Evening star., 1953-11-12
veIde Subpoena
In White Case Probe
Rejected by Truman
Continued From First Page.)


not state specifically the mat
ters on which the committee
wished to question him. He said
he assumed from newspaper
stories that the committee sought
information with respect to
matters which occurred during
my tenure of the presidency of
the United States"
I'm spite Of a personal will
ingneSS to Cooperate with your
committee" the letter continued.
i feel constrained by my duty
to the people of the United States
to decline to comply with the
subpoena.
In doing so, I am carrying
out the provisions of the Consti-
tuition Of the United States and
am following a long line of pre-
cedentS commencing with George
washington in 1885,"
Earlier today, a spokesman for
the Un-American Activities Com
mittee had said the Eisenhower
administration was pressuring
the committee to withdraw its
subpoena for Mr.. Truman and to
drop out of the investigation of
the White case.
At that time, Mr.. Velde al
ready had called off his session
with Maj. Gen. Harry Vaughan
scheduled for this afternoon and
announced that the committee
would not call Mr.. Truman to-
morrow, as originally planned.
But Mr.. Velde had said he still
was determined to go ahead with
his inquiry and to call Mr.. Tru-
man and Justice Clark.
The committee retreat today
stemmed at least partly from ap-
parent administration alarm at
the way the Un-American Activ-
tiles Committee plunged into the
White case. The administration
seemed to have no objections to
the inquiry by the Senate In
ternal Security subcommittee
headed by Senator Jenner, Re-
publican. of Indiana.
Eisenhower Position Clear.
White House Press Secretary
James c. Hagerty was asked at
his news conference today if the
White House had intervened to
have Mr.. Velde drop his plan to
subpoena Mr.. Truman. Mr..
Hagerty responded that the
President had made his position
very clear at his news conference
yesterday.
Asked if the Presidents atti-
tude had been made known to
Mr.. Velde through official chan
nels, Mr.. Hagerty said mo" but
he assumed the Representative
reads the newspapers.
White House aides indicated
they felt that the pressure being
exerted on Mr.. Velde was coming
mostly from his colleagues in
Congress. But they did not deny
that some administration officials
might have registered their views
with the young committee chair
man.
Administration opposition to
the investigation by the House
committee sent Republican mem
bers into an emergency session
that lasted into the early hours
Of today.
Velde Refuses to Yield.
1t is understood they were told
that it would be better to let
the Jenner subcommittee han
die the spy case without such
witnesses as Mr.. Truman. Justice
Clark or Gov. James F. Byrnes of
South Carolina.
In a statement this morn
ing, Mr.. Velde said he felt
IL Will be necessary to post
pone the hearing of Harry S.
Truman set for tomorrow"
He said, however, he believed
"very definitely" that Mr.. Tru-
man and Gov. Byrnes should
appear before the Un-American
Activities Committee to testify
on the White matter.
He added that he considered
that it was within his right to
issue the subpoenas for them
and will continue pressing for
these hearings"
Mr.. Velde, who arrived in
Washington by plane yesterday
conferred with Representatives
Clardy and Sherer of Ohio, both
Republicans, and staff members,
from yesterday afternoon until