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el 1 NOMINATION OF EVA B. ADAMS \,1 - •

GOVERNMEN't

Storage KSU LIBRARIES 

HEARING

BEFORE THE

COMMITTEE ON BANKING AND CURRENCY

UNITED STATES SENATE

EIGHTY-SEVENTH CONGRESS

FIRST SESSION

ON

THE NOMINATION OF EVA B. ADAMS TO BE DIRECTOR

OF THE MINT

SEPTEMBER 22, 1961

Printed for the use of the Committee on Banking and Currency

U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE

75442 WASHINGTON: 1961
COMMITTEE ON BANKING AND CURRENCY

A. WILLIS ROBERTSON, Virginia, Chairman

JOHN SPARKMAN, Alabama HOMER E. CAPEHART, Indiana

PAUL H. DOUGLAS, Illinois WALLACE F. BENNETT, Utah

JOSEPH S. CLARK, Pennsylvania PRESCOTT BUSH, Connecticut

WILLIAM PROXMIRE, Wisconsin J. GLENN BEALL, Maryland

HARRISON A. WILLIAMS, JR., New Jersey JACOB K. JAVITS, New York

EDMUND S. MUSKIE, Maine JOHN G. TOWER, Texas

EDWARD V. LONG, Missouri

MAURINE B. NEUBERGER, Oregon

MATTHEW HALE, Chief of Staff

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NOMINATION OF EVA B. ADAMS

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 1961

U.S. SENATE,

COMMITTEE ON BANKING AND CURRENCY,

Washington, D.C.

The committee met, pursuant to call, in room 5302, New Senate

Office Building, at 9:32 a.m., Senator John Sparkman presiding.

Present: Senator Sparkman.

Senator SPARKMAN. The committee is meeting this morning for the

purpose of considering the nomination of Eva B. Adams, of Nevada,

to be Director of the Mint.

We will insert in the record excerpts from title 31, chapter 7, United

States Code, which has to do with the duties and obligations of the

Director of the Mint.

(The excerpts referred to follow:)

THE BUREAU OF THE MINT

Section 251. Bureau established: Director.

There shall be established in the Treasury Department a Bureau of the Mint,

embracing in its organization and under its control all mints for the manufacture

of coin, and all assay offices for the stamping of bars, which have been, or which

may be, authorized by law. The chief officer of the said bureau shall be denominated the Director of the Mint, and shall be under the general direction

of the Secretary of the Treasury. He shall be appointed by the President, by

and with the advice and consent of the Senate, and shall hold his office for the

term of five years, unless sooner removed by the President, upon reasons to be

communicated by him to the Senate.

Section 253. Same; powers; reports.

The Director of the Mint shall have the general supervision of all mints and

assay offices, and shall make an annual report to the Secretary of the Treasury

of their operations, at the close of each fiscal year, and from time to time such

additional reports, setting forth the operations and condition of such institutions,

as the Secretary of the Treasury shall require, and shall lay before him the annual

estimates for their support. And the Secretary of the Treasury shall appoint

the number of clerks, classified according to law, necessary to discharge the duties

of said bureau.

Senator SPARKMAN. We are glad to have you here, Miss Adams.

Miss ADAMS. Thank you.

Senator SPARKMAN. Senator Bible, we are delighted to have you

here. We would be pleased to hear from you at this time.

STATEMENT OF ALAN BIBLE, A U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE

OF NEVADA

Senator BIBLE. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.

This is indeed a high honor and great privilege for me to appear

before you today.
2 NOMINATION OF EVA B. ADAMS

I recognize that this is a nomination that comes before the Senate

at a late hour, and with the sine die, I hopefully trust, just a few hours

away, I recognize the problems that each of us encounters in attending

meetings.

I have known Miss Adams for several years. I first knew her when

we were college students at the University of Nevada together.

I met her in connection at that time with her duties as the women's

editor of the University of Nevada "Sagebrush," which was our university newspaper.

