The full text on this page is automatically extracted from the file linked above and may contain errors and inconsistencies.
· --.r>hw"lstem • ' n ·vArelty DOCUM ENT S ROOM OCT 3 0 1936 No. 4 -- 1356 Uhr"'l.ry T H E W O P. K S P ~ 0 G P. A M -- Works Pro,'?Tes:1 Administration For Immediate Release October. 26, 1936 Hopkins Answers Petition of New Jersey G.O.P. for WPA Lists Harry L. Hopkins, Works Progress Administrator, today filed an answer in the District Court of the United States for the District of Columbia to the neti tion of New Jersey P.E,publican car:ipaign officials, denying their right to a list of Works Progress Administration employees, with their addresses and ~alaries. Compliance with the request, which he termed political, would be against public policy, Mr. Hopkins declared, The answor, submitted by John Dickinson, Assistant Attorney General, with Leslie Garnett, United States Attorney, John S. L. Yost, Special Assistant to the Attorney General, and William E. Linden, General Counsel for the Works Progress Administrn.tion, as attorneys for the respondent, follows: Digitized by Original from NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY :Jo. 4 ...... 1356 IN THE DI ST:?.ICT COC'P.T OF THE U1HT:8D STATES ?OP. T?.3 DI S'.1'?.I Cr:' OF COLU:rnI A UlHTED STATES OF Al.;EP.I CA, ex r e l ) ) HEN"P.Y W. JEFFE?..S, SP.. Plainsboro, New i nrs ay ) ) ) WALTEP. E. EDGE , Ven tn or, New J or sey ) ) ) D.Alrrn:::., E. P OME?.OY, Englewood, Now J e rsey EIJNA B. CONKLI N, Hackensack, N~w J e r sey ) ) ) ) ) LR.w No . 8i3143 , ) P e titi one rs) ) ) vs . ) ) HAP.P..Y L, HOPKINS, .ADhiI NI STPATOP., ) WOP.K S PP.OGP.:SSS AD:HNISTP..ATION, ) 1734 New York Avenue, ) W.'.'l.shingt on, D. C., ) P.o spo nd ent) P.ETUP.N OF H.aP.P.Y L. HOPKINS , ADMINISTP.h.TOP., WOP.KS PP.OGP.ESS ADMINISTP.ATI ON, TO THE P.ULE TO SHOW C.l_TJ S~ IS SUED HEP.EI N, AND Ai:JSWEP. TO THE PETITION FILED HEP.Em Now comes Harry L. Hopkins, ~dministrator of t he Works Pr ogr ess Administration of the Uni t ed St Pt os of Amcricn, rmd now nnrl Ft t a ll times snving n.nd n ,se rvinr; t o hims0.lf Rll excep tions to tho mrmy imu c rf oc tio ns , unc ,: 'rtr, int i e s, nnd defects in t l"rn pet iti on f or writ of ml'lndnmus fil od h or c in, [ind res e rving unto hims e lf t he benefit o f the lack of jurisdiction of thi s Honorrib J. e Court to g rant the r e lief prri,yed nga inst tho P.e spond ent nruned heroin a n d to d ir e ct hirn t o pe rform the acts in quP. stion, a nd r elying: upon t he sn.r::e ns if demurrer could h!'.-ve b een specific.q,lly ir,t e r posod, fo:r r r,turn to the r ule to show C['.Use Ftnd for :,_n sw 0r t o snid petition or so r.mch t he r eo f ns is mat e ri e.l, S"'-YS : 1. He den i e s t hRt ho hns Ftny kn0wlcdge or inf ormn tion sufficient to f orrn n b e li ef f"s to tho truth of the nll egP,tions contnined in Digitized by Pr-trngrRp~Q:RlcH:Wt 6©E§?,~tliNll:Ydi:rliSITY Original from NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY - 2 II. He r:tdmi ts t he Rll egRti ons contained in Parngr;-,.p h II r,f the petition. III. He ndmi ts the nll er;at i ons con t a ined in ParA.graph III of the petition, a nd adds tha t by virtue of t he Act ap:r roved Feb rua ry 15, 1 934 (4 8 StRt. 351), the Emergency Roliof Approprinti on Act of April 8, 1935 (49 Stn t. 115) and the Eme r gency P.elief AppropriRtion Act of June 22, 1936 ( 49 Stat. 160 8 ) , the Federal Emer gency P.eli of Admini8tration was continued in existence until June 30, 1937. IV. He admits the allegations contained in Pa ragrnph IV of the petition, except that h8 snys thn.t the Em ergency P.elief Appropria tion Act of 1935, suprrt, provides the funds appropriated therein are to remain Rv11i1 2ble until Jun e 30, 1937, instea d of June 30 , 1936, c1.nd he a vers thP.t the Emergency P.e lief Approprir-ition Act of 1936 , supra, provides t hRt funds P,llott ed by the Pre sident ther eunder for administrP.tive pur poses are availnble for expend itur e until Juno 30, 1 938 . V. He admits the al l egp tions contained in l?nrngray,h V of the pe titi on. VI. He admits the allegf-1.tions contained in Pnr Ftgr aph VI of the petition. VIII. He ~dmits the a lleP,ations c on tRined i n Paragraph VII of the petition, except that, nccording to informnti on published by the Tror,.sury DepRrt ment of the United St Htes , which Departm ent, nnd not the Works Progress .Administration, is chnrged with the disburs ement of the funds nppropriated by the Emergency P.elief Appropriation Acts of 1935 and 1936, he is advised tha t ns of June 30, 1936, the sum expended by the Works Progress Administrntion throughout tho United St11t es was $1,305, 802 ,5 80 .44, of which amount $46,125,641,32 was expended f or the Works Pr ogress .Adr.1inistra tion in New Jersey. Respondent further says t hr, t e.s of Augu st 31, 1 936 , the total disbursements for the i"lorks Progr ess Administra ti on throughout the St11.tes of t he United StF\tes was npproximn.t ely $1,772,756 ,795.00, of Digitized by Original from NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY No. 4 -- 1356 - 3 - which nppr oximntely $66 , 804 , 017.00 was expended f or tho Works Progr es s AdministrA.'Gion in New J ors oy, of v1hich latter nmoun t the sum of $2 , 487,72 0 .00 wn.s expend ed for A.dr.: ini strn.ti ve pur poses of tho s nid Works