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• if. • • -f' ?Xmm hrlnt tb<s attached eenorandcm to the President's attention ae sooa as pogs!ble, as i t i s la r#ply to the l e t t e r sent s» with yoi^r ^esorati^ffi of the S5rd9 received this morning, mad la tar i^fonsation on the mm wbwfelcb Kaaae© gave w ov@r the Sincerely, Chalnwiu to the President C* Dear Mr• Mclntyre: Please hirry this l e t t e r to The President. I.A. December ?7, 1958 ANDUM FOR THE PRESIDENT SUBJ'CTJ LETTER FROM IVAN ALLEN, ATLANTA, KE APPOINTMENT OF CLASS "C» DIRECTOR OF FEDERAL B8SER?E BAT^K 0^ ATL-VfTA Our Board acted on this and similar • -sitters on December £0, the date of Ivan Allen's letter, Mr, Neely was reappointed at that tine. "x\ Ivan Allen attacks Mr. Neelyfs reappointment, 3TOcat©fl the appointment of ir. •I. ?. Allen. The facts briefly are these: 1, Kr« J. ?. Allen had served about three years vrhen his aooointment expired in 1988, The present Board was not responsible for his original ap^ointment end was not willing to reappoint bin. We had reason to feel thr.t he was not the right man for the place, Neither ability, business standing, nor influence in the Comnravity justified reappointment. E« We wanted a strong man on the boerd of the Atlanta bank, around whora we could rebuild that board. Careful investi-rition led us to W0L Mr. Frank H. Meely to acceot the appointment. Mr. Neely and Mr, J. ?, Allen are officials of two Atlanta department stores. Mr. Neely's is outstandingly successful, but this has not been the case with Mr, J, P, Allen, \-r, Neely reluctantly accepted the anointment, doing so because be was convinced it was an opportunity for public service. I know him to be intelligent, liberal, and public spirited. Every aenber of our Board has had ample opportunity to judge the value of his services. It is our unanimous opinion that he is one of the most valuable chairmen cf the Federal Reserve banks, 5. Information from reliable sources satisfies me that Mr. Beely took no oart in the recent Georgia election. He has never been active in political matters. Uson inquiry, I find th^t he only knows of Bennett Clark a2 a nan in public life, did not know that he was to be in Atlanta, was sponsoring no dinner for him, and knew of no dinner being given for him. 4. Kr, Neely has cooperated with your Administration in many iwport^nt fielcs of activity. Both Mr* Harry Hopkins and Kl80 Gay 5. Sheoperson know his intimately and are familiar with his views. 5. Mr. Ivan Allen implies that Mr, J. ?, Allenf r political support is valuable. From information I have, I would not regard "him as • political asset to any one or any cause; in fact quite the contrary. I think the same applies to Kr. Ivan Allen. S« Mr. Ivan Allen refers to the recent appointment of Mr. ?fericn Ssltl) as attorney for the BotxSlng Administration, and says thr.t ho is a deserter fits* the New Deal. As stated in Ur. Allen's letter, Hr, cinith Is Mr, Ronald Ransom's brother-in-law. I do not know what this has to do ??ith the subject matter of his letter, but have called It to Mr« I.anso^'s attention. He states that by no stretch of the imagination could Hr, Smith ever bare been classed as e New Dealer. In the recent race In Georgia he actively supported Senator George. He is a member of a large law firm with a. number of partnersf having an extensive practice and receiving employment froi? many clksees of clients. It eight be interesting to you to know that Kr« Smith was a stronpr advocate of Hr« < • P. Allen for reappointment tc the ! board of the Atlanta bank in 1956, His daughter married Mr. J. ?. Allen1s son. If we can furnish you any further Information on any of these matters| please let • Reminder to President: Mr. Frank Neely comes up for reappointment in December as Class C Director and Chairman of the Board of the Federal Reserve Bank. Liberals in this State are very anxious to see Mr. J. P. Allen succeed him. We will have Mr. Allen helping our liberal movement in Georgia whether he succeeds Neely or not, but we feel he should displace him for the reasons enumerated in ray last memorandum. Mr. Neely not only openly fought me in the Senate race but he, together with Clarke Howell, are sponsoring a dinner for Bennett Clark of Missouri in Atlanta during month of December. Mr. Allen is more capable, more popular and more deserving in every respect than Frank Neely. Mr. Allen can be indispensable to our paper, Georgia Homestead, since he has been President of the Georgia Retail Merchants Association for the past fifteen years. THE WHITE HOUSE WASHINGTON December 23, 1938 MEMORANDUM POR CHAIRMAN ECCLES She attached is self-explanatory. M. H. McINTYRE Secretary to the President Enclosure COPY IVAN ALLEN-MABSHALL CO. Atlanta, Ga. December 20, 1938. President Franklin D. Roosevelt The 1?hite House Washington, D. C. Dear President Roosevelt:I am taking the liberty of writing you with reference to Mr* James P. Allen, Atlanta (no relation of mine) who was a Class n M C Director of the Federal Reserve Bank under dear old Gene Black1 s Administration and largely through the influence of Mr. Ronald Ransom, who is now on the Federal Reserve Board, Mr. Frank Neely, a Department Store Manager, was appointed at the end of Mr. J. P. Allenfs first term. I understand that Mr. Neelyfs term expires December and I am asking the appointment of Mr. J. P. Allen, because he is the most influential and leading merchant of the State; he is an outspoken New Dealer; he is an able businessman and he helped Cam Dorsey and me in both the Democratic Campaigns for funds. He resigned from Senator Georgefs Committee to help Mr. Lawrence Camp and is now Chairman of the Atlanta Jefferson Day Dinner. I do not dislike Mr. Frank Neely, but I do not consider him a friend of the Administration or a New Dealer, or that he ever will be one. Now is the time to purge the Heads of Departments who are disloyal and through them go down the line, starting off with Mr. Neely and Mr. Scott Candler first. Please do not think I am presumptuous, Mr. President, but we the New Dealers who hold no pay jobs ourselves feel quite helpless iwhen deserters of the Administration continue to hold high office and continue to get appointments. Just the other day my friend, Mr. Marion Smith, son of Senator Hoke Smith and brother-in-law of Mr. Ronald Ransom was given a $5000.00 appointment as attorney for the Housing Admini strati on, etc. I did not intend to write such an e xtended letter. Sincerely, (Signed) Ivan Allen.
