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(12-22-91 5000.) OFFICE CENTRAL PACIFIC RAILROAD CO. LAND DEPARTMENT. FOURTH AND TOWNSEND STREETS. San Francisco,
Jany. 5.Tth.....'93 Robert Underwood Johnson Esq. Care of the Century Magazine, New York , N.Y. My Dear Mr Johnson:-
I have before me your esteemed favor of Dec. 7th,and in return I thank you very sincerely for the courteous manner in which
my friend Steffens was received by you and for the very efficient service you rendered him in securing a foot-hold in journalism.
I believe in my young friend. He comes of stock that has been successful. His father is one of the wealthiest men in Northern
California , but young Steffens is determined to have a career of his own. He is exceedingly grateful to you for the kindness
you have shown him,a gratitude which is not exceeded by my own. Concerning Yosemite affairs. I was a member of the Board
of Yosemite Commissioners for nine years,and I perceived from the first that as a rule the Board would be composed of party
politicians who had performed party service,or placed the Executive making the appointment under obligation; and that just
as soon as he took his seat in the Board,he began to find out what he could do for his friend. But this is not the greatest
evil attending the management of the Valley. The trouble is that the Valley is as much the private property of the Yosemite
Stage and Turn Pike Company as if it had been granted by the Congress of the United. 04425