Progress Administration in New J er sey. VIII. He admi ts the dlogati ons c ont ain ed in Pn,rn.grRph VIII of t he petition. IX. He admits the a ll eg:-1.ti on s contained in Paragr aph IX of the petition. X. He admits the enactment of the a cts of Coneress mentioned in the first s entenc e of Pnr agr aph X of the petition n.nd that c ertain app ropri ntions were provided for in said nets, and avers thnt the administration of the said acts has b en efited tho nation as a whole; he denies each and every one of the othc;r fl.nd r ernn ining nllegntions of said PRrngrP.ph X of the pot i tion. Without limi ting in any wa y the generality of tho foregoing der.ial, he denies thnt the sHid a cts hnve delegat ed a proper l cg-islntivo f unc tion t o the Executive brnnch and he deni es tha t the powers, d.uties and oxp ondi t ur es of t h e Works Pr o[;r ess Admi nistra tion a r e subjnct only to c ontrol by t nP Executive. P.espondent deni es the nllegations tlrnt there lms be en gross v,r-i.s t e and extravagance in the nd:ninistrntion of f und s app ro pr i:, t od by the sPid rte ts either in the Unit ed Sta t es or in t he Strte of New Jorsey; he denies t ha t the Wo rks Progress .A.dm ini strn.tio n nnd t ho furnls n.va ilable to it n.r e not be i ng use d solely f or t he pur p ose of r oli of as intended by Cong r e ss but that the expcndi turo t ho r oof is in pnrt influenc 8d by political considern.tions; and he denies thn.t the appoin tment of the personnel of the iVorks Progr e ss Adn inistration hns been dicta t ed by politicnl consider~tions or that excessive sn.lnrics are paid to the employe e s of t he Works Progress A.dministration and avers th/'l.t the s11id allegations with r e spect to gross wnste and extr£',va6 ance and political c on siderr-iti ons nre frivolous, scnndalous a nd i mpe rtinent nnd r.iade for politicnl purposes. XI. Answe ring the a llegn.tions of P::i.rRgr riph XI, h o n.dm i ts that Digitized by Original from NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY 4 - 1356 -4- on Novembe r 3, 1 936, the qualified voters will cast t heir votes f or elector s t o elect t he President a nd Vice-Preside nt of the United States, members of the Congress, and ce rtai n members of the Senate ef the Uni ted States. He is adv ised that the question of whether t-he admin i stration of t he Works Progress Administration is or is no t an issue in the said national campaign is not material to the issues of t h is case, and he denies t he innuendo in Paragraph XI, that the said administrat ion has been partisan and wasteful and has permitted or caused .to be per,rnitted diversion of funds fr om the purposes f or which such funds have been app r op riated by Co ngress, and he avers that the said innuendo has been inserted i n said p etition malici ously and t o serve t h e politie~l purposes of t he Petiti oners. Further, respondent denies that the petitioners are entitled by this proc eedi ng to have made available to t h em t he re co rds cf t h e Works Progress Admini3trati on containing the individual names, addresses, a nd salaries of the emp loyees Jf the said Administrati on , a nd he denies that an inspe ction of such record s is in a ny way e ssen tial to as sis t petitioners in the intellige nt exercise of their franchise privileges or to aid t h em to reach an intelligent understanding of t he issues of the said national campaign. XII. Respondent is advised t ha t the allegati ons ~f Paragraph XII ef t he petition are not material to the issues cf t his case; but he admits t ha t he is fully cognizant ~f t he candidacy of the President of t he United States for reelecti on t o the office of Chief Magistrate of the Nation, as are all other citizens of the United States, and that respondent herein is exercising his lawful rights as an individual citizen in advocating the reelecti on of the President ~f the United States. Respondent denies, however, that any facts and figures from the records ~f the w~rks Progress Administration have been used in support of said candidacy which have not been available to t he Petiti one rs, or t hat it is impossible for the petitioners to determine from the Digitized by Original from NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY 4 - 1356 -5- inforwati on wh ich is available to them the true facts regarding said Administrati on . Respondent informe~ t he Honorable Walter E. Edge, one of the petitioners herein, by letter of 0ctober 16, 1936, a copy of which is attached to the reti tion as Exhibit D, "that the American public is entitled to and will receive full facts and figures concerning the operations of t he Works Progress Administratio n , 11 but that respondent would not furnish the individual names, addresses or salaries of the workers of t he Works Progress Administration for commercial or political purposes, and that respondent insisted that he would protect the workers of the said Administration, as individuals, and political exploitati on ." 