MAJOR GENERAL HENRY M. TELLER - MANUSCRIPT LETTER SIGNED 02/15/1884 - HFSID 46960

HENRY M. TELLER
Henry M. Teller, Secretary of the Interior under President Chester A. Arthur, signed this manuscript letter on Department of the Interior stationery to Secretary of the Treasury Charles J. Folger in 1884.
Manuscript letter signed "HM Teller" as Secretary of the Interiorin blue ink. Black ink notations at top edge and bottom left corner in unknown hand. 1 page, 7¾x9¾, on Department of the Interior stationery, docketed on verso. Feb. 15, 1884. Addressed to the Honorable Charles J. Folger, Secretary of the Treasury. In full: "Sir: I have the honor, in compliance with your request of the 6th instant, to enclose herewith two sets of the official postage stamps of this department. Respectfully". CHARLES JAMES FOLGER (1818-1884), from 1881 until his death in office in 1884, was Secretary of the Treasury in the Cabinet of President Chester A. Arthur. HENRY MOORE TELLER (1830-1914) was a United States Senator from Colorado (1876-1882, 1885-1909) and one of the first Senators to represent that state. He was also Secretary of the Interior (1882-1885) under Presidents Chester A. Arthur. Teller was a leader of the Silver Republicans, which supported the free coinage of silver and bimetallism and which split in the 1890s from the main Republican Party, which supported the gold standard. His most important legislative act was probably his amendment to the United States' declaration of war against Spain in the Spanish-American War in 1898. Teller sponsored this amendment to prevent the United States from annexing Cuba, thought at the time to be a major reason for the Spanish-American War. His amendment was largely overridden in 1901 by yet another amendment - this one by Senator Orville H. Platt - which gave the United States broad powers over Cuba, as well as economic and military territories on the island like Guantanamo Bay Naval Base. Folds, creased through "T" of "Teller". Light show-through of mounting remnants at top and bottom edges (does not touch signature or handwriting). Otherwise in fine condition.