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(Copy of draft of letter, written in October, 1896,
on return from Bering Sea, and before ''Honest Dollars" was seen.)

Dear Dr. Ross:

I called on you a day ago but failed to find you at home.
It seemed to me that I ought to say a frank word as to certain matters as seen
from my point of view as the representative of the University as a whole, which
stands pledged to non-partisanship in all matters over which men struggle in opposing bands. An institution moreover maintained by the most strenuous
effort by a founder, who whatever her own views, will never interfere to impose
them upon us.

No institution should claim the right to limit investigation or to check
or belittle the expression of these conclusions. But an institution like
ours has the right to expect its members not to compromise its dignity. As
it cannot escape some degree of responsibility for the public acts of each of
its members, it must expect its members to keep this fact in mind. Each society
has in some degree a responsibility for the public acts of each one of those
who compose it.

In courtesy, if for no other reason, a member of the University ought not to
expose the institution to unwelcome surprises.

As a matter of fact in the present campaign, as a president of the University,
I have met with a number of surprises and at least three of these have been
distinctly humiliating.

It is perhaps not necessary to be more explicit, but O do not think that it
would be right to let the matter pass without protest. If you do not see any
ground for such action on my part then is my humiliation the greater.
Very truly yours,
David S. Jordan.