Your TR Source
President Roosevelt informs Representative Bartholdt that he will see Representative James A. Tawney on Monday and do all he can. Senator Albert J. Beveridge wants Roosevelt’s support for his child labor bill, but Roosevelt believes the only way forward with that bill is for Bartholdt to get his bill through the Senate.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-01-19
President Roosevelt tells Senator Piles that Richard Achilles Ballinger has finally accepted the position of Commissioner of General Land Office; therefore he will be sending Ballinger’s nomination to the Senate at once.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-01-18
President Roosevelt tells Speaker of the House Cannon what he said to Representative James E. Watson in his letter to him last year, and stresses he was “speaking for the Republican Party and for the Republican majority in Congress.” Roosevelt hopes the House of Representatives will soon pass a bill addressing railway employees and limiting their hours of employment.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-01-16
President Roosevelt tells Judge George C. Holt that he and Secretary of State Elihu Root agreed with the judge’s recent petition, but he is not certain that he will be able to “accomplish anything or not in the direction desired.” Roosevelt notes that the Senate is not always looking to help the president accomplish his goals, and often “can help a cause best” by saying little about it in public.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-12-12
Senator Lodge was alarmed to hear of Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt’s fall and sends his love. He has limited information on the Honduran and Nicaraguan treaties but will send copies to Theodore Roosevelt. Lodge does not approve of Senator Cummins’s idea for a Senate-appointed commission as part of the arbitration treaty. He believes that it would be better to have no commission than to protect their interests by such a method. Commissions are also too slow and selecting commissioners opens everyone involved to political attacks.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-10-06
George H. Boyd writes to Theodore Roosevelt at the direction of Senator Henry Cabot Lodge and encloses Treaties for Roosevelt to view.
William E. Glasscock appreciates the Richard Randolph McMahon’s approval of Glasscock’s plan to challenge the election of Senator’s William E. Chilton and Clarence Wayland Watson. Glasscock will provide the letter written by McMahon to the press because it argues the case of an investigation so well. Glasscock plans to petition Congress for an investigation at the opening of the next session.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-10-02
The supporters of the arbitration treaties are avoiding the main point being raised by Senator Lodge and Theodore Roosevelt. The Conciliation Society is sending out letters but there has not been much of an outcry. The Fisheries Treaty has been redrafted with the regulations damaging to American fisherman removed. The bill has passed the Senate and is pending in the House.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-09-19
John W. Vrooman recounts his recent trip to upstate New York to William Loeb. Vrooman has heard that many want President Roosevelt to run for the Senate after his term ends, and asks Loeb if Admiral Goodrich’s retirement could be postponed.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-02-18
A memorandum describing a telephone conversation between President Roosevelt and Representative Jenkins. Representative Jenkins wishes to know Roosevelt’s wishes regarding the bill.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-02-14
Senator Lodge asks President Roosevelt to press Senator William P. Dillingham to bring a bill to a vote. Lodge fears delay, as it might give the steamship lobby time to develop opposition.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-02-13
William Grant Webster writes to William Loeb requesting an audience with President Roosevelt. Webster intends to declare as a candidate for the United States Senate in Illinois for 1908, and he hopes that Roosevelt will endorse the notion that federal office holders in Illinois will allow the people to have a say in the election process.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-02-12
Florence Bayard Lockwood La Farge asks President Roosevelt for help in contacting senators for a project she is working on. She is not sure which senators will be receptive to her ideas and is interested in any advice Roosevelt could give her.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-01-31
Nicholas Murray Butler updates President Roosevelt on the progress being made to establish the Association for International Conciliation, with funding from Andrew Carnegie. The peace work of the association is to be done as quietly as possible and in accordance with the wishes of Roosevelt and Secretary of State Elihu Root. In addition, Butler offers Roosevelt his support in regard to the Brownsville affair and encourages Roosevelt to keep up a “stiff front” to the “Senate oligarchy.” Butler also shares his observations regarding how railroad officials are trying to make the new railroad rate law unpopular, but concludes that, despite challenges, the law will succeed in the end.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-01-21
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.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-01-16
Commissioner of Labor Charles P. Neill explains the importance of passing either the Beveridge bill or the Lodge bill to eradicate child labor in the United States. Two-thirds of states and territories already have laws regulating child labor, with a wide variety of laws in place. The lack of uniformity in these laws creates unfair competition between industries and states, and the passage of one of the federal bills would help solve this problem. Neill concludes by asserting that children under fourteen should be pupils, not breadwinners; child labor is indefensible; and intelligence and education are vital to maintain a high standard of citizenship in the United States.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-01-15
Lyman Abbott is not sure what the United States government can do in the cases of the Armenians or the Congo Free State, but believes there is “a real power” in international public opinion. Abbott believes that giving the Japanese suffrage now would put the control of Hawaii in their hands and doubts the wisdom of it for the same reason he doubts the wisdom of giving political control of the Philippines to the Filipinos. Abbott also gives his opinion that Reed Smoot’s religious beliefs as a Mormon should not exclude him from the Senate, unless his allegiance to the Church is “above” his allegiance to the Constitution.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-01-08
A memorandum from the War Department discusses the historical accuracy of an alleged order from the Civil War used by President Roosevelt as an exhibit accompanying a message to the Senate concerning the discharge of soldiers in Brownsville. The alleged order is from Robert E. Lee disbanding the 22nd Virginia Battalion in 1864 for poor conduct. A search of the Confederate archives does not substantiate this order, instead showing that a request to redistribute members of the Battalion was never followed.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-01-03
The writer laments the United States Senate’s failure to ratify the San Domingo treaty. Carlos Felipe Morales supports the treaty.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-03-24
Frank Arthur Putnam writes a poem that depicts the American Revolution and the Civil War and states the time has come to rise against today’s despots, which are the supremely wealthy. Putnam calls for a peaceful revolution that will change the United States from representative government to full democracy and offers solutions for how to accomplish this task. Ernest McGaffey writes a letter to Putnam that states revolution will not occur in the near future because the people are not suffering enough. McGaffey includes a poem with his letter.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-06