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OCUMf..<i h ROOM No. 4 --1715 WO R K S THE PROGR _f._M ***** --Works Progress Administration-- For Release to Afternoon Newspapers, Thursday, June 30 , 1938. HOPKINS REFUTES CHARGES OF POLITICAL COERCION I N KENTUCKY. Harry L. Hopkins, Works Progress Administrator, today pledged a relentless fight against t hose who, in their efforts to undermine any activities in behalf of the unemployed, atte mpt to di s credit the Federal Works Program by wholesale charges of political favoritism backed only by malicious partisan go s sip. 11 We will dea l swiftly and summarily with any proven charge of political coercion, 11 Admi ni s tra tor Hopkins sa id, 11 but we will be equally prompt in e:xpodng a ny accusati ons trumped up to serve the political ends of t ho::,e who ar e opposed to t hi s adm i nistration. 11 Specifica lly, Mr. Hopkin s r efo rr eo t o t he charges of political a ct i vity by WPA in Ke ntucky , as containe d in a s Pri e s of newspape r article s just concluded by Scri pps-·Howard news pape rs . Of these a c- cusations, the WPA Administra tor said: 11 Every charge in which a WPA ,,.,orker or offi cial wa s name d ha s been thoroughly investiga ted and docume ntary evide nce conclusively e stablishe s that out of mor e t han a score of ca se s in which political activity was allege d., onl y two instance s of impro per conduct could be found. Mr. Hopkins pr e s E' nted the facts concerning these charges, case by case: Charge No . 1. From Paint svill e , Ky. , the r eporter Thomas L. Stokes , wrote on June 11: The son of the wealthiest man in this to ~m has recently bee n given a n administrative job a t headquarters here of WPA 1 s eas t er n Kentucky district. The young man, John B. Wells, Jr ., who previously had worked in his fath er's hardware store , happe ns to be president of the Young Democrats of J a ck son County and campaign manager in the county for Sen. Alben W. Barkley, President Roosevelt's Senate leader, whose right to return to the Senate is being chall enged in the Aug. 6 primary by Gov. A. B. Chandler . Mr. Wells's new job is reported to pay from $250 to $300 a month . 1 Digitized by Original from NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY - 2 - .The facts concerning Charge ?So. 1: has been employed °b"'J the John B. Wells, jr.; is not now and never wPA in Kentucky or anywhere else. This hq.s been verified by the recor9-s of the vtPA in Kentucky ant Jolm B. Well, jr., himself. Had Mr. Stokes gone to the trouble 0f ask- ing Mr . W,lls v1hether he w0 s employed by the WPA, he '17ould have gotten the same ansuer we did. In a voluntnry affid.:wit this is what Mr . Wells says n.bout the charge : "I am not employed by the ~A in I the State of Kentucky or :my agency of the Federal government . am employed by my fnther in his business at Paintsville . I~~ not o.n applicant for any position of :my kind with the WPA and could not accept a position if it were offered to me . 11 Incidentfilly, Mr . Wells is not even the Barkley campaign manager for Johnson County, nor has he ever been appointed. The manager for Jolmson County is Dr . Paul Bryan Hall . Char ge No . 2 . On June 13, Mr . Stokes wrote : One Republican w·0rker in McCreary County , Prince Bo.rnett, tola_ in an afficl:'·vi t how a. foreman, Carson Hamlin, had 15 or 20 Republican workers hauled to . the county clerk 1 s office in a WPA truck to change thoir registration. The fe.cts concerning Charge No . 2 : Carson Hamlin 8.t no time hauled anyone to the county clerk's office in a WPA truck, or any other conveyance, to cha.11ge registration. This is attested to in the sworn state- ment of the workers on Carson Hamlin's project and they also state that neither Mr. H::unlin, nor r::my other WPA official has ever , at o:rry time , credited them for time that tbey were absent from the project for any reason othe-:-- tho.n that allowed by the rules and regulations of the WPA. The fnct is, a.seven Mr . Stokes (\dmits, that under the Kentucky registration l'.nd election lnws, no Republican registered for the 1937 general election Muld. since change his regi~t.rntion and vote in the Democrn.t.ic pr5.naries on .A,:igust 6 . It would therefore b~ perfectly silly for anyone who wished to aid either of the candidate ~ tg seek to influence any Republicans to change their registration. Digitized by Original from NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY 4-1715 - 3 - On June 13, Mr . St okes wrote : In Some r se t, Pulaski Count :r , one WPA f or eman was roported t o J:inve been seen 13 timos i n one day go i ng int o the county clerk ' s offic e to check on rogistr&tions . There have been some 300 change s of registrat i on f r om Republican to Der.-iocratic i n Pula ski County , of which about 75 per cent ~e r e WPA wo rke rs , according to the county. cle rk. The facts concerni ng Charge No . 