I acknowledge receipt of yours of the 23rd.

I have carefully gone through the file relating to the charges against Captain J. J. Laughinghouse, Chairman of the Local Exemption Board of Pitt County, of obstructing the draft law. I very much regret not being able to agree with you that the facts should not be presented to a grand jury. Whether Captain Laughinghouse is convicted or not, he has, in my judgment, been guilty of acts constituting gross violations of law, and if he were not proceeded against I could not consistently pursue the policy I have mapped out and which I believe to be based on wisdom. Acts such as those committed by this party tend to make the administration of the draft law a farce. I am unable to understand how he could have believed that what he did was right.