Letter from B. F. Barnes, Acting Secretary to the President, to Secretary of the Interior E. A. Hitchcock

This item is a letter regarding the case of Mr. D. W. Ross. Also included are letters from A. P. Davis to W. Scott Smith and from Charles Walcott to E. A. Hitchcock.

Extracted text

OCR Page 1 of 8
to and date of this letter. heart c c Director, Address Washington, U. all S. communications Geological D. C." Survey, to Prediminary FHN report in reply please refer SUBJECT: Charges against Mr. D. W. Ross. APD-CDM DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY WASHINGTON, D. c., December 13, 1904. The Honorable Secretary of the Interior. Sir: The letter of Senator W. B. Heyburn to the Pres- ident of the United States, dated December 6, together with the statement of S. H. Hays and accompanying papers, contain- ing charges against Mr. D. W. Ross, have been received and examined. Apparently the charges against Mr. Ross are as follows: 1. That he was financially interested in the Twin Falls project prior to his appointment in the Reclama- tion Service. This is the first intimation of financial connection with this project by Mr. Ross. It is not stated to what extent he was interested, though it is made clear that he held none of the stock. Whether the connection was actually improper or illegal does not appear, and the charge may be based upon an 'assumption that Mr. Ross should receive compensation for the surveys he made, such expense not being adequately provided for by State funds, and being a necessary preliminary to the engagement of capital to build the project.