Teddy Roosevelt
The Square Deal
o Roosevelt wanted to provide a “square deal” for the public
o Embraced “3 C’s”: Corporate Control, Consumer Protection, and Conservation of Nature
o 1902 – Pennsylvania coal miner’s strike

140,000 workers demanded 20% pay increase, and a nine-hour workday

Collectively, the mine owners would not even negotiate, believing public sympathy was with the owners

Declining coal supplies forced factories, schools and hospitals to shut down during the harsh winter

Roosevelt threatened to seize the mines by military force
First time the federal government had overtly sided with labor, in a large dispute

The mine owners were forced to negotiate
10% pay raise and a nine-hour day, but the union was not recognized as a collective bargaining agent
o 1903- Department of commerce and labor created to regulate business and labor, including disputes
The Trustbuster
o Roosevelt did not believe that all trusts were inherently bad – distinguished between good and bad trusts
o Roosevelt first attacked the railroads

The Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) had done little to regulate commerce

1902 – filed anti-trust suit against the Northern Securities Company (railroad trust), breaking it up
The Supreme Court upheld Roosevelt’s antitrust suit (1904)
Powerful businessmen were angered by government intervention, especially from a Republican president

Elkins Act (1903) – railroads were restricted from giving out rebates to “preferred” shippers

Hepburn Act (1906) – railroads were severely restricted from issuing free passes, esp. to government employees
o Roosevelt filed 44 anti-trust suits during his presidency

He was successful in limiting the power of the beef, sugar, fertilizer, harvester, and other trusts
Environmentalism
o The absorption of western lands on the frontier had been particularly damaging to the environment
o Early conservation efforts

Desert Land Act (1877) – arid land sold cheaply to those who agreed to irrigate it, within 3 years

Forest Reserve Act (1891) – authorized the president to set up public forests and national parks

Carey Act (1894) – distributed federal lands to states, on the condition that they irrigate and settle it
o Roosevelt was an outdoorsman who lamented the destruction of nature

Did not simply want to isolate nature, but to use its resources responsibly

Newlands Act (1902) – money could be collected from the sale of public lands, and used for irrigation projects
Dams were built on rivers throughout the arid west, to provide water for irrigation projects

Set aside 125 million acres of forest land to be protected from the timber industry

Set aside millions of acres of coal deposit, and water
o Conservatism coincided with national sympathy for the environment

Many Americans lamented the loss of the American frontier

The Sierra Club (1892) had been established to fight for the preservation of nature (John Muir)
o Not all conservation efforts were successful

Hetch-Hetchy Controversy (1913) – San Francisco won the right to dam the Hetch-Hetchy Reservoir in Yosemite Valley

Many acres of reserved land were sold off by following administrations (Taft)
The “Roosevelt” Panic of 1907
o Roosevelt was elected in 1904

Popular among the people, but feared by the conservative elements of his own party

Called more loudly for worker protection, income tax, and corporate regulations
o Over-speculation on stocks, and a banking crisis led to a panic in 1907

Roosevelt’s financial policies were blamed for the panic, by big businessmen who resented government intervention

JP Morgan helped end the crisis by lending large amounts of money to banks, to stabilize them
He also convinced Roosevelt to allow US Steel to buy stocks in ailing businesses to help stabilize them
Roosevelt agreed not to file anti-trust suits against US Steel in these instances