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eee Every effort should be made to ascertain from aan the full ciroumstences of the elleged meting at — Tt is believed that attorn:;& ; shoulé also appropriately Sa interviewed in this connection. If the meeting can be established, every effort should be made to pin the witnesses down to the specific purposes of the meeting, in order to avoid attempts on the part of the defense later to concoct an innocent explana- tion. 3. There is a possibility that the Peabody Coal interests, - the largest and most influential operators in Jliinois, are in- volved in this violations Mre Ryan suggested that not only did Lewis make money payments to Elshoff, but that he also used his power with the Peabody interests to obtain favorable concessions and rebates to Elshoff in the sale of brokerage coal while Mine "EB" was shut down. Mr. Ryan points out that during the first few months of the shut-down, Elshoff carried om his brokerage operations with the Panther Creek Mines, organized by the Pro- gressives. Later, however, when it appeared that the shut-dom would be extended indefinitely, he ewitched over to th&Peabody Coal Company. Ryan states that his comdissions with her Creek wore the normal rate, $.15 a ton, but that his commissions with Peabody reached the exorbitant figure of $.50 a ton. It is requested that this lead be thoroughly investigated. Mr. Ryan had in mind several methods which could be used in following down Mr. Ryan stated to Mre Coleman that he wuld cooperate fully with the Bureau during the course of this investigation, and he was advised that Mr. Hallfordts office would communicate with him within a few days. It is believed that Mr. Ryan will be of great assistance aince he is an experienced operator and is familiar with all the personalities and events in connection with this case over the past decades It is obvious, of course, that Mr. Ryan has a bias against subject Lewis and that he has a wholesome contempt for subject Elshoff. On the other hand, he gave Mr. Coleman and Mr. Doyle the impression of being a man of ability and integrity, and that he is motivated in his coopera- tion by the principal fundamentals of citizenship and patriotism. geo ab SL Mre Ryan stated that Elshoff had boasted lately of writing ~— Secreta Ickes, as government manager and operator of the mines, demanding that the Federal Government subsidize his payrolls, otherwise threatening to shut off production. Ryan believes that Lewis 18 actually the author of these demands. I called the Attorney Generalts attention to these allegations, and he has asked me to confer with Secretary Ickets office regarding this correspondence which I intend to do in the near future. The sm ott = - s nee ®aeceewrane wttl ka -=a4reet4 Pee ee ete = results of this conference Wiss Vo reported to 7 uu promptly.