The Secretary of State to the German Ambassador.

My Dear Baron: Regarding the inclusion of the first general appraiser in the provision authorizing open hearing in reappraisement cases, the Secretary of the Treasury says that it can be done if you are specially urgent for it, but he thinks that I ought to say to you that he does not consider it probable that the first general appraiser will consider it practicable to give hearings which will be in the nature of court proceedings, and that he does not think the authority conferred in the new rule would be very much exercised by the first general appraiser; that is to say, he thinks that, if the authority were given, the appraiser would quite uniformly rule that the public interests would be prejudiced by the open hearing.

Referring to your letter of February 22, I have asked the Secretary of the Treasury to favor me with an expression of his views upon the questions which you ask, and I will communicate with you immediately upon hearing from him.

Very sincerely, yours,

Elihu Root.