Evening star., 1950-09-07
Chapman
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have brought the Interior Secre-
tary to the Senator's Office imme-
diately with all of the answers
he gave today.
In sweeping denial of each of
the issues Senator Schoeppel
raised, Secretary Chapman made
these points:
l. That the oath disavowing
aftiliation with any subversive
organizations was stricken from
the form he swore to when in
Quoted as Undersecretary of the
Interior March 20, 1916, because
he had already taken such an oath
five years earlier. The induction
accompanying his promotion in
1916 was a ceremonial occasion,
he said.
Signed Affidavit in 1916.
2. That it was not necessary for
him to renew the anti-subversive
affidavit of 1941 until Congress
passed a new law on the subject
for the fiscal year beginning July
/, 1916. At that time, he said, he
was Acting Secretary and issued
the order requiring all officers and
employees to execute a combined
statement of n-affiliation with
subversive organizations and a no.
strike pledge.
II personally executed that
afhdavit on July II, 1896" the
Secretary added.
Turning to Senator Schoeppels
references to various organizations
he said Mr.. Chapman had been
associated with in the past, the
Secretary replied:
81. I was never a member of the
American League Against War
and Fascism.
%. have no recollection of
sponsoring, and can find no record
OF having agreed to sponsor, a
meeting in 1910 under auspices of
the Washington chapter of the
Descendants of the American
Revolution (Which, incidentally,
has never been designated by the
Attorney General of the United
States as subversive organiza-
tion).
Cites Dinner in 1945.
"3. I was chairman of the COM
mittee on arrangements for din
ner which the Southern Confer
ence for Human Welfare and
others gave on April 3, 1945. in
honor of the Honorable Hugo L.
Black, associate justice of the Su-
preme Court. This organization
has never been designated by the
Attorney General as subversive,
and, certainly, the former Senator
and present associate justice.
Hugo L. Black, cannot be accused
of being Red One of the hon.
orary vice chairmen of the dinner
on April 3, 1945, was Vice Presi-
dent (now President) Harry S.
Truman. The toastmaster was
Senator (now Vice President)
Alben w. Barkley, and the prin-
cipal speaker was the Honorable
Fred M. Vinson. now Chief JUS
tice of the United States.
go My name appeared for a
time as a sponsor of the Ma
tional Council of American Soviet
Friendship. However, in a letter
dated November IL, 1946, I with
drew the permission for the use
of my name in that connection.
My action was taken more than
q year prior to the designation
of this organization as a Com
munist front by the Attorney Cen
eral on November "a, 1947. 1t
might be mentioned, in this con-
nection, that the list of sponsors
of the National Council of Amer
ican-Soviet Friendship also in
cluded the names of many loyal
Americans"
Facts Were in Transcript.
Mr.. Chapman said if Senator
Schoeppel had really been in
terested in getting these facts he
could have obtained them from
the printed transcript Of testi-
mony the Interior head gave in
January, 1948, before a House
Labor subcommittee.
Mr.. Chapman's charge that the
Schoeppel attack was an effort
to block the Alaskan Statehood
bill, now awaiting Senate action,
was based on another part of the
Tuesday speech by the Kansas
Republican.
Senator Schoeppel said that
John Hampton Randolph Feltus
who registered with Congress as
q representative of the Alaskan
Statehood Committee. had previ-