco Company, as both corporations were organized in violation of law.
Collection
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
Creation Date
1911-05-30
Letter from Charles J. Bonaparte to Theodore Roosevelt
Attorney General Bonaparte informs President Roosevelt that he gave Herbert Knox Smith his opinion which will justify his refusal to produce “the papers.” Bonaparte predicts Smith will have no issues in court, and if he does, Smith has been instructed to call Bonaparte’s Boston office.
Collection
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
Creation Date
1909-01-22
Letter from Leonard Wood to Theodore Roosevelt
Leonard Wood was recently at a dinner at George W. Wickersham’s house, and heard Elbert H. Gary speaking positively about President Roosevelt’s actions, saying that Roosevelt woke up the public conscience. Wood thought Roosevelt would be interested in the encounter, especially as Gary told him that he was speaking as the president of the Steel Trust.
Collection
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
Creation Date
1909-01-05
Letter from Frank B. Kellogg to George Rumsey Sheldon
Frank B. Kellogg, a member of the Republican National Committee, writes to Republican National Committee Treasurer George Rumsey Sheldon protesting the acceptance of money from the trusts and those who run them. In particular he lists the Standard Oil Company, the Union and Southern Pacific railroads, and the Powder Trust, and names the men he knows who are associated with them. He states that it would be wrong for the Republican Party to take money from any trust when these same trusts are violating the law.
Collection
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
Creation Date
1908-09-21