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Thencanic alumnus William Bellerjeau ("lazy Bill") thanks the Society for making him an honorary member alongside various other notables from the Spanish-American War and U.S. government. This letter reveals that the Thencanic also inducted Admiral George Dewey's dog, "Bob," as an honorary member. Transcription included.

R. Earle Anderson, a recent alumnus of the Model School, extends his gratitude to the Thencanic Society for electing him an Honorary Member. He name-drops several notable military and political figures of the time who have also received this honor: the U.S. Navy commanders Charles Sigsbee, W. S. Schley, and George Dewey, all heroes of the Spanish-American War, as well as the Qing Dynasty statesman Li Hongzhang. For an unknown reason, the text of this letter is identical to the one sent by Benjamin Messler on the same date (see related materials). Transcription included.

Captain Charles Sigsbee, commander of the U.S.S. Maine at the time of its explosion in Havana Harbor in February 1898, thanks the Thencanic Society for electing him an honorary member. The Thencanic admitted to the membership several notable figures from the Spanish-American War. Transcription included.

Benjamin Messler, a recent alumnus of the Model School, extends his gratitude to the Thencanic Society for electing him an Honorary Member. He name-drops several notable military and political figures of the time who have also received this honor: the U.S. Navy commanders Charles Sigsbee, W. S. Schley, and George Dewey, all heroes of the Spanish-American War, as well as the Qing Dynasty statesman Li Hongzhang. For an unknown reason, the text of this letter is identical to the one sent by R. Earle Anderson on the same date (see related materials). Transcription included.

Content note: This document contains racist and white supremacist language.

As part of his oration at a meeting of the Thencanic Society, Joseph Bodine prepared these remarks on future U.S. foreign policy. Just months after the end of hostilities between Spain and the United States (and before a peace treaty had been signed!), Bodine takes the "anti-imperialist" tack, although he couches his position in racist and white supremacist ideas about the supposed inability for self-government of the peoples in the U.S.'s new colonies. His perspective aligned with many of the so-called anti-imperialists following the Spanish-American War, in that he opposed U.S. expansion but did so on the grounds that such conquered peoples were unfit to live under the U.S. Constitution. In all, this provides an interesting snapshot of one political stance in the immediate aftermath of the war. Transcription included.

A humorous report, one rejected by the Society's officers due to its levity. Allusions to the events and people from around the start of the Spanish-American War dates this document to early 1898. Transcription attached.

A short report, but a historically interesting one as the Thencanic's debate on the "Cuban Question" marks the first mention of the events leading to the Spanish-American War the following year. Transcription included.

The Thencanic's meeting of April 22 occurred the day after Spain severed diplomatic relations with the United States, and between that meeting and the writing of this report, the U.S. declared war on Spain (April 25). So this report emerged from an atmosphere of nationalism, jingoism, and adolescent masculinity, as Ernest Van Dyke's "good and patriotic" oration reveals. Katzenbach also reveals that the Society has inducted Rear Admiral William T. Sampson (soon to direct the U.S. fleet at the Battle of Santiago de Cuba in July) and former U.S. Ambassador to Spain Steward Woodford as honorary members of the Thencanic. Transcription included.

This critic's report is notable for its allusion to Theodore Roosevelt, who at this point would have been elected Vice-President only a few days prior. Evidently some members' "political prejudices," presumably pro-Democrat, meant that Roosevelt was rejected for honorary membership in the Thencanic Society. Transcription included.

The Censors offer the following as topics for debate: trading the Philippines for the British West Indies, applying Civil Service Reform laws to municipal offices, and the benefits of a whipping-post over a jail. Transcription included.