McMaster's note explained what Montgomery had already surmised. He agrees with McMaster that in the matter of the opposition of the anti-Catholic bigots, the best thing is delay. But there is another source of opposition—the railroad corporations whom he has had to combat. He has learned that Senator Ingalls used certain isolated extracts from an opinion he prepared in September 1885 in a case where a railroad company was trying to oust from their property some Choctaw Indians. He seemed to want to produce the impression that Montgomery was asserting authority for the Secretary of the Interior to disregard and override the laws of Congress. On learning this, Montgomery had had copies of the opinion printed and sent to the Senators, so that they could see for themselves just what the decision was. He sends McMaster one of the copies and also a clipping from the leading California Democratic paper, which he believes has presented his case correctly. He does this so that McMaster may see the position of the enemy forces. The two Senators who accompanied the remains of the late Senator Miller to California; though one, J.P. Jones of Nevada, is a Republican, are on his side in the fight. Jones has been a warm personal friend for twenty-five years and has volunteered to express himself strongly in Montgomery's favor. Montgomery suggests that if McMaster finds it convenient to be in Washington next week, he can probably wield some controlling influence with Senator Edmonds, and he might send a note to him now, requesting a suspension of action by the committee on Montgomery's case, until he can see Edmonds. In any case, however, Montgomery will be content to trust all to God, who may have another and more important job for him than the one assigned him by Mr. Cleveland, and, whatever it may be, he will do it to the best of his ability. The enclosures: 1 The front page of the Daily Examiner of San Francisco, Saturday Morning, March 6, 1886, containing an article on "Why Hon, Zach Montgomery is Opposed", under the dateline, "Washington, Mar. 5, and another article on "The Real Reason Why That Capable Officer Hon. Zach Montgomery is Opposed", under a similar deteline. 2 A pamphlet of twenty-two pages—"The Choctaw Indians and the Missouri, Kansas, and Texas Ry. Co., Opinion of Assistant Attorney General Montgomery…. Washington, D.C., September 1845." :: I-2-f A.L.S. 6pp. 12mo.