The Washington herald., 1910-05-18


sonal and confidential
Letter to Mr.. Perkins.
1t reads.
Ny Dear Mr.. Thomson: Last Sunday was the
guest Of Mr.. George ". Perkins. at Yonkers. Mr..
PERKINS Is az the head Of the house Of J. Pierpont
Morgan x Co, as you PERHAPS know He told me
That he had arranged for special boat 70 take him
self and party. including bis family. 10 Alaska Tor
the Investigation Of the feasibility Of exploiting
ALASKA IN railroad construction and IN other lines
IN which he is deeply interested. Tie Will sail
nom Seattle about the middle Of July.
He is dcsircus Of haSng engineer accompany
Inn who is lot allied IN any Alaskan interests or
TO amy railroad interest or other private connection
which would IN any way influence his Judgment
and he has been insistent on my recommending
some enc familiar with the Western country 10
take this voyage with him and 20 advise him.
Naturally / could think 81 no one so well equipped
as you 10 IN this Office and as the connection is
one Of importance and the trp would be one Of
great pleasure and profit. II has occurred 10 me- that
you would .nioy this form Of vacation. ON the re-
ceipt Of this letter please write me whether 1t viii
be worth while for Mr.. Perkins to consider It pos
sible for you to accompany him.
hope you viii not understand by the suggestion
above that have in any sense abandoned the hope
Of securing your services in the matter about which
We conferred in Seattle I anticipate that not later
than September l viii be able 70 formally present
the matter TO you. Sincerely yours.
Il. A. BALLINGER.
Inference Is Drawn.
1t Is supposed that the conference in
Seattle 10 which Mr.. Ballinger referred
related to the proposed appointment OF
Thomson as head Of the Reclamation
Service. Mr. Thomson, at the time Of his
correspondence with Secretary BaIIinger,
was city engineer IN Seattle. Mr.. Thorn
son replied with this letter to the Sec
retary's suggestion in regard to the trip
with George w. Perkins
Seattle. May %. 1909.
My Dear Mr.. Ballingrr: | have just wired Can
arrange Northern trip but il may interfere Spokane
Congress r. H. Thomson" Upon receipt Of your
letter l. Of course % the mayor with reference
10 a possible absence. ! said 10 him that sou had
asked me TO make "a trip for unknown purposes.
with unknown parties. 10 am unknown part Of
Alaska. beginning about the middle Of July"
Much 20 my surprise. his worked on his honor
curiosity IN most remarkable way and Tor two
days be has tried 10 see II ne could not lead ont on
something that would reveal the purpose. / knew
nothing more than first stated
He said % me late this afternoon that he had
made up his mind YOU wanted me 20 catch some
bunch Of thieves and he would like 10 know who
they were, 80 as 10 help me catch them.
Now, Thomson he said. YOU wire the Judge
A'i Eau 10 OUT inht IT YOU % N may make n I'M
possible Tor you 20 attend the irrigation congress az
spokane, and you show me his answer"
Under these conditions. judge please write noe a
blind letter which / saow him 90 as to satisfy
his request if not his curiosity. ! must confess %
considerable disappointment at the curiosity mani
tested
If I-go. viii only say that have chosen to
take my summer rest by visiting Alaska. This state
meut viii b. satisfactory 20 the mayor
/ expect 90 90 East 90 the mountains On a day or
two. with Mr.. Parry and Judge Hauford. TO visit
their various irrigation works viii also stop for
a day In North Yakima. Very truly your
r. Il. THOMSON.
Business Matters Mentioned.
a short time after this letter was writ
ten. Mr.. Banineer advised Thomson not
10 go on the Alaska trip and in a letter
written to George W. Perkins on June ).
1909, marked Personal and confidential 30
Secretary Ballinger writes in reference
TO Thomson:
have asked him 10 write you direct.
and advised him that for certain reasons
I would prefer that he would not so TO
Alaska as 7 wish to take up with him
certain business matters this summer"
At the same time Secretary BaHinger
notified Mr.. Perkins that he had asked
Thomson 10 recommend some other en-
gineer 10 accompany him on the Alaska
trip. In his letter 10 Thomson making
this request. Secretary Ballinger say-
The purpose Of his Mr. Perkinsl trip. in the
strctest confidence Is the investigation of feasible
railway construction in ALASKA with mineraI re-
sources ard Possibilities tributary 20 any line or
lines u road that might be considered feasible and
IN short desire man Of that experience in en-
HrHH.
sentative adviser along these lines While I know
a number 81 persons on the Coast who might pos
Nbly MI the bill. I hesitate % recommend any Of
them whom | recall az the present time. / know
that your acquaintance with men Of engineering and
mining experience ought 20 enable Won 10 s.ges- a
man who would nh the bill.
When the subject was first mentioned 10 me- As
have heretofore written o. you you were the only
person whom ! could think Of whom | could recon-
mend; and in further discussing the matter with
Perkins. after learning the inadyisability Of your
going. he was quite msistent that YOU should assist
him In getting a man. He viii rrotably be In
Seattle about July 4. and viii call upon YOU. IN
me meantime you VIII please write Nh George W
Perkins. ccnfdentially. az his address In New York
care }. P!erpont Morgan q Co. and you can state
snAt you nave written him at my request. Any
further information you want from him he viii give
you without hesitation. ] have assured him he
could place implicit confidence in any statements
yCu would be willing 70 make.
Another Perkins Missiye.
Another letter written by Secretary Bal
linger to Mr.. Perkins. dated June 90. 1905.
declines an invitation which Mr.. Perkins
had extended to have Mr.. Bauinger's son
Edward accompany him on the Alaskan
trip Secretary Ballinger thanked Mr..
Perkins for the invitation. but said that
his vr~orrid 30 NJ
during the summer.
The reading of these letters led to a
demand by Attorney Brandeis that the
committee call on Secretary BaIIlnger for
all the letters. personal and official. that
have passed between him and Mr. Per-
kins, between him and J. p. Morgan &.
Co, and between him and the Guggen-
helms. This demand caused a wrangle
in the committee. but in the end Mr.. Bal
fingers counsel said that the Secretary
would have no objection to submitting his
letters. If any existed, to the committee
for their decision as TO whether they were
material in this proceeding.
Kerby Resumes Stand.
Resuming his testimony. Kerby told
of the destruction Of the notebooks Of
his fellow-stenographer. James G.. Mas
sey, at the suggestion Of Carr, private
secretary TO Mr.. Ballinger, and explained
how he had happened to preserve his
own notebook which contained parts of
the dictation Of the Lawler memorandum.
on examination by Mr.. Vertrees Kerby
admitted that he had taken this note
book from the department. and that
the important parts OF II had been pho
tographed at the instance OF the repre-
sentative OF the newspaper association
which he had given his statement