11 from commerci3l Respondent is informed and believes that there is a grave danger that the information demanded by petitioners may be used for the purpose of political solicitation and coercion, and that t his is an improper use 0f such information, against which respo ndent is entitled and obligated to protect the employees of the Works Progress Administration. XIII. Answering the allegati ons contained in the first sentence of Paragraph XIII of the petition, respondent avers that the said allegations are so vague, indefinite, and uncertain that respondent is unable t o determine to what demands petitioners intend t, refer, and t hat he is advised that the said allegations are in any event not material to the issue s in this case, but he denies that any reasonable request f or information a nd detailed figures pertaining to the Works Progress Administrat j on has bee n refused. He admits the receipt of the letters referred to in said paragraph as Exhibits A and C and t he authenticity of the replies referred to as Exhibits Band D, and he avers that said Exhibits A and C. by their c0ntents, manifest the un- reasonableness, impropriety and bad faith of the petitioners• demands. Respondent admits that in the exercise ~f the discretion conferred on him by virtue of his offi~e and the laws applicable thereto he has declined to furnish the names, addresses, and the individual salaries of the employees of the said Administration, but again asserts Digitized by Original from NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY No. 4-1356 -6- that he is ready and willing to comply v:ith all reasonable demands of petitioners for ir..formation with respect to the operations of the Works Progress A6ninistration, excep t that he has refused and will continue to refuse to reveal or grant access to such records as pertain to the names, addresses, and individual salaries of the employees of said Administration. Respondent denies that the purpose of petitioners' re- quest is to determine in an impartial way whether the records of the Works Progress Administration are correct or whether the administration of the Works Progress Administration has been partisan or non-partisan or economical or wasteful, and avers that he is informed and believes that any investigation which petitioners might make of the records of the ~iorks Progress Administration would be partisan and prejudiced and designed to promote the campaign purposes of a particular political party and would not result in the disclosure of accurate information to the public. Respondent further avers that he is advised and believes that it would be against public policy and at variance with his lawful duty as Administrator to give a list of the names, addresses Rnd salaries of individual employees of the Works Progress Administration to any person or agency other than one authorized by the Congress of the United States to investigate the Works Progress Administration. XIV. Respondent denies each and every allegation contained in Paragraph XIV of the petition, except that he admits that he has stated that the records of the Works Progress Administration are public records and open to any one having legitim~te reason to see them, and that he has held that the information with respect to individual employees con, tained in said records would not be furnished or made available for commercial or political purposes, and further, respondent avers that such data from the records of the Works Progress Administration as has been used as the basis for public statements by the Executive branch of the Government constitute information which is fully available to the petitioners and to other members of the public who may apply for the same, and at no time has respondent revealed in such public statements the • Digitized by NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY Original from NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY No. 4-1356 -7- individual names, addresses, Rnd salaries of the employees of the Works Progress Acln1inistration, which is the inf ormation which petitioners now seek to obtain, and he denies that the interest of petitioners in the p re s idential election entitles them to the names, addresses, and salaries of the employees of the Works Progress Administration or that the possession of such information is essential to enable petitioners intelli gently to exercise their franchise privileges. XV. Answering the allegations contri.ined in Paragraph rv of the petition, respondent denies that he has imp roperly used the records of the Works Progress Administration for the political advancement of the administration in power, and he avers that to the extent that he has used such records he has used them in good faith to make known to the American public accurate information with respect to the operation of the Works Progress AQministration. Respondent denies he has breached any trust reposed in him, and denies that his refusal to furnish to petitioners the names, addresses, and individual salaries of the employees of the Works Progress Administration, is such a breach, or that his action in this respect amounts to a refusal to open the sources of information to those who challenge the administration of the Works Progress Administration, and avers that information as to the operation of the Works Progress Administration, except that pertai!).ing to the individual employees, has been and is available to petitioners. Respondent denies that the petitioners, by reason of this proceeding, have a right to any or all of the records of the Works Progress Administration, which are records of the Government of the United States. Respondent further denies that