3 : While t ho fo r eman r ern."Lins anonymous , a car eful che ckup developed the f ac t that no visit s of t his kind were made t o the county cl e rk ' s office . The \acts about the changes i n re gis tratio n , as attested to by t he county cle r k , are that ?,llaski County has 13 , 000 qua lified voters of which only 242 Republicans have re""'. re gist e r ed a s Democr ats si nce the last ger.,e ral election , and none of these ca,n vote i n t he comi:n.g Do:1o crati c pri mary. Mr . St okes charced that 7S pe r cent of tho::h.J wore WP.A wor ko rs . A ca r eful che ck shows tha t only 31 per cent wero WPA workers . Further evi donco proves that t::io changes i ::i. regist ration from Republican to Democrat and Domocrat to ' Republican are no mo r e t han the normal number oi cl1anges during an el e cti on year . Each und every foreme.n employed by tho WPA i n Pu l aski co,mty tas swo r n i n an affidavit t bat he has never v isito d the county clerk ' s offi ce for the purpose of maki ng any che ck as to tho re gistration of any WPA workers , and t hi s fact i :3 borne out by the co1i..r1ty clerk of Pulaski County . Charge No . 4. Continuing on J une 13 , Mr . Stokes report ed : A r eveali ng letter was sent t o WPA wo r ke r s in Marti n County on t he eastern border of Kentucky , by Russ ell Williamson , Barkley campaign ma nager i r. the county..... How Mr . Williamson g rJt ho ld of the list i s not cl ear ••••• It The facts concerning Cha r ge No . 4 : What Mr . St okes ·did not say , but could have learned easily , was tha t this l e tt er was mailed not t o a list of WFA workers alone , a s he i n f erred , but t o all t he voters i n Martin County , according to the sworn statement of Russ e ll Willi amson . Mr . Williamson states t hat lett e rs mailed by him went t o both Democrats and Republicans t hr oughout the count y Qnd thn.t he never r eques t ed or r eceived a list of Mar t in County WPA empl oyes from anyone . Mr . Willia□ son 1 s stat er.ient conce r ni ng the list of VlPA wo r ke rs is supported by the sworn Digitized by Original from NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY 4-1715 - 4 - otat~n:.ont of Arthur Gamble, the director of the WPA for the Kentucky district which includes Martin County. So long as WPA workers have their names on the voting list, and so long ae the :a.lls ~.re delivered, we cannot, and, in a Democracy, we should not, prevent them from receiving campaign literature urging them to vote for one candidate or another . Charge No . 5. On June 11 , Mr . Stokes charged: J . Amos Runyon, county attorney, wa.s reported active with WPA in the Pikeville area . One affidavit testifies to this from Cleve Thacker, Wl'A worker, who said +.hat 11 on or about the first day of March, 1938, Amos Runyon said if I signed a pledge for A. B. Chandler that I would have no job on WPA . "He also told me he would find out how I voted , and that all men that signed pledges and voted for Chandler would lose their jobs. 0 ~he facts concerni~g Charge No. 5: This charge does not accuse any WPA official or anything . J. Amos Runyon, tho county attorney, is not employed on WPA and has no connection with this organization. He has no a1,1thority to hire or fire Cleve Thacker or any other W'PA employe. Had Mr. Stokes gone to the trouble of intor- vie,1ing Mr . Runyon concerning this charge, he would have found out that Mr. Runyon has not only never discuRsod politics with Cleve Thacker, but that he does not oven know Clove Thacker . In a s,rnrn statement Mr. Runyon further sets forth that he has never attempted to coerce, intimidate or improperly influence any WPA employes by threats regarding their job 9 in order to alter their political actions or opinions . It is interesting to note that Cleve Thacker is still in the employ of the WPA in Kentucky. Charge No . 6 . On June 7, Mr . Stokes wrote : On March 14 Garland H. Rice, director of the employment division for WPA's First District , embracing eastern Kentucky, called in his office force at district headquarters in Paintsville and told them what they were e:xoected to do. According to an employe ~bo attended the meeting, Mr. Rice explained that he was a Republican but had changed his registration to Democrat in order to vote for Sen. Barkley and that he expected them to do the same. Digitized by Original from NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY - 5 - Further, according to . the story, -Mr~ Rice asked a 2 per cont contribution from selari0s for the Barkley campaign . Some money was collected, according t q the s t.ory, but was returned . two days later, with ,;rord that the collection would be made later~ Mr. Rice I s change of registration is shown on the county clerk's books . The facts concerning Charge No . 6: While it is difficult to investigate a charge which is allege d to have been made by an eri.onymous emplo;-;ro , the fact of the mutter is that Mr . Rice and tho members of his staff deny · that any such statement was ever ma.de . Mr . Rice, under oath, states that he never at a!l.Y time has attempted to .,, coerce a.ny me;:iber of his staff into voting against his or her will and that he has been opposed to political activity or pressu..1:'e from Bny and all oources in connection with his department of the WPA . He has never demanded any contribution from any of his 0mp:loyos for any campaign fund or for any •.