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CONFIDENTIAL memorandum of a conference held 
at the White House, dictated by Dr. Adler, December 6, 
1905. 
In response to the accompanying note I went to the 
White House at nine o 1 clock on the evening of December 4th. 
I had learned in the afternoon that the purpose of the 
conference was to discuss the Freer Collection, and Senator 
Henderson had requested me to bring along whatever papers 
were important in the matter. 
There were present: 
The President,"ft -&-% • nH~ ~kr , — 
Senator Henderson, 
Mr. Hitt, 
Mr. Justice Holmes of the Supreme Court, 
Mr. W. H. Holmes, of the Bureau of Ethnology, 
Mr. A. J. Parsons, of the Library of Congress, and 
Mr. Fischer, the art dealer. 
The conference lasted over an hour-and-a-half. 
The President stated that he knew Mr. Freer, had been 
at his house, had seen his pictures, and thought highly of 
them. He had heard all kinds of contradictory statements 
about the terms of the proposed gift and about the proposed 
action of the Smithsonian Institution, and he regarded the 
