Mr. Toomey to Mr. Hay.
New York, January 17, 1900.
Sir: Your esteemed favor of the 16th instant to hand and carefully noted. I am now preparing the necessary documents that you request; but those, such as the bills of lading, may take a day or two to be obtained from the steamship company. In the meantime I will prepare an affidavit, such as you desire, covering all the facts in the case concerning the flour seized by the British Government.
Meantime I beg to thank you for the efforts you are making on our behalf, and wish to state that I am only too happy to comply with your request not to give out for publication any information that you may have given me, as I do not wish to embarrass your negotiations in any way. You will probably have noticed that, in spite of the enterprising efforts of our press, up to the present no information emanating from me has been published, as I have always been very careful to keep the matter right within proper limits, feeling that you would see that full justice was done to us in the end.
Hoping that a day or two’s delay in the preparation of the documents required will be of no inconvenience to you,
I remain,