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January 13, 19^5 D ear John: In p u b lio o f f i c e one, o f c o u r s e , has to g e t used to b r ic k b a t s and f o r th e most p a r t ig n o r e them, b u t when they a r e thrown from th e prem ises o f one’ s f r i e n d s , i t i s much more d i f f i c u l t t o tak e them. A f r i e n d o f mine sen t me th e en clo sed c lip p in g from the M in n ea p o lis S t a r -J o u m a l o f Decomber 2 7 , which h o n e s tly shocked me becau se i t r e f l e c t s , i n my o p in io n a t l e a s t , a complete f a i l u r e t o g ra sp th e problem s e i t h e r now o r p r o s p e c t iv e ly * Heaven knows, I fm q u it e aw are o f a l l o f th e shortcom ings and d e fe o ts in any program th a t can b e put t o g e t h e r , b u t i t does n o t s e r v e any c o n s tru c tiv e p u rp o se , i t seems t o me, m erely to denounce such e f f o r t s w ith o u t o f f e r i n g an y th in g a f f i r m a t i v e a s an a l t e r n a t i v e . I t so happens t h a t t h is p a r t i c u l a r t a l k o f mine re c e iv e d a r a t h e r unusual amount o f fa v o r a b le a t t e n t io n among my b u s in e s s and ban kin g f r i e n d s , who a r e by no means r a d i c a l in t h e i r v ie w s , b u t who f e l t a p p a r e n t ly , a s 1 hoped they w o u ld , t h a t i t was an attem pt t o make a b u s in e s s lik e approach by a b u sin e s s man l i k e m y se lf t o the m an ifo ld problem s t h a t must be s o lv e d now and in th e f u t u r e . So I w as, a s I s a y , more than s u r p r is e d when y o u r paper r e f le c t e d such a c o n tra ry o p in io n . I suppose you had not seen i t , and I would be g r e a t l y d isa p p o in te d i f I f e l t you p e r s o n a lly had such a low estim ate o f t h i s e f f o r t o f m ine, a copy o f which I am ve n tu rin g to e n c lo s e . Ho doubt i t i s poor g r a t it u d e on my p a r t , h a v in g eaten the tu rk e y s which you and Mike have so ge n e ro u sly se n t me, t o r e c ip r o c a t e by t a lk i n g tu rk e y , b u t I cou ld n o t r e f r a i n from l e t t i n g you know t h a t I was g e n u in e ly d is a p p o in te d in t h i s r e a c t io n from one o f y o u r p u b li c a t io n s . Always w ith b e s t r e g a r d s , S in c e r e ly y o u rs . Mr. John C ow les, P r e s id e n t , M in n eapo lis S t a r - J o u m a l, M in n e a p o lis , M innesota. Enclosures 2 MINNEAPOLIS STAR JOURNAL JOHN and TRIBUNE January 23 1945 COWLES PRESIDENT Mr. M a rrin e r S. E c c le s Chairman o f the Board F e d e ra l Beserve System Washington 25, D. C. D ear M a rrin e r: I d id not read the e d i t o r i a l page o f the M in n eap o lis S t a r J o u rn al on December 27th u n t i l th at evening, a f t e r the e n t ir e e d it io n had been d i s t r i b u t e d . I not only hoped th a t you would not see the e d i t o r i a l about y ou r speech, but co n sid ere d w r it in g you a note say in g th a t I r e g r e t t e d p u b lic a t io n o f th a t e d i t o r i a l . I concluded, however, th a t p ro b a b ly the e d i t o r i a l would never come to your a t t e n t io n , and so I d i d n 't w r it e . I agree w ith your statement th a t the e d i t o r i a l seemed to r e f l e c t a f a i l u r e on the w r i t e r 's p a r t to g ra sp the problem s f a c i n g u s, and was both s u p e r f i c i a l and smart a le c k y . W h ile we may, o f cou rse, d is a g r e e b a s i c a l l y and v ig o r o u s ly w ith p r o p o s a ls o f y ou rs, I hope th a t we w i l l put our p o s i t i o n on a sounder and more u n derstan din g b a s i s than the e d i t o r i a l in q u e stio n d id . The e x p la n a tio n as to why t h i s p a r t i c u l a r e d i t o r i a l e v e r happened to ap pear in the S t a r J o u rn al i s t h i s : Gideon Seymour, an extrem ely a b le f e l l o w i n whom I have complete co n fid en ce and who had been e d i t o r i a l e d it o r o f the S t a r J o u rn al, was promoted to the p o s i t i o n o f e x e c u tiv e e d it o r and was d e v o tin g a l l o f h i s time to the news department d u rin g December. C a r r o ll B in d er, who has had an extrem ely d is t in g u is h e d c