Evening star., 1950-03-29
Truman Letter to Tydings Barring Access to Loyalty Files

Truman Letter
BY the As.eeiotsd Press
KEY WEST. Fla, Mar. 29.
-FollolDing is the tert OF PreSi-
dent Truman's letter yesterday
to Chairman TydinoS of q Sem
ate subcommittee Investigating
charges OF Communism in the
State Department.:
Dear Senator Tydings:
This is in reply to your letter of
March 2, 1850, in which you asked
for the production before your sub
committee of the investigative files
relating to Government employees
who are or have been employed in
the Department of State and
against whom charges Of disloyalty
have been made before your sub
committee by Senator Mccarthy.
The question raised by your request
is one of grave concern, and have
given very careful consideration to
the response contained herein.
In March of 194S, I issued a di-
rective to all officers and employees
in the Executive Branch of the
Government, directing that all re-
ports, records, and files relating to
the employe loyalty program be
kept in strict confidence, even in
instances where subpoenas were re-
ceived. AS you know, this directive
was clearly within the power of
the President. and I issued it only
after the most careful consideration
and after I had satisfied myself
beyond any doubt that any other
decision would have resulted in the
collapse of the loyalty program.
At that time, I issued a release
IN which I pointed out the long
standing precedents regarding the
production of confidential files and
the reasons for my decision. I re-
ferred, among other things, to a
letter from former Attorney General
Robert H. Jackson, dated April 30,
1941, to the chairman of the House
Committee on Naval Affairs, de-
clining to furnish that committee
with certain reports of the Federal
Bureau of Investigation, which let
ter was written with the approval
and at the direction of President
Roosevelt. That letter forcefully
nNir1f nI nIrf tho
quences that would have resulted
from compliance with the request
OF the House Naval Affairs Com
mittee. .
Jackson's Statements.
Among other things, Attorney
General Jackson stated:
Moreover, disclosure Of the re-
ports would be of serious prejudice
to the future usefulness of the
Federal Bureau of Investigation. AS
you probably know, much of this
information is given in confidence
and can only be obtained upon
pledge not to disclose its sources.
A disclosure of the sources would
emparraSs informants - sometimes
IN their employment, sometimes in
their social relations, and in ex-
treme cases might even endanger
their lives. We regard the keeping
OF faith with confidential inform
ants as an indispensable condition
OF future efficiency.
disclosure of information con-
tanned in the reports might also be
the grossest kind of injustice to
innocent individuals. Investieative
reports include leads and suspicious,
and sometimes even the statements
OF malicious or misinformed people.
Even though later and more
complete reports exonerate the in
dlvlduals, the use of particular or
selected reports might constitute
the grosseSt injustice, and We all
know that correction never
catches up with an accusation"
These three elements-the serious
prejudice to the effectiveness of the
Federal Burean of Investigation as
an 1nvestigative agency, the result
Ing embarrassment and danger to
confidential informants, and injus-
tice and unfairness to innocent in
dividuals-led me to the inescapable
conclusion that the single most i'm
portant element in an effective and
at the same time just and fair
loyalty program was the preserva-
tion OF all files in connection there
with In the strictest confidence.
cannot over-emphasize this point.
Against Public Interest.
During the last month, I have
been re-examining with utmost care
this entire problem; and in this
connection have asked the Attor-
ney General, the Director of the
Federal Bureau of Investigation,
and Mr.. Seth Richardson, chairman
Of the Loyalty Review Board, to give
their careful consideration to this
matter. They have unanimously
advised me that disclosure of loyalty
files would be contrary to the pub
lie interest and would do much
more harm than good. The Attor-
ney General has outlined the very
serious consequences that would
result from any such disclosure.