The Washington times., 1936-06-19
ORDERS AIDES
TO REFUSE
TESTIMONY
Newspaper R eve a | S
Edict Sent to All
Workers

BOSTON. June 10 GN.SO.-Na
tional Administrator Harry L. Hop
kins has clamped gag" on al
Works Progress Administration
executives and employees, the Bos
ton Evening American said today
The story added:
"An official letter from Hop
kins to all State administrators,
including Massachusetts Admin
istratOr Paul Edwards, contains
the gag order"
"The national chief of the Fed
eral bureau even goes so far as
to forbid all the thousands OF
workers under his command to
testify in court.
DEFIES COURT
"For generations, lawyers have
been exempted from giving tes-
timOny about matters cOnfiden-
TALLY told them by their clients,
but Administrator Hopkins has
taken it upon himself, as thiS
order shows, to establish another
class of exempted persons, in de-
fiance of the court, on certain
matters which he thinks should
be kept secret.
"The order, dated June 2, in
structs Works Progress Admin
iStratiOn officials and employees
to decline to answer if they
should be asked in court about
matters connected with their
work.
Hopkins inStructs all to state
that the matter is privileged
and cannot be talked about with
out specific approval of the Fed
eraI adminiStratiOn-whO is Hop
kinS himself.
SIMILAR TO LEVYING
"SOme comment on it among
Works Progress Administration
employees called it similar to the
effort of Roosevelt campaign
chiefs to force Federal employees
to sell 'nOminatOr certificates
in evident cOntraventiOn of Civil
Service rules.
"The official order from Hop
kinS, q copy of which is in the
possession of this newspaper,
reads in full as follows:
''WOrkS Progress Administration,
"Walker-JOhnSOn Building,
"1734 New York Ave. N. W.,
washington, D. C.
June 2, 1886.
Harry l. Hopkins,
Administrator,
ITO: All State Works Progress
Administrators.
"Subject: Release of Official In
formation or Records.
''NO officer or empIoye of the
Works Progress Administration
shall furnish any information or
make available any official doc
ument or paper, or copy thereof,
to any person, except persons
having official business with the
Works Progress Administration.
Tin all cases where documents
or records are SubpOenaed, the
issuing officer or body shall be
informed that such documents
can be furnished only upon or.
der Of the Federal Administrator
and that the request should be
addressed to him. A full report
outlining the information desired
and the circumstances must be
Immediately forwarded by the
proper Works Progress Admins
tratiOn officer to the Federal
Administrator.
ON TESTIMONY
"In all cases where a WPA
officer or emplOye is requested
to testify in regard to matters
Of an official or confidential
character, knowledge of which
was acquired in his official ca
pacity, he shall respectfully de-
cline to answer. If his reasons
are requested by the court or
body conducting the hearing, he
shall cOurteOusly state that the
matter is privileged and cannot
be disclosed without specific ap-
prOval from the Federal Admin
iStratiOn.
ut is not the intent of these
instructions to withhold infOrma-
tiOn regarding the Works
Progress Administration, but to
affirm the fact that the discIoS-
ing of official documents or rec
OrdS of the Works Progress Ad-
ministratiOn is a question to be
decided only by the Federal Ad-
miniStratOr.
"(Signed)
"HARRY L. HOPKINS,
administrator
at was pointed out that this
order, if carried out, would pre-