She had a great record in the university, and it is a record that she

has added to as the years marched along.

She is a- woman of tremendous ability and of tremendous capability.

After she left the University of Nevada, she became an instructor,

first in the high schools in the Las Vegas school system. She later

returned to her alma mater and became an instructor there and later

the assistant dean of women at the University of Nevada.

She started her Federal political career, if I may put it that way,

when she became the administrative assistant for the late Senator

Pat McCarran.

She has served on the Hill in the capacity as an administrative

assistant for better than 20 years, first serving Senator McCarron

and then serving Senator Ernest Brown, who was an interim Senator,

for a period of several months, and then she has been with me for just

a little over 6 years.

She is one of the most intelligent women that I have ever had the

pleasure and privilege of knowing.

She holds an advanced degree from Columbia University. She

holds ,a master's degree in law from George Washington University here

in Washington, D.C. She is admitted to the practice of the bar in

the District of Columbia and she is admitted to the practice of the

bar in the State of Nevada. ,

I. think it is needless to say that because of her duties as an administrative assistant during this period of time she actually has not

practiced too much law. She certainly has •the ability and the

capability.

She has been a strong right arm to me in the time that I have been

privileged to be a U.S. Senator from the State of Nevada, and she

ha S an astounding ability to master facts and to get along with people

and to get the job done.

She is a woman of great integrity, of great honesty, and of great

ability. I unhesitatingly recommended her to the President of the

United States earlier in the year for this promotion.

It will be a loss to my office but there have been many administrative assistants who have gone a little higher. I know the chairman's

own administrative assistant, John Horne, has moved up to a greater

poSiticin as the head of the Small Busineis Administration. And this

same thing I feel certain is going to happen and should happen to

Eva Adams. ,

I again just recommend her unhesitatingly to this committee.

Senator SPARKMAN. Thank you, Senator Bible.

Miss Adams, I would say that is a wonderful recommendation.

Maybe we ought.to close the record with that.

Mis ,Aimius. I think it is a fine idea.

Senator SPARKMAN. However, we will ask you some,questions.

First of all, do you have a biographical sketch?

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NOMINATION OF EVA B. ADAMS

STATEMENT OF EVA B. ADAMS

Miss ADAMS. Yes, sir • I do.

Senator SPARKMAN. Are have not been supplied with one.

Miss ADAMS. I have one.

Senator SPARKMAN. Will you let me see it, please? I suppose

though, Senator Bible has pretty well covered the content of the

biographical sketch. We will insert this in the record.

(The biographical sketch referred to follows:)

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF EVA B. ADAMS

Eva B. Adams, of Reno, has been for over 20 years on Capitol Hill as

administrative assistant to three Nev.,'evada Senators. She is presently administrative assistant to Senator Alan Bible, Democrat of Nevada.

Upon the death of Senator McCarran in 1954, she served as administrative

assistant to Senator Ernest Brown for several months before Senator Bible

assumed office in December 1954.

A native of Wonder, Nebr., she came to Washington from the University of

Nevada, where she was instructor in English and assistant dean of women.

Miss Adams has worked closely on legislative and governmental matters and

has a wide knowledge in varied fields.

A graduate of the University of Nevada in 1928, Miss Adams received her

master's degree in English at Columbia University in 1936. After coming to

Washington, she earned her law degree at Washington College of Law of American

University and, in 1950, received her master's degree in law from George Washington University.

She is a member of the bar of the State of Nevada and the District of Columbia,

and was admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of the United States in

1954.

Miss Adams served two terms as president of the Association of Administrative

Assistants and Executive Secretaries for the Senate, and continues to be active in

educational and community work.

She is a member of the American Bar Association, last year being appointed to

the Resolutions Committee of the ABA. She is an active member of the Federal

Communications Bar, the American Judicature Society, and the Federal Bar'

Association in Washington.

