AIR MAIL

November 21, 1945.

Mr. James Laughlin
c/o Keyser
121 Walkers Lane
Salt Lake City 7, Utah

U. S. v. Ezra Pound

Dear Jay:

After making arrangements to get in to see him, I went down to Washington Monday evening and spent two hours with Pound yesterday morning. Before going down, I got the letter from Mr. Moore to you from your desk which served as credentials both with him and the authorities.

I found the poor devil in a rather desperate condition. He is very wobbly in his mind and while his talk is entirely rational, he flits from one idea to another and is unable to concentrate even to the extent of answering a single question without immediately wondering off the subject. We spent most of the time talking about Confucius, Jefferson and the economic and political implications of their ideas. I let him ramble on, even though I did not get much of the information which I wanted, as it seemed a shame to deprive him of the pleasure of talking, which has been almost entirely denied to him for a long while.

Although I am not sure of the precise facts, I gather that he had been placed in solitary confinement immediately after his arrest and held incommunicado, being told that nobody knew where he was, or what happened to him. He was put in an open cage so that the guards could watch him for possible suicide attempts, and during the day he sat in the broiling sun on the plains at Pisa, while at night searchlights beat down upon him. He was unable to talk to anyone and had no reading material except two volumes of Confucius which he has been translating from the Chinese. As a result, he went out of his mind and suffered complete loss of memory, a state from which he said he did not fully recover until September, and I would say that he is still under a considerable mental cloud. For instance, he kept talking about the possibility that powerful government officials with whom he had no acquaintance whatever, might interest themselves in his case if they could be persuaded of the soundness of his economic views. He said that whether or

District of Columbia with whom I discussed the case briefly yesterday and found him most courteous and helpful. I told the court, however, that my appearance was for the purpose of arraignment, which includes entering of a plea to the indictment and application for bail, and that I am not prepared to say at the present time whether I am in a position to take the defense. This depends somewhat upon the course which the defense will take, and it may be necessary to retain some other trial counsel, although I am quite willing to represent him for the purpose of arranging the defense and advising him clear through.

I told him that I want to postpone a decision as to who should represent him on the trial until I know more about the case, and he appeared to agree to all these suggestions.

I am sending a copy of this letter to Mr. Moore. For his benefit, I should like to say that in this country the functions of solicitor and barrister are combined, one or more members of a firm specializing in trial work, but never to the exclusion of office practice, and in many cases both functions are combined in one person, as in my case.

Also, I should like Mr. Moore to investigate immediately the possibility that Mrs. Pound's funds may be used as security for bail, if bail should be permitted. I am not sure what the amount will be. It may be as much as 25 or 50,000 dollars, although under the circumstances less bail is a possibility. I am also making investigations through underwriters in New York, and if bail is set, I will cable Mr. Moore for instructions.

With best regards,

J.C. CW

P.S. Pound wants you to publish his translation of Confucius, which are ready, and also a new volume of Cantos, some of which I believe he sent out from prison in Italy. He seems to think the Confucius is world shaking in its import and should be published immediately.

NEW
DIRECTIONS

NORFOLK
CONNECTICUT

November 24

Dear Julien -

Thanks ever so much for your two good letters and for your
very clear report, clear report on Ezra's situation. It really twists me
to think what the poor old bastard has been through and your visit must
have cheered him enormously. I hope they will let me go down to see him
so that I can console him a little.

Do by all means try to get him "sprung", if that is the
correct term. I'll be able to take care of his living expenses until
such time as Dorothy can help him. I'm afraid I don't have $50,000
bucks on the loose at the moment, but possibly I could put up some
securities with a bank which would enable a bonding firm to go bail for
him. How does all that work? My relatives never seem to get jailed, so
I don't know. I'm sure Ezra wouldn't try to run away, but what if he
should die? From the picture it looks as though he is in really bad
shape.

I expect to be back in New York on the 5th. I enclose
check for $200 which you can use for his expenses or yours, as you see
fit. Just keep me a record of it as I know Dorothy will want to pay me
back when she can.

The skiing out here is wonderful - five feet of snow -
but I've only had a few rides. First there was the funeral and then I
caught the grippe and have been in bed. But this penicillin pulled me
right out of it and I hope to be able to ski again before I go. Both
Margaret and her mother are holding up very well and she will come East
soon so we can take up residence in our rented apartment in Stowe.

I am very pleased that Ezra will accept the idea of a
defense on the grounds of insanity. I'm sure that is his best chance
of escape, though I suppose it would mean his being locked up in an
institution.

I guess we can go into all that when I get back and
meanwhile thanks ever so much Julien for the wonderful way you have
taken hold of this thing. Such kindness to a man who is badly down
is most meaningful.

See you soon,

NEW YORK OFFICE : 67 WEST 44TH STREET