Evening star., 1950-08-11
Atomic
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ment committee another manage
ment committee composed of the
18-man joint Congressional COM
n1Ittee aRd you have sonethir1g 17I;
not work. This is the cumber-
some, slow moving administrative
machine that Mr.. Wilson. in his
statement issued after his resigna-
ton. said he feared.
He said he felt Chairman Cor
don E. Dean of the commission
has neither the understanding or
the conviction that the commits
sion's role is to fix policy and pass
on programs, holding the general
manager and staff responsible for
operations and giving them au-
thority to do the job.
II think that is essential" he
added.
In contrast to this. Mr.. Wilson
said, he observed subtle steps
toward management by the COM
mittee.
Mr.. Wilson was asked about his
statement that he did not have
the degree of confidence in Chair
man Dean he believes essential to
serve him and the commission ef-
fectively.
He explained he did not have
confidence in Mr.. Dean ito handle
the toughest administrative job
there is with the independence
from the Legislative Branch which
is essential to operations and the
carrying out of the commission S
program"
He said his resignation had
been preceded by no personal
conflicts between Mr. Dean and
himself. Mr.. Dean, likewise, in
addressing the Acc staff Wednes-
day, said: There have been no
clashes"
Dean Makes Statement.
Mr.. Dean also made this state
ment:
II think the commissioners
should know as much as they
humanity can about this pro-
gram; and if they don't. think
they are derelict in their duties.
This does not mean that you are
going to have management by
commissioners. This. admittedly,
would be quite unfortunate. But
it does mean that the commits
sioners should know enough about
the program so that when the
larger policy questions do come
before them they will have the
requisite knowledge to understand
the effect of the policies they
work out"
/ Referring to the tough admin
istrative job Chairman Dean
faces, Mr.. Wilson said it is a
question of a man against the
size of the job. But while he
made it clear he wanted ito flash
warning signal" he has no in
tention of launching a one-man
crusade.
Il want the program to &c
ahead" he asserted. There is g
f1rst-rate staff, and I believe the
commission has every intention Of
using it to the best of its ability.
Mr.. Wilson declined to go into
the friendly and professional linl
between Mr.. Dean and Senator
Mcmahon, chairman of the Con.
gressional Joint Committee. Tht
two once were associated in thu
practice of law. While that wa!
in the background of Mr.. Wilson!
remarks, he appeared to feel that
if it is necessary to call attention
to it, he would leave it to other!
to do so.
The interview took place while
Mr.. Wilson and the interviewer sal
on the curbing in front of the
stable at the Wilson home in Fair
fax, Va. Wearing pair of patched
blue denim trousers and sneakers
the former Acc general manager
had just re-installed the radiator
on his car. 1t is a 17-year-olo
Rolls Royce, and it is Mr.. Wilson's
hobby to keep it in good running
order.
Now 80, Mr.. Wilson became the
Aces first general manager at the
end of 1916, when the civilian
commission took over the atomic
energy project from the Army's
Manhattan district.
Discussing the job he had left,
Mr.. Wilson said:
To handle an operating show
of this size, including both manu-
featuring and research, with a
full-time board of directors, is a
difficult administrative mechan-
ism.
Il don't know of a corporation
setup like it. And, of course, we
don't have five Secretaries of