Evening star., 1934-01-30
LETTER TO MELLON
DECLARED MISSING
Senate Probers Given What
Was Purported to Be Pho.
tostatic Copy of MisSive.
BY the Associated Press.

Testimony that letter from former
Postmaster General Walter F.. Brown
to Andrew w. Mellon regarding an air
mail contract was missing from Post
Office Department files was given today
to the Senate committee investigating
air and ocean mail contracts
The committee received what was
purported to be photostatic COPY Of
the letter. written in 1880 while Mellon
was Secretary of the Treasury. 1t con-
cerned the award of a contract for the
Pittsburgh Washington route Mel
lon-controlled company was interested
in obtaining the contract.
The letter said the department was
considering the Mellon-controlled COM
/ pany's application. and that the con-
tract likely would be awarded as soon
as the Commerce Department placed
lights along the route.
Farley Is Questioned.
At this mornings hearing Postmaster
! General James A. Farley was ques-
toned at length about his trip to Texas
last October. With most of the ques-
| tioning done by Senator Austin. Re-
publican, Vermont, Farley said he made
the trip to dedicate the Fort Worth
Post Office.
my department, he added The de-
tails of what happened after that, l
wasn't responsible for"
Before he started to testify. Farley
handed the committe the airmail CORE
spondence recently returned by Brown,
his predecessor.
Farley said he knew nothing OF the
contents of the correspondence and
could not say whether it included rec
ords which Post Office Department en-
/ ployes have testified were burned before
Brown left Office.
Trip Included Horse Racing.
Austin asked Farley whether the
trip included horse racing at Airing
ton Downs.
Yes, it did" Farley replied
Did you receive any presents on
the trip?"
Everybody who goes there gets a
Texas hat. They took our other ones
away"
Austin explained he was attempting
to establish whether the trip was really
official or merely a junket.
He questioned Farley particularly
about persons on the trip not con-
nected with the Post Office Depart
ment
Pressed by Austin. Farley conceded
that Silliman Evans, whom Farley
appointed Fourth Assistant Postmaster
General. had been an official Of the
Aviation Corporation of Delaware.
Farley agreed that Evans arranged
! the Texas trip in an Aviation Cor
| poration plane
/ In his debut on the stand before a
Senate committee, Farley began by
producing the two six-inch packages OF
correspondence that had been brought
to him by Brown.
Farley Tells of Brown Episode.
At his ease. Farleys words caused
many of the crowded audience in the
Senate Office Building to lean forward
as he told of the Brown episode. The
| Hoover Postmaster General, Farley said,
gave an account of discovering the doc
uments in his personal belongings.
Austin asked particularly about the
disposition of records of former Post
masters General and about Farleys
own intentions concerning disposition
of correspondence when you leave Of
flee, if you ever do"
when, as and if" he left. Farley re-
piled, 'in the light of events" he would
be careful to leave all correspondence
with any official touch in the Post
| Office files.
He conceded that he knew nothing of
the details of filing correspondence and
| that, as far as he knew, the same sys-
tenn prevailed. as had during past ad-
ministrations.
Testifying that three copies were
made of each official letter. he said he
did not know what happened to them.