GEORGE W. WICKERSHAM - AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED 10/16/1910 - HFSID 5490

GEORGE WOODWARD WICKERSHAM
George Woodward Wickersham, U. S. Attorney General under President William Howard Taft, wrote this dinner invitation to New York attorney Joseph H. Choate in 1910.
Autograph letter signed "Geo W. Wickersham". 2 pages, 5¼x6¾, 1 sheet folded, front and verso. Oct. 16, 1910. Addressed to the honorable Joseph H. Coates. In full: "My dear Mr Choate Won't you do Mrs Wicker-sham & me the pleasure of dining with us on Wednesday morning - the day you are coming to talk about Canadian Club Whisky? If Mrs Choate is coming with you this invitation cordially includes her. I will promise to you only beveridges [sic] which are officially labelled [sic] and viands which meet the approval of the Pure Food Bureau -". JOSEPH H. CHOATE (1832-1917), a New York City lawyer, was counsel in important cases such as the Tweed Ring prosecution, Standard Oil antitrust cases and income tax cases. He later served as U.S. Ambassador to Great Britain (1899-1905) and was head of the U.S. delegation to the second International Peace Conference at The Hague (1907). GEORGE WOODWARD WICKERSHAM (1858-1936) was a prominent corporation lawyer. As U.S. Attorney General (1909-1913) under President Taft, he successfully prosecuted many corporations under the Sherman Antitrust Act. In 1929, he was appointed by President Hoover to head the National Commission on Law Observance and Law Enforcement, which came to be called the Wickersham Commission. It concluded in its final report of 1931 that the federal machinery for enforcing criminal law in the United States was inadequate. Lightly toned, soiled and creased. Address, but not signature, is lightly smeared in places but legible. Folded once and unfolded. Otherwise in fine condition.