Do not in any way put yourself out regarding this matter. I am satisfied that the President will do just what he wants to do and just what he thinks right, without much respect to what anybody says to him, and I don't want to bring pressure to bear upon him; but, of course, I want him to know that I have friends who think well of me. I am very appreciative of your offer and efforts, and hope that, whether I am given this position or not, I shall before very long have the opportunity of seeing you in New York. Very sincerely, FRANKLIN K. LANE TO HON. THEODORE ROOSEVELT THE WHITE HOUSE San Francisco, December 9, [1905] MY DEAR MR. PRESIDENT,--I have not written you before because of my expectation that I would see you soon, but as there now seems some doubt as to immediate confirmation I will not longer delay expressing the deep gratification which the nomination gave me. You gave the one answer I could have wished to the whispered charge that I was bound by obligation of some sort to the railroads--a charge never made in any form here, not even in the hottest of my five campaigns. My honor stood pledged to you--by the very fact of my willingness to accept the post--that I was free, independent, self-owned, capable of unbiased action. And that pledge remains. As to my confirmation, it has been suggested that it was the customary and expected thing for me to go to Washington and help in the fight. This I feel I should not do and have so written to Senator Perkins and others. I do not wish to appear indifferent in the slightest degree to the honor you have done me, or to the office itself, but I feel that you will appreciate without my setting them forth on paper the many reasons which hold me here. This is no time for an Interstate Commerce Commissioner to be on his knees before a United States Senator or to be thought to be in that position. Very respectfully yours, FRANKLIN K. LANE To Benjamin Ide Wheeler President, University of California San Francisco, December 15, 1905 MY DEAR MR. WHEELER,--I enclose copy of a letter sent this morning to Mr. Smythe of San Diego, who is temporarily with Senator Newlands in Washington. I wanted to tell you last night that I had written to the President thanking him for the confidence he had shown in me, and telling him that I did not think it was the right thing for me to go to Washington under present circumstances. He may have a different notion in this respect, and of course I should be guided by his judgment ... I have no doubt that many of the Senators would be quite willing to let the President have the law if they could have the Commission ...