Viewing page 476 of 535

This transcription has been completed. Contact us with corrections.

472
428

33 Ferry Avenue, East,
Detroit, Michigan,
March 4th, 1909.

Personal

Dear Doctor Walcott:-
Your very interesting personal letter of the 2nd, inst, came this morning.

Opposition in the House, such as you mention, is for a while to be expected; by degrees, public opinion will doubtless cause Congress to promptly recognize the value of the Fine Arts as a National possession, then, I am confident, funds will be liberally provided for housing and protecting such specimens of Art as your Institution already has and will hereafter surely receive. I am deeply interested in your thought concerning a way to obtain funds for present necessities. If money were provided by outside sources for fitting up exhibition rooms in the Smithsonian building ( which are so much needed ) would certain opposers in the House eventually repent and favor future proper appropriations for similar purposes? Or would they triumphantly declare, that they had forced the money out of the pockets of rich men? Your long experience in these matters, can undoubtedly solve this problem, and it is one which I should like, very much, to discuss with you when next we meet. In my opinion, the quicker the exhibition rooms are put in readiness, the quicker Congress will "come up to the scratch."

Transcription Notes:
---------- Reopened for Editing 2023-03-30 00:22:33 ---------- Reopened for Editing 2023-03-30 10:21:15 Per the advanced instructions, "inst." should be written out as "of this month" ---------- Reopened for Editing 2023-03-30 11:06:06 Instructions do not say to change inst. ---------- Reopened for Editing 2023-03-30 11:23:32