Miss Adams is a member of Kappa Alpha Theta, Phi Kappa Phi

'

Kappa Beta

Pi, as well as of the Association of the Business and Professional Women, the

Nevada Mining Association, Soroptimists International, the Nevada Mining

Association, the Executives' Club of Reno, and various charitable and civic

groups. She is an honorary member of the National Executive Secretaries

Association of Las Vegas and the American Association of Airport Executives.

Miss Adams serves on the board of managers of the Graham-Eckes School in

Palm Beach, Fla.

Her only sister, Mrs. Dave Herstine, lives in Reno, Nev.

Senator SPARKMAN. I notice one thing here that was not mentioned.

That is the length of your service on Capitol Hill. I notice you have

served 20 years.

Miss ADAMS. That is right, sir.

Senator SPARKMAN. You have worked for three different Senators.

Miss ADAMS. That is right.

Senator SPARKMAN. Who was the first one, Senator McCarran?

Miss ADAMS. Senator McCarran, yes, and then Senator Ernest

Brown, who was appointed by the Governor upon Senator McCarran's

death. He served only a few months.

Senator SPARKMAN. SO it has been a continuous service in the same

office?

Miss ADAMS. That is right.

Senator, SPARKMAN. Senator Douglas is not able to be present.

'11 He was desirous of asld.ng some questions regarding silver legis10 61 Ation.
\111111P.-

4 NOMINATION Or EVA - B. ADAMS

To tell you the truth, I am rather at a loss in asking 'questions on

that subject because I have not kept up with it as closely as he has.

He is an outstanding economist. But do you have any comment on

the silver question?

Miss ADAMS. I think I am aware of some of the questions Senator

Douglas might ask. I think, however, my answer would be that I

have worked here long enough to have great respect and regard for

the dictates of Congress as expressed through the law. I certainly

would try to administer that law as it is written and as it was intended

to be administered.

If there are policy matters which occur, which come before us, as

I think primarily concern the matters in which Senator Douglas might

be interested, I think those undoubtedly would be the subject of consideration of the officials in the Treasury Department who perhaps

establish policies in carrying out the laws set by Congress.

Senator SPARKMAN. Yes. I was just going to ask you about that.

As a matter of fact, your position is administrative, is it not?

Miss ADAMS. Yes, sir.

Senator SPARKMAN. And you do not of your own accord, as I understand, recommend legislation to Congress affecting money policies?

Of course, as to anything having to do with the mint itself, the

running of the mint, it would be up to you to recommend. But as

I understand it, as to money policies you really work under the Secretary of the Treasury, do you not?

Miss ADAMS. Yes, sir.

Senator SPARKMAN. As far as money policies are concerned?

Miss ADAMS. Oh, yes.

Senator SPARKMAN. By the way, haven't we had other ladies as

Directors of the Mint?

Miss ADAMS. One, I believe—Nellie Tayloe Ross.

Senator SPARKMAN. Is she the only woman who has been Director

of the Mint?

Miss ADAMS. All that I know of.

Senator SPARKMAN. I remember when she was appointed Director

of the Mint many years ago. She was the first woman Governor in

the country, was she not?

Miss ADAMS. Of Wyoming.

Senator BIBLE. Might I just say something perhaps off the record?

(Discussion off the record.)

Senator SPARKMAN. You would feel, then, that so far as money

policies are concerned—I will put it that way—silver

'

gold, paper,

counterfeit maybe—you would be under the direction first of all of the

laws passed by Congress?

Miss ADAMS. Definitely.

Senator SPARKMAN. And, second, so far as policymaking within the

framework of those laws is concerned, you would be under the Secretary of the Treasury, would you not?

Miss ADAMS. By all means, yes.

Senator SPARKMAN. Will you tell me what the Director of the

Mint does?

Miss ADAMS. Actually, the Director of the Mint supervises and

administers all the regulations which pertain to the purchase and the

sale and the custody and all of those matters—there are some minor

activities—in connection with gold and silver, which is the foremost
NOMINATION OF EVA B. ADAMS 5

responsibility. Other metals have to be bought because they are

used in coinage. As you know, the Constitution directs that the

U.S. Government shall coin. And the Director of the Mint supervises the coinage, both foreign and domestic.

