Yours of the 27th received. This department has no disposition to discriminate against you because you are a negro. When your former application for appointment as notary public was received, we assumed from your letter that your commission had just expired, and without any inquiry we issued a commission. Subsequently, this department was informed that you had previously received a commission without the department's being fully informed as to who you were. This department also received a number of protests against your appointment, and under the circumstances, we felt that it would not be proper to make it; not because you were a negro, but because you were not a proper person to fill the office.

If you can satisfy this department that its information is incorrect, and that you are a proper person to appoint, the fact that you are a negro will not prevent your appointment.