ROOSEVELT, THEODORE. Typed Letter Signed, as President, to Representative Theodore E. Burton, complaining...

ROOSEVELT, THEODORE. Typed Letter Signed, as President, to Representative Theodore E. Burton, complaining that the bill making permanent the Inland Waterways Commission has not yet been passed. 1 page, 4to, White House stationery, with integral blank; scattered moderate dampstaining and cockling, scattered moderate offsetting affecting text. Sold as is. Washington, 13 May 1908

Estimate $400 - 600

"I do not yet understand why a bill to continue the Waterways Commission has not already been past [passed] . . . .
". . . I should continue the present Commission in any event, making any needed changes in the personnel. But failure by the Congress to act will be inexcusable, and failure to make a hard fight for it on behalf of those of us who sincerely believe in the measure hardly more excusable."
In March of 1907, Roosevelt appointed the members of the Inland Waterway Commission, which was charged to investigate the improvement of the nation's navigable waterways in order to overcome the widespread inefficiency of the domestic transportation infrastructure. The Commission had completed its work when Roosevelt sent its report to Congress early the following year, but a body of experts were needed to form policy to implement the report's recommendations, so Roosevelt pressed to make the Commission permanent--an outcome that was not achieved until 1917. In 1920, the responsibilities of the IWC were subsumed by the newly-formed Federal Power Commission.

Price Realized (with Buyer's Premium) $390