Wages

Representative Mondell responds to an inquiry from E. E. Kessner, who was employed by the Western Construction Company and working on the Corbett Tunnel when it went bankrupt. Kessner was not compensated for his work. Wheeler informs Kessner that it will be impossible for him to file a lien for compensation now that the company’s property has been seized by the government. Wheeler suggests that Kessner and other men trying to reclaim their lost wages should join the suit the government will likely file against the Western Construction Company’s bondsmen.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-11-15

Robert W. Dyer, secretary for Representative Frank W. Mondell, acknowledges E. E. Kessner’s letter regarding payment for work on the Corbett tunnel and says Mondell will respond upon his return.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-10-05

Susan Dexter Dalton Cooley, the wife of Assistant Attorney General Alford Warriner Cooley, tells President Roosevelt how his recent letter eased Cooley’s mind during his convalescence. Cooley finds comfort in Roosevelt’s friendship as she faces her husband’s recovery, which is progressing well. Regarding the check, Cooley does not want to feel obligated to hurry his recovery to earn the proffered money and, therefore, returned it to Roosevelt. Cooley believes her husband might be able to do a little work again in four months, but wishes for him to stay a little longer to ensure that he is able to return to health. She is looking forward to spending the winter in the warmer climate, and hopes to get a little home by a lake for a time once her husband is able to leave the sanatorium.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-09-08

Martin A. Knapp, of the Interstate Commerce Commission, informs President Roosevelt that he has recently received a telephone message from Henry Walters that the order of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad Company to reduce wages will be rescinded. At present this is confidential information, and Knapp says that he will have more information tomorrow.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-02-27

Senator Lodge writes to President Roosevelt about a serious situation developing in Massachusetts politics. At a recent state convention of the American Federation of Labor, the group denounced Lt. Governor Draper and nine of the eleven Republican Congressmen. Lodge believes that “Gus”, his son-in-law Augustus Peabody Gardner, “is a good fighter, but with this labor attack and the character of his opponent he has before him a very severe contest.” His opponent was a man named Schofield, a “Native-american demagogue with a great deal of local popularity.” Lodge spoke yesterday at the state convention in Rhode Island where a “Hearst man” is giving Republicans a tough fight as well.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-10-12

Governor of Puerto Rico Hunt reports that a few Americans are attempting to form a Democratic Party in Puerto Rico based on the premise of low wages on the island. However, Hunt claims that statistics will come out shortly to refute this premise. Hunt also encloses a copy of the Democrat’s adopted platform.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-06-01

Chronology of the daily life of Theodore Roosevelt from January 1892 to December 1898. Notable events include the death of Elliott Roosevelt, Theodore Roosevelt is appointed New York City Police Commissioner, his tenure as Assistant Secretary of the Navy, the Spanish-American War, and Roosevelt’s gubernatorial campaign.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association

Creation Date

1985

Chronology of the daily life of Theodore Roosevelt between January 1879 to December 1883. Notable events include Theodore Roosevelt’s engagement and marriage to Alice Hathaway Lee, his appointment to the New York State Legislature, and his first visit and buffalo hunt in North Dakota.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association

Creation Date

1985

The article provides various positive economic reports from around the nation, including railroad expansion plans, a big export surplus, and a plan to provide agricultural workers with four to five months of work for good wages. A highlighted portion of the column notes that the Philadelphia Workingmen’s Protective Tariff League endorsed President Roosevelt for president and Senator Boies Penrose for National Republican Chairman.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-02-06

The Philadelphia Evening Item reports on the good economic conditions in various industries, companies, and places in the United States and its trading partners, which it says “give[s] the lie to the calamity howlers.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1903-12-22

On the left hand side of the cartoon, Uncle Sam holds up a “Depart. of Commerce and Labor” blackboard that reads, “cost of living increased 15.5%” A Democratic donkey holds a “calamity” horn and starts to cheer. On the right hand side, Uncle Sam flips the blackboard and hits the donkey on the head. The other side reads, “wages increased 16.6%.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-08-03

Uncle Sam and a Republican elephant hold a “protection” umbrella as they attempt to run away from “wage” hail.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-01-12

President Roosevelt hands “Congress” three balls and points at the toys labeled “corrupt politics,” “island possessions,” “labor questions,” “waterways,” “legislative obstructions,” “disease microbes,” “national waste,” “swollen fortunes,” “dishonest wealth,” “unjust judges,” “inadequate wages,” and “inheritance tax.”

comments and context

Comments and Context

After a day to absorb President Roosevelt’s Annual Message, which would be the last of his presidency, Jay N. “Ding” Darling offered his readers, and posterity, a cartoon-capsule summary of its contents. Typical of the cartoonist’s clarity, the main topics of the president’s lengthy message are depicted, and — an important component of the cartoon — it is not Uncle Sam, nor an iconic figure representing “the public,” who is addressed by the barker Roosevelt, but the Congress.

A disheveled “wage-worker” reaches for a “high wages” money bag on a shelf and a number of food items on a “provisions” shelf. President Roosevelt looks outside of a window, facing the wage-worker and pointing to the two shelves. His shelf reads, “‘The purchasing power of the average wage has grown faster than the cost of living.’ T. R.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-09-22

Secretary of War Taft issues instructions on the salaries of the members of the Isthmian Canal Commission.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1905-04-03

Kermit Roosevelt describes his time in South America, travel companions, and draws a small diagram of the land.

Collection

Arizona Historical Society

Creation Date

1912-1914

lllustration shows an oversized man labeled “capital,” sitting on a throne, holding a large cake labeled “Tariff Graft;” a smaller man labeled “Labor” is standing next to him, holding a loaf of bread labeled “Wages.” Caption: “If they take away my cake, I’ll take away your bread.”

comments and context

Comments and Context

The allegory drawn by Puck‘s chief political cartoonist Udo J. Keppler stated well the soft form of blackmail — at least in terms of oft-repeated predictions — by big business to the pressure of middle-class citizens and workers that import tariffs be lowered. Business argued that high tariffs were insulation against foreign goods, and that American factories and farms could thrive thereby. A growing chorus of reformers complained that the policy allowed business freedom to set prices arbitrarily — usually higher at consumer levels — and stifled the “unseen hand of the market” where supply and demand would bring justice to prices and wages.

Draft of an address to be given by President Roosevelt with handwritten edits. Roosevelt accepts the Republican presidential nomination and reviews the accomplishments of his administration.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-07-13

Draft of an address to be given by President Roosevelt, in which Roosevelt accepts the Republican presidential nomination and reviews the accomplishments of his administration. This copy contains handwritten edits suggested by Whitelaw Reid. Numbers correspond to comments made by Reid in his letter to Roosevelt of the same date.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-07-14

Shorthand draft of an address to be given by President Roosevelt, in which Roosevelt accepts the Republican presidential nomination and reviews the accomplishments of his administration.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-07-27