United States. Congress

Letter from Charles J. Bonaparte to Theodore Roosevelt

Attorney General Bonaparte suggests that President Roosevelt strengthen language in his message to make it clear that inaction from Congress will be an “assent to the construction of the law” contained in his opinion. Otherwise, he has no suggestions. Bonaparte adds that unless he is needed tomorrow, he will remain in Baltimore “for repairs” as he is getting over a cold.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-04-08

President Roosevelt on anarchism

This Times article discusses President Roosevelt’s campaign against anarchism in the United States, especially in light of several recent anarchist attacks in the United States in 1908. The article suggests if Roosevelt can figure out a way to suppress anarchist doctrines, he will be doing a great service to mankind.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-04-10

Statement by Henry W. Taft

Henry W. Taft believes there is no adequate foundation for a statement made by Alton B. Parker that the common law can serve as a legal remedy against trusts and monopolies. Taft maintains that it is necessary for laws restricting monopolies to come from the federal level in order to appropriately apply criminal penalties and work at a national scale. Taft also quotes extensively from three letters by Thomas Jefferson to show that Jefferson, the founder of the Democratic party, opposed the common law being applied at a national scale.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-09-30

Memorandum from Milton Dwight Purdy to Charles J. Bonaparte

Assistant Attorney General Purdy reports his thoughts to Attorney General Bonaparte regarding legislation to be undertaken in the wake of the financial panic. Rather than formulate new legislation in response to the crisis, Purdy details the “evils” of the Sherman Act so that Congress may address them. Purdy argues that the Sherman Act outlaws all trusts, no matter if they are good or bad, which is impractical to enforce. Purdy believes it would be better and more expedient to outlaw the bad practices of certain trusts rather than making all trusts illegal. If Congress does not agree, however, then all methods of business should be modified to “meet the literal requirements” of the Sherman Act, by creating some simple and efficient legislation to immediately break up all trusts.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-11-04

Wadsworth playing for his seat again

New York Representative James Wolcott Wadsworth is said to be planning his candidacy for Congress again next year. The details of his plan to regain his seat through “pulling wires” in the Republican Party and “handicapping” Representative Peter A. Porter are given.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-11-05

An appeal to the president

An article by Thomas E. Watson rails against the efforts of national bankers to replace the the Department of the Treasury issued notes which had historically been used to combat inflation with their own bank notes. Such a practice would give private banks full control over the financial state of the country and would only increase bankers’ wealth at the expense of the economy. Should President Roosevelt allow this to happen, he would prove himself a hypocrite and incapable of living up to his promises to fight the “malefactors of wealth” in the United States.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-11-10

Memorandum for the President

The author of the memorandum would like President Roosevelt to call the Post Office Department’s attention to the fact that members of Congress cannot visit the department on business without being held up at length speaking with clerks and constituents who have grievances or would like a promotion. In particular, the author writes, women clerks spend a lot of time in the corridors of the building speaking to members. This issue is not limited to the Post Office Department, but visits there are more frequent than to other buildings.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-04-13

The service pay bill

Captain M. B. Stewart responds to a letter to the editor of The Sun from Captain Johnson Hagood. Hagood wrote about negative publicity surrounding the service pay bill. Stewart points out that pay for enlisted men is an “imperative national issue,” and that both sides of the discussion have controversial extremes.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-10-29

American affairs

In an article for the National Review, A. Maurice Low analyzes the possibility that Germany would come to the protection of the Atlantic Coast while the Great White Fleet travels to the Pacific and highlights the recent developments in the relationship between Germany and the United States. He argues that Roosevelt should seek another term of office, and that William Jennings Bryan has nothing to offer the American people, while deriding the failure of the Democratic Party at large. Finally, quoting financial representatives from several banking houses, Low explains that the fall of securities prices is a natural course correction. As an example of the bright future of American growth, he describes the construction of Gary, Indiana, a city built for the manufacturing of steel.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-10

Address by Hon. William Howard Taft

Secretary of War William H. Taft addresses the Philippine Assembly at their inaugural gathering. Taft gives an overview of the American administration of the Philippines as well as his assessment of the challenges facing the Assembly in the fulfillment of their political duties.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-10-16

Presentation of the Theodore Roosevelt Distinguished Service Medal to Laurance Spelman Rockefeller

