The Waterbury Democrat., 1931-08-13
DAILY NEWS LETTER
By THOMAS l.. STOKES United Press Staff COrrcsDOndent

(Shtcu iTcSS Stdu SOTFcsIOnucnt
 Washington, (UP)-The "com- plete letter writer" for government officials should be big book with only one sentence written across each page. and that in red ink and large. bold characters:
 "If you must write a letter write 1t so that it can be read from the housetops.''
 For it seems that sooner or later most letters from government of ficials are doomed to be published and then 1t is too late for the writer. His apparently innocent words may take on a different meaning when lined up in the columns of newspaper. Or their real meaning may become much more significant.
 But despite all the trouble that letters can cause, lovers and gov ernment officials still continue to write the sort that brings diff culties.
 Every year furnishes abundant proof of this fact.
 A Warning
 To the complete letter writer' for government officials might be added one other line:
 Be especially careful in writing to congressman"
 Washington recently was treated to one of those incidents that arise from time to time. involv- ing the usual triangle of cab inet officer. letter and con- gressman. Now the whole coun. try knows that Secretary of Com merce Lamont wrote letter to Rep. Francis COndOn, democrat k. l., in which Lamont was inter- preted as recognizing the inevita bility of wage cuts by. saying that some industries were in such po- sition that they either had to cut wages temporarily, or shut down.
 The wage cut question is deli- cate one with the administration which has used its influence in public announcements to hold reductions to a minimum. So naturally the letter caused quite furor and immediately brought denials that the administration had changed its policy. But no one publicly ever undertook to say what Lamont really meant. He seemed to mean just what every body read into his letter.
 This was another one of those letters that is made public by a congressman. Condon let the cat out of the bag and how 1t did prowl, with sinister screechings. bout the capital for a day or two. Lamont was away at the time and nothing came from him. Another Letter
 It was just a letter from an as- sistant secretary of interior to President Hoover which. brought to the light of day, played quite a prominent part in senate rejec- ton of the nomination of Judge John J. Parker of North Carolina as an associate justice of the su- preme court. Assistant Secretary Joseph M. Dixon wrote to Presi- dent Hoover that the appointment would be good thing politically In the south.
 This letter somehow got in the file of correspondence on the Par ker nomination that was sent to the senate Judiciary committee, and that turned out to be qnite unfortunate.
 Veteran attaches of the govern ment usually are careful to pass the word. when they can. to in- coming officials about the differ ence in writing a letter as a gov ernment official and as a private citizen, or in private business. But despite thiS caution. ever so often the mistake is made. and there is resultant squirming. explaining and regret and occasionally the retirement of the letter writer from the government service.