As you know, there are two working mints, at Philadelphia and

Denver, and assay offices at New York and San Francisco, and the

depositories, West Point for silver and Fort Knox for gold. Those

come under the Director of the Mint.

The regulations for the purchase and sale of silver technically are

quite intricate, and there has been much discussion on that particular point recently. That is the particular responsibility of the Director, to see that the regulations established under the law are carried

out to their fullest.

That just about is what the Director does aside from minor things

which might not be of interest.

Senator SPARKMAN. Is the Office of the Director of the Mint here

in Washington?

Miss ADAMS. Yes, sir.

Senator SPARKMAN. Where are the mints located?

Miss ADAMS. Presently in Philadelphia, which probably does most

of the present mintage, and in Denver.

Senator SPARKMAN. In Denver?

Miss ADAMS. At Denver, Colo.

Senator SPARKMAN. Are there just those two now?

Miss ADAMS. The mint in San Francisco has become almost an

assay office and a depository for people bringing gold and silver

bullion, as has the New York City mint. New Orleans also has an

assay office, but I think they no longer mint.

Your committee recently passed some legislation which repealed

some obsolete provisions of the law.

Senator SPARKMAN. Yes, we reported out S. 3120, and the Senate

passed it. However, it is not yet law.

Miss Adams, what about your investments? Do you own any

stocks or bonds or have you any holdings that might create a conflict

of interest?

Miss ADAMS. I was going to ask if I might volunteer that, because

other committees I know ask that.

I have no stocks which have to do with mining at all, and I do not

have any holdings. At one time, when my father died, we had a

mine way up in the top of the mountains, but that mine is about

gone anyway, and I have no interest whatsoever in it now.

Senator SPARKMAN. You have no mining stocks?

Miss ADAMS. I have no mining stocks. I have no stocks which

have anything at all to do with the production of metals.

Senator SPARKMAN. Would you do this, please? This is something

we ask of all of those before our committee. Will you make a list of

your holdings, stocks and bonds and any other interests that you

have, and file it with the committee as a confidential filing?

Miss ADAMS. I prepared one for the Treasury Department at their

request some time ago.

Senator SPARKMAN. Have you consulted with the Counsel of the

Treasury Department regarding your holdings?

Miss ADAMS. I did not consult, but they asked for it, and I submitted it.
6 NOMINATION OF EVA B. ADAMS

Senator SPARKMAN. But you did submit it?

Miss ADAMS. Oh, yes. I will be happy to give you a copy.

Senator SPARKMAN-. If you will submit that same filing for this

committee, we would appreciate it.

Miss ADAMS. I would be delighted, sir.

Senator SPARKMAN. Now, Miss Adams, in view of Senator Douglas'

expressed interest in this matter—and, of course, you know he is

greatly interested--

Miss ADAMS. I certainly do, and I respect him very much.

Senator SPARKMAN. I wonder if it would not be wise for us to hold

up on further proceedings until, say, 2 o'clock this afternoon. Could

you come back at 2?

Miss ADAMS. I would be delighted.

Senator SPARKMAN. Senator Douglas is at the White House, and

I have a committee meeting at 10, so I am going to have to go to that.

But I think we can meet back here at 2 o'clock.

Miss ADAMS. I would be delighted.

Senator SPARKMAN. In the meantime, I shall try to get in touch

with Senator Douglas to see if our exchange here was satisfactory.

If not, if he wants to question you individually, then we will ask

you back at 2 o'clock.

Miss ADAMS. I would be delighted.

Senator SPARKMAN. Thank you very much.

The committee is recessed until further call of the Chair.

(Whereupon, at 9:50 a.m., the committee was recessed, to be reconvened at the call of the 'Chair.)

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