Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1946-02-13
(Continued From First Page,

l0IVlHg NGQSOHS
/ Continued From First Page.)
| sonally, the only course left open
| to me Is to write you this letter.
/ Several days have already elapsed
since your press conference Of last
/ Thursday and I cannot remain longe
than Is necessary In the equivoca
!, position in which certain Of you
remarks on that occasion placed me
although I shall continue to b,
available for further hearings OF
the Pauley nomination. Therefore
I feel that owe 1t to myself t,
make my position known publicl,
before noon of tomorrow.
Other Expressions Of Trust.
! deeply appreciate the wish tina
you made known to me on the occa
sion mentioned that continue q
a member OF your cabinet. Durinl
the interval there have been othe
Expressions of trust and confidence
on your part that have meant mucl
to me. Now, in view of your eviden
conclusion that you no longer fee
as you did, coupled with the desir,
that have had for many month!
| to retire from Government service
my resignation seems to be in order
You may recall the passing allu
sion to my possible retirement Al
our interview on Wednesday, Jan.
uary 30, on which occasion you tolc
me that you wanted me to stay or
to help YOU solve some of the prob.
lens that lay ahead At the pre-.
vious cabinet meeting you hac
asked me not to wind up the affairs
Of the Solid Fuels Administration
until May l, and in explanation OF
this you told me. during this Wed
nesday interview, that, in the event
OF a strike of the coal miners on
April l, you wanted me to handle
that situation.
However, since that interview
some Of your close friends have
felt moved to resent keenly the fact
that when called as q witness by
the Senate Committee on Naval
Affairs to testify on the nomination
of Mr.. Edwin w. Pauley to be IN
dersecretary of the Navy I told the
truth which I later verified.
Duty to Speak Truth.
lam at q loss to understand what
these gentlemen think that I could
or should have done In the circum-
stances. I am unwilling to believe
that their view is that I should have
committed perjury-it will be re-
membered that I was under oath
Tor that I should have spoken any
thing less than the truth. After all,
the constitutional provision that calls
for ratification by the Senate of q
nomination Of this sort imposes q
duty upon all citizens, If called a.
witnesses, to speak the truth.
feel that it my due that I should
recall certain circumstances with
reference to this nomination and my
appearance before the Naval Affairs
Committee upon Geographic sum-
mons by its chairman, Senator
Walsh.
On no occasion did you ever tel
me that you proposed to nominate
Mr.. Pauley for Undersecretary Of
the Navy. I had seen reports tt
this effect In the newspapers anc
! this possibility seemed to be on the
Tongue OF many people in Washing
Hon. Having the convictions that
have about the prupriety of putting
q man active in the oil business In
ta position In the Government, ex.
cept under the pressure of necessity
4 during q war emergency, where ont
of his important duties would be Il
deal with oil matters on behalf o.
| the Government, and anticipating
4 that you might have In mind tn,
nomination of Mr.. Pauley, To ! b,
Undersecretary Of the Navy, fIsug.
\ gested to you on Two or three ocea.
sions, IN you will doubtless recall
that the administrative RESPONSE.
biIities With respect to petroleum
that lie in the Navy Department bt
transferred to a commission consist.
ing of the Secretaries of War, Nav
and Interior.
Suggested Executive Order.
Your reply was that you had beer
thinking of doing this. Time con.
tinued to run and, not hearing from
you further on this matter, I caused
ba suggested executive order to b.
drafted which I sent to you. Tit
signing of this order would hav.
removed this aspect of the question
of oil so far as Mr.. Pauley and the
Navy Department were concerned
Unfortunately the order was moi
signed, so that when Mr.. Pauley.
nomination went up there imme.
diately arose the question of thu
propriety Of nominating an active
oil man for job that carried with
it responsibility for Government oil
/ Word came to me indirectly thai
Mr.. Pauley himself had told you Of
my probable opposition to his nom.
nation. In the circumstances, 1
surprised me that you did no
i frankly ask me what might be tn,
basis of such opposition. You vii
recall that, after the cabinet meet
ing on January Is, you steppe.
aside with me into the corner o
the room. We discussed. one or tw
matters relating to my department
), The nomination was undoubtedl
, at that moment on its way to tn
Senate, If indeed 1t had not alread
I, been received there. It was tina
l same afternoon that I learned fror
: the news ticker that the nomination
l had gone up. Yet during this in
terview you did not mention Nj
Pauley, although his nomination
was no longer q secret and 70
already knew from Pauley himsel
that I had reservations about hi
qualifications.
Worried Over Situations.
D On the day to which I hay
: previously referred, January 80, 9
was about to leave your offic
: told you that I wished that, o
= occasion, I could feel that I migf
talk frankly and freely with 70,
3 There were, remarked, situation
: arising from time to time that wol
J. ried me.
xy.. .~s,rnx ,~,os erarAraJ ~