Evening star., 1947-06-19

kl1CllkItltiAly AN4ulI SkJCCl1lCu StC
Icific persons to be interviewed and
stated that IN addition other en-
p1oyes Of the Kansas City Star
were to be questioned. AZ I pointed
tout In the latter part Of my testi-
Imony, the some 80 Kansas City Star
investigators were not interviewed
Iinasmuch rs We had secured their
statements from other employees oi
the Kansas City Star and 1t was not
believed by the agents conducting
the Inquiries that amy purpose would
be served In personally contracting
these investigators whose state
ments we're incorporated In our re-
port .i
However. at the very beginning
OF my testimony, Indicated to
the committee that We had inter-
viewed only the specified persons
and had not gone beyond this in
asmush as we were not instructed
to do so. AS Indicated, this was
later clarified and the testimony SIS
revised, deleting the phrase and no
one else on page 5S, and the phrase
we were not told to interview
them on page 66 expresses the true
facts In the matter.
Preliminary Probe Not Unusual.
THE fact that we were ordered
to make a preliminary inquiry in
this case was not unusual. In the
summer of 1871 Mr.. Maurice Milli-
gan, who you will recall prosecuted
the original Kansas City vote fraud
case in 1886 as special assistant
to former Attorney General Rob-
ert H. jackson, instituted the policy
that unless advised to the contrary
in the election fraud cases, pre-
liminary inquiry was to be made
only upon departmental instruc-
tions after which the facts were
to be submitted to departmental
attorneys who would study the facts
for decision as to further action.
This same policy Is followed in
other classes OF cases
with regard to the Mumford
memorandum referred to before the
committee, I wish to advise / used
the word restricted in my long
hand note on the memorandum as a
definitive term Of my own to deter
mine whether the bureaus inquiry
had been limited to specified inter
views. I did not intend my inquiry
as an indication that / had any
question in my mind that an ul-
terror motive had actuated the At
torney General or the Department
of Justice with respect to the scope
of the preliminary inquiry ordered
under the established policy
Il think in all fairness should
make the observation that in the
years the present Attorney General.
Tom C. Clark has been associated
with the Department of Justice. /
have had the opportunity of work
ing with him in innumerable cases
and I am glad to state that he has
not In any taken any action to pre-
vent any investigation being con-
Quoted to its logical conclusion.
Hopes to Clarity Testimony.
II trust that the foregoing may be
helpful to you and the members of
your committee in clarifying any
misinterpretation which may have
arisen with respect to my testimony
With expressions of my highest
esteem and kind personal regards,
sincerely yours,
81. EDGAR HOOVER"
The longhand not on the bottom
of the Mumford memorandum in
quired whether the bureau was re-
stricted in this investigation. Fol-
lowing the recent news from Kansas
City that a safe in the election COM
mission Office has been blown open
and disputed ballots had disap-
peared, the Department of Justice
launched new investigation
through the FBI, which is still in
progress.