· political ca..'1.didate . And his sta,taments are substantia ted by the members of his staff . But the members of his staff go e-rnn further in their statements . Ten of them certify that of their own free vrill aD,d accord they offered contrihutt()ns for. the berLflfi t of Mr . Barkley ' s campaign and asked Mr s. Alma. R . Greene to turn it over to the proper authorities . , but these contri b,1.tions were refused by Mrs . Greene and the employes were told that she would not accept any money for campaign purposes . The charge is wholly without foundation . Continuing on Ju_'1.e 7 , Mr . Sto kes wr ote : It was in March also that B. C. Collis , dir0ctor of operations fqr district No . 3, with headquarters a t Lexington, called in his engine er staff and announced that he o~p 3ctod the~ to b$ 100 per cent for Sen •. Barkley, adding that they would be called on la.t er fo r " something else." according to one who attended the meeting. The II something alse 11 wa.s presu."Iled to r efer to a contribution . The facts concerning Charge No . 7 : did come uo the su.bj6v~ . at Careful investigation shows tl;lat politic s this meeting and th:it Mr . Collis brought up He mentioned it as a warning to his men tmt they would be subjected to much pressure from both sides because of the heat of the campa ign und he told them t o tD.k:e no part in it . An affidavit signed by Mr . Collis states these are the facts concerning the matter n.nd th.a.t no mention irhatDigitized by Original from NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY 4-1715 - 6 - soever has beon ~ado of any campaign contributi ons at any time and none was solicited. Supporting affidavits by every ~embe r of his engineering staff say that they have never used their offici a l positions with the WPA to coerce, intimidate or compel anyone operating under their supervision or anyone conne cted with t he WPA in Kentucky to . vote for any candidate or to support any political party. Charge No . 8 On June 8 , Mr . Stokes declared: I n Edmonson County, in middle- western Kentucky, a significant political project is being carried out . WPA timekeepers rove been making out po litical checklists of WPA workers , apparently with the object of finding out their affiliation and lining up the vote . *** The cards call for the following information : . names of alJ. l egal voters in family; addresses; registe r e~ , yes or no; pr ecinct where registered. On the lists I saw , this information had all been filled in. Loe Qarden , chief WPA supervisor for '·he district , is reported to be directing this political project . Tho f:--.cts concerning Chc:,r ge lfo . 8: Lee Ca rd.en clid distribute r egist ration cnrds . We hQve t8ken steps to see thnt this man minds his own business. He was t old that 11 any such ac tivity on his p a rt in the future Yrould result in his b e ing fired . 11 On June 8, Mr . Stokes quoted an affidavit by Frank Starr, WPA project superintendent , as follows : That while project superintendent at the Ft . Thomas Army post I t ook a man named Lawrence Connit to Mr. Maynard , assistant supe rvis or , to be qualified for a position as carpe nte r foremnn ; th:~t this man was very closely questioned by Mr . Mnynard regar ding his attitude toward the senatorial_race.betwoon Gov. Chandler and Sen. Barkley, and Mr . Connit made the statement that he and Gov. Chandler were very cl ose friends . *** Mr . Conni t did not ge t the job . *** Affiant (Starr) states that he did not commit hinself and because of his inactivity for Sen . Barkley ho w0s re~ove d for tho os tensible reason that he would not follow instructions and failed t o coope rate . The facts concerning Cho.rgo No . 9 : Lanrence J . Conr1o tt (spelle d Conni t by Mr . Stokes) , who had worked for a considerable length of time as a carpenter on this project w~s offered a pronotion to the job o: f orenr.i.n on March 25, 1 938 . He refused because the loca l union require~ont s prevented hin fro □ holdir-g a posit i oL Digitized by Original from NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY 4-1715 ' - 7- r1hic:: wou) ~--. gi vo hie t•.u thori ty oYor both union an d. non- w1ion workers . Mr . Connett , in a sworn statement , decla res t~at po liti cs was never men ti one cl in his discussio ns with Mr . Maynard regardi ng the pr omo tio n. Had Mr . St oke s ca red t o haye i nve sti gated fully the circunstar.cos surr oundi ng Mr . Connett ' s employment , he would have discove red t hes e facts and that Mr. Connett continued as a n omployo i n good standing of the WPA under April 18 , 1938 , at whi ch time he resigne d in order to a ccept a better j9b with t he War Dcpa rt1:1cnt at the Ft . Tho □n s arl:ly post . As to Mr . Star r , there is not a uord of trut h to the charge thn t he was dismi s sed because of his inactivity fo r Son. Barkley. Do cunenta ry evidence shows that Mr . Starr was fired fr om the WPA on Apri l 15 , solely oo cause he was inconpc tont and ineff i ci ent and his releas e was specifically req1.~r:-c ted by Major J ames W, Younger , U. S.A. , quarterranster at F~ . Thor.ias , whore the w1 .ich l',o Char ge No . 10. u.s. Arny sponsors tho p roj ect upon vmrkcd. Conti nuing on J une · 8 , ·Mr. Stokes report ed: An ass i stant super visor in Russell County in southe rn Kentucky i s involved in charges of politi cal activi ty in an affidavi t by Forest H. Lawless , 