Lyman M. Tondel Jr., Vice President of the Theodore Roosevelt Association, presents Laurance Spelman Rockefeller with the Theodore Roosevelt Distinguished Service Medal for his efforts in the field of conservation and the promotion of outdoor activities in the United States. Hermann Hagedorn, executive director of the Association, introduces Rockefeller. Rockefeller speaks briefly about his work on the Outdoor Recreation Report, and discusses both the need to promote the creation of open spaces for people to use in their everyday life, as well as the challenges associated with this. Tondel reads several congratulatory telegrams, and additional brief addresses are given by Anne Lyon Haight, who honors Oscar S. Straus’s tenure as President of the Theodore Roosevelt Association; Ronald F. Lee of the National Park Service, who speaks about the recent transfer of the Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace site and Sagamore Hill to the National Park Service; and New York Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association

Creation Date

1963-10-27

Excerpt from United States of America v. Territory of New Mexico, et al.

Secretary of Commerce and Labor Straus sends Attorney General Bonaparte an excerpt from the arguments of New Mexico Attorney General Albert B. Fall in the land fraud case there. Fall describes the disparaging attitude taken towards the officials overseeing land sales. In the current case, the Territory of New Mexico will finally be able to show the facts to the public and be vindicated in court. The specific details of the sale of the lands and whether the contracts will be voided are questions for the Territory of New Mexico alone to determine.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-08-30

Will work for the children

Rabbi Samuel Hirschberg recounts the time when President Roosevelt was introduced to a blind Assyrian girl, and he tenderly cut the thorns off a rose from his desk and gave it to the young girl. Roosevelt spoke at a conference for the dependent children banquet in Washington D.C., and promised to speak to Congress about appointing a commission to investigate and recommend legislation for the care of dependent children.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1909-01-29

The postpoffice, our mutual express company

Representative Bennet provides an overview of the current state of the United States Postal Service’s rates and capacity for shipping parcels, and outlines the rates charged by private express companies. He urges the passing of a law to increase revenue and allow for the shipping of more parcels and the provision of insurance on parcels sent through the mail. He compares the United States’s postal policy with those of other countries.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1909-05-13

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Henry Cabot Lodge

President Roosevelt tells Senator Lodge that Congressman Franklin E. Brooks of Colorado has not consulted him about Randolph since last spring. Roosevelt believes that if Edward Oliver Wolcott will take Randolph, Roosevelt could convince Brooks to take him as well. Roosevelt asks Lodge to see how Wolcott feels about it.

Collection

Massachusetts Historical Society

Creation Date

1903-12-09

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Henry Cabot Lodge

President Roosevelt wishes Senator Lodge luck with his trip and hopes he will be successful with his mission. Roosevelt impresses upon Lodge the necessity of success in coming to an agreement with England, as this is the last chance to do so by the “free act” of both parties.

Collection

Massachusetts Historical Society

Creation Date

1903-07-16

Pinnacles Forest Reserve proclamation

President Roosevelt, using the authority of an act of Congress entitled “An act to repeal timber-culture laws, and for other purposes,” reserves lands in California for the creation of the Pinnacles Forest Reserve. This proclamation also includes a plat map of Pinnacles Forest Reserve and a map of the Monterey Forest Reserve, which was established a month earlier.

Collection

Pinnacles National Park

Creation Date

1906-07-18

Pinnacles National Monument proclamations

A series of presidential proclamations first establish, and then expand the boundaries of, Pinnacles National Park. The establishment of the park was done by an act of President Theodore Roosevelt in 1908, with subsequent expansions coming from President Warren Harding in 1923, President Calvin Coolidge in 1924, President Herbert Hoover in 1931, and President Franklin Delano Roosevelt in both 1933 and 1941.

Collection

Pinnacles National Park

Creation Date

1947

Appendix A: legislative history

This appendix provides a list of the various proclamations and acts regarding Pinnacles National Monument. Beneath each title, the document describes what effect it had on the Monument. The total acreage of the Monument, 16,257.57, appears at the bottom of the page.

Collection

Pinnacles National Park

Creation Date

1985

Memorandum from the Assistant Director for State Grants and Resource Studies to the Acting Director of the Midwest Region of the National Park Service

Assistant Director for State Grants and Resource Studies Underhill informs Acting Director of the Midwest Region Giles that they will not present a statement at the hearings regarding the wilderness proposal for the Theodore Roosevelt National Memorial park. Underhill mentions the existence of dish tanks in the proposed wilderness area and relays that they are man made and do not fit the definition of wilderness area as presently defined by Congress.

Collection

Denver Public Library

Creation Date

1970-12-03