a re e r f o r many y e a r s as e d it o r o f the Chicago D a ily Hews F o re ig n S e rv ic e , had been ap p o in te d by Seymour and me to become e d i t o r i a l e d it o r o f the S t a r J o u rn al i n Seymour's p la c e , but B in d er d id not assume h i s d u t ie s here u n t i l the f i r s t o f January. I n the absence o f the second man on the S t a r J o u rn al e d i t o r i a l page s t a f f , one o f the o th e r w r it e r s , who d o e s n 't n o rm ally d e a l w ith economic s u b je c t s and who i s not, in my o p in io n , q u a l i f i e d to d e a l w ith them, alth o u g h he i s extrem ely w e ll inform ed in c e r t a in o th e r f i e l d s , had charge o f the e d i t o r i a l columns f o r a couple o f days over the Christmas h o lid a y s and p u b lis h e d t h i s e d i t o r i a l e x p re ss io n on h is own. Except f o r the fa c t o f the h ia tu s between Seym our's prom otion to the post o f e x e c u tiv e e d it o r and B in d e r 's assum ption o f h is d u tie s as e d i t o r i a l e d it o r , coupled w ith the Christmas h o lid a y p e rio d , I d o n 't b e lie v e t h is p a r t i c u l a r e d i t o r i a l would e v e r have been p u b lis h e d in the S ta r J o u rn a l. I t c e r t a i n ly i s not a r e f l e c t i o n o f my o p in io n o f your speech, which I have re a d w ith g r e a t i n t e r e s t . Knowing both Seymour and B in der as I do, I am sure th at n e it h e r o f them would have approved i t f o r p u b lic a t io n . I am p a s s in g your l e t t e r , a copy o f t h i s r e p ly , Seymour and B in d er f o r t h e i r in fo rm a tio n . and the te x t o f your speech, on to both W ith warm r e g a rd s and the hope th at the next time we a re d e a lin g w ith one o f your speeches we w i l l do i t on a l e s s s u p e r f i c i a l b a s is , I am S in c e r e ly y o u rs, John Cowles January ¿5» 1945* M r. John C ow les, P r e s id e n t , M in n ea p o lis S t a r J o u rn a l and T rib u n e , M in n e a p o lis , M inn esota. Dear Jonn: Your l e t t e r o f January ¿3 in re g a rd t o th e e d i t o r i a l wnich d i s t r e s s e d me i s p a r t i c u l a r l y a p p r e c ia te d . I t vi/as c e r t a i n ly most t h o u g h t fu l o f you t o tak e th e t r o u b le t o g iv e me the f a c t s o f th e m a tte r. I co u ld not b e lie v e th a t th e e d i t o r i a l exp re ssed your own v ie w s . N e e d le ss t o sa y , I would n e v er f o r a moment c h a lle n g e y o u r r ig h t and, in f a c t , o b lig a t io n t o d is a g r e e b a s i c a l l y and v ig o r o u s ly w ith view s th a t I may h ave, and you s t a t e th e point e x a c t ly th a t in case o f such disagreem ent you would hope and I w ould expect that, your p o s it io n would be s t a t e d on a broad and u n d e rsta n d in g b a s i s . Heaven knows, I d o n 't expect a chorus o f ap p lau se o r ap p r o v a l when X v e n tu re to exp ress my o p in io n s, hs you know, I do not make many speeches and when I do X t r y not t o make th e kind, o f speeches t h a t a v o id a l l c o n t r o v e r s ia l iss u e s .. On th e c o n tra ry , I have a h a b i t , p ro b a b ly a f o o l i s h one, o f attem p tin g t o fa c e up t o what seem t o me t o be im portant i s s u e s , p a r t i c u l a r l y in the economic f i e l d . I f , as I am v a in enough to. hope, th e y shed any l i g h t on th e problem s o r at le a s t s t i r up d is c u s s io n — p r e f e r a b ly i n t e l l i g e n t d is c u s s io n — I have accom plished a l l t h a t I set out t o do. anyway, your l e t t e r p le a s e d me so much t h a t X wanted t o t e l l you so . mith b est r e g a r d s , S in c e r e ly y o u rs , ET:b M IN N E A P O L IS S T A R J O U R N A L a n d T R IB U N E January 27 1945 JOHN COWLES PRESIDENT Mr. M a rrin e r S. E c c le s O f f i c e o f the Chairman F e d e ra l Reserve System Washington 25, D. C. D ear Mr. E c c le s : T h is w i l l acknowledge r e c e ip t o f your l e t t e r o f January 25th to Mr. Cowles, which a r r i v e d d u rin g h i s absence from the c i t y . As soon as he re tu rn s your l e t t e r w i l l be brou gh t to h is a t t e n t io n . S in c e r e ly y o u rs,