petitioners have a legitimate interest in information with respect to the names, addresses, and salaries of individual employee s of the Works Progress Administration, or that such information is necessary to assist petitioners in any way to cast an informed vote, or that the integrity of the Government depends in any way upon petitioners obtaining such information. Respondent further says that he fully understands his duty and obligations to the people of the United States, as well as to petitioners. Digitized by Original from NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY No. 4-13 56 - 8- Further answering the allegations of the petition, respondent says: 1. The Works Progress .Administration and the Treasury Department from time to time have published voluminous and detailed reports and statements with resp ect to the onerations, administration and expenditures of the Works Progress .Administration. These reports and statements show, among other things, with respect to each state, the number and classification of employees, the total amount of compensation received by the employees in each classification, the number and classifications of projects, the number of persons employed in each classification, the allocations of funds made to each state and to each classification of projects, and the average hourly wages, rates and earnings on the projects in each classification, and a mass of other information with respect to the Works Progress Administration. In addition thereto the Works Progress Administration publishes regularly at intervals of approximately a month figures for each state showing total costs for all purposes on the basis of obligations incurred, total amount of administrative costs, the per cent of administrative costs to total costs, and the number of administrative employees for the pay period immediately preceding the date of the publication. The cornpre- hensi ve and detailed information contained in these reports is available to petitioners and consequently respondent is informed and believes that the real purpose of petitioner's request and of this proceeding by petitioners is not to obtain information with respect to the administration of the Works Progress .Administration but to conduct a partisan and prejudiced inspection, investigation and audit of the books, records and papers of the Works Progress Administration with a view to promoting the interests of a particular political party. Respondent is further advised and believes that petitioners have no more right to investigate and audit the books and records of the Works Progress Administration than petitioners or other citizens have to investigate and audit the books, records and Digitized by Original from NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY Nn. 4-135f- -9- papers of any other governmental agency. Res})onde nt is also advised and believes that if p etitioners have a right as citizens and taxpayers tc investigate and audit the books and records of t h e Works Progress .Administration or of any other governmental agency, then all oth er citizens have a similar right, and th e assertion of such a right by petitioners or by other taxpayers and citizens would mak e impossible th e orderly and efficient administration of the Executive Departments and Ag encies of the Governmt:nt. 2. He resp ectfully c.ei,lls the court's attention to the fact that th~ prayer of the petition demands •**access to the records of the Works Progress Administration showing the employees of the organization, the scop e of th eir duties, the salaries or other compensation which they have received since they Lave been connected with the Administration, th eir present salaries and comp ensation and also acces s to tho records which will show the details with resp ect to th e cost of the vari0us projects, the amount of money which has been expended and for what purpose, with all underlying data. and shows unto the Court that the relief prayed is not confined to the records of the Works Progress .Administration with respect to operations in the State of New Jersey or to the records with respect to the operations of the Works Progress .Administration in any other single state, district or political subdivision, but covers the records with respect to the operations of the Works Progress Administration throughout the entire United States and that the de mand is not specific with respect to the cost of the various projects and the underlying data, but comprehends all of the various projects undertaken and prosecuted by the Works Progress Administration. The num- ber of employees of the Works Progress .Administration at the present time is over 2,000,000, and the Works Progress Administration is now conducting approximately 100,000 projects. .A.11 of the und0r:J_ying data with respect to the cost of the various projects, the amount of money which has been expended and for what purpose is contained in voluminous files throughout the offices of the United States Givernment, not only in Washington, D.C., but throughout the 48 states of the Union. To grant to th e petitione rs and their agents access to thes e records would require that petitioners be p e rmitted to remove any or all of such rec g~ffi2ecffi9 m the files and to work with o1iijirrffi fRi1rtf ing NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY No. 4 - 1356 - 10 - business hours when such records are required for the conduct of the ad.ministration of the Works Progress Ad.ministration. }etitioners' request would also require many of the employees of the Works Progress Ad.ministration to devote a large part of their time to obtaining records and information for petitioners and to supervising the inspection of such records and their removal and return to the file. In such circumstances the conduct of the business of the Works Progress Administration would be confused, impeded and retarded and the orderly a..~d efficient ad.ministration of its bu~iness would be impossible. The petitioners assert a right as citizens andtaxpayers to have access to and to search the records of the Works Progress Administration and if petitioners have such a right then all other persons who are citizens and taxpayers have a similar right and the door is open to successive assertions of that right by numerous citizens, a result whieh would impede, if not completely stop, the orderly operation of the Works Progress Administration. 3. Respondent is advised and believes that a general investiga- tion of the Works Progress Ad.ministr~tion or of any other governmental department iLvolving the ~ompulsory production of documents or access to records can be legally undertaken only by some federal agency authorized by law to conduct such an investigation and that it cannot be undertaken by citizens acting in their personal capacities as taxpayers and voters and that if this were not the case, the resulting conflicts of e.uthority and jurisciction would destroy the possibility of useful investigation, and would disrupt and impede the orderly administratio~ ~f the Government. Under existing legislation the records as to all funds appropriated by Congress for the operation nf the Works frogress Administration are subject to audit and are audited by the General Accounting ~ffice of the United States in accordar.ce with the Budget & ~ccounting Act of June 10, 1921, Digitized by Original from NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY No. 4 - 1356 - 11 - 42 stat. 20. Under the Emergency Relief Appropriation Acts of 1935 and 1936, supra, Congress has directed that reports of the operations under said Act shall be submitted to Congress, the reports to include a statement of the expenditures made and obligations incurred, by classes and amounts. 4. Inspection by petitioners of the records relating to the employees of the Works ~rogress Ad.ministration would necessarily reveal to petitioners such intimate and personal particulars with respect to such employees as their age, legal residence, education, marital status, citizenship; number of persons dependent upon them for support; nature of any defects, infirmitiea or chronic diseases they may have; whether they have ever been arrested, indicted or convicted for violation of any law; their employment record; and other matters relating solely to the personal affairs of such employees, a record of which is necessary, appropriate and customary in the administration of a governmental agency. Petitioners have no legitimate interest in such personal information. The possession of such information by petition~rs would not assist them in an intelligent exercise of their franchise and the disclosure of such rersonal and intimate information to petitioners would be a breach of confidence on the part of respondent and an abuse of his discretion. 5. The disclosure or non-disclosure of the records, data and information mentioned in said petition contained in the records of the Works Progress Administration is a matter within the sound administrative discretion of the respondent, and petitioners herein are not entitled, as a matter of law, to the relief prayed for; to grant to the petitioners and their agents access to, or the disclosure of information from, the records which are the subject of this suit, is a me.tter of administrative discretion, and is therefore not controllable in mandamus proceedings, and would greatly interfere Digitized by Original from NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY No. 4 - 13f6 - 12 - with the proper, efficient and orderly administration of the business of the Government of the United States, and it would not be compatible with the public interest to allow an indiscriminate inspection of the said records by private persons, having no legitimate or material reason therefor; the question of determining which, if any, of these records may be inspected is a matter involving the exercise of administrative discretion and as such cannot be controlled in a mandamus proceeding. 6. Fetitioners in their petition file-1 herein do not show a sufficient special legal or legitimate interest in the premises to entitle them to maintain this proceeding. Respondent, h-:i.ving fully answered., prt'tys to be hence dismissed with his reasonable costs in this behalf incurred. Harry L. Hopkins, Administrator Works Progress Administrntion. JOHN DI CKIUSON, Assistant Attorney Gener8l LESLIE GARKETT, United States Attorney JO:IN S. L. YOST, Special Assistant to the Attorney General WM. E, LINDEN, General Counsel, Works Progress Administration Attorneys for Respondent Digitized by Original from NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY
@FedFRASER