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SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION
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brief as possible.

I need hardly ask you to say to the Regents that the communication is confidential, and I hope that nothing will be said that will lead to knowledge of this last point reaching the counsel on the other side. It seems strange that it did not occur to counsel or to the court below; and I will frankly say that it did not occur to myself until after the case had been argued.

You have a copy of Mr. Wetmore's letter, in which he admirably expresses the difficulty there is in getting a court to adhere to the legal construction of a will, instead of inventing some way to carry out what they conceive to be the testator's intention.

I hope that the Regents will understand that our first object will be to impress the court with the belief that we are trying to carry out the intention of Mr. Andrews; and that he had no idea of letting this large estate go out to Ohio, to be put in the hands of men under little restraint, to do as they might please in carrying on this school, which, by the way, to some minds, seems to be a not very wise and practicable undertaking.

Yours respectfully,

(SIGNED) Frank W. Hackett.

P.S. As I wished to be brief I did not go on to say that Mr. Andrews doesn't require the Smithsonian Institution to show that it is not [[underline]] possible [[/underline]] to create a corporation such as he requires under the Ohio law - though I very much doubt if it can be done. We show that taking legal advice they have tried to get a corporation and [[underline]] it [[/underlined]] is illegal - so his intention [[underlined]] has failed [[/underlined]] as to this.

^[[CDW]]