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xviii with his endorsement. The President repeatedly followed the ideas of these letters, and it is a pleasure to record that in no instance was there subsequently cause for regret for any selection based on the letters.

In 1908 the President's appointment of the Farm Life Commission received Mr. Nelson's commendation, for he had long recognized the need of making farm life more attractive; indeed, he would have financed experiments along this line had he been younger. At the same time Mr. Nelson spoke approvingly of the President's recent comment on the courts, adding, "Courts need such criticism the worst kind. They steadily undermine confidence in law and legal justice."

"I am sick at heart," the President replied, "over the way in which the courts have been prostituting justice in the last few years. The greatest trouble will follow if they do not alter their present attitude. I suppose I shall 'pay' myself in some way for what I have said about the courts, but I have got to take the risk."

In 1909, in the closing days of the Roosevelt Administration the President issued an executive order looking to a quick settlement of a long-pending controversy over the channel of the Kaw River at Kansas City. It was unexpected; indeed, few in Kansas City knew that the President was considering the subject. The order cut straight to the heart of the controversy in true Roosevelt fashion. The same day Mr. Nelson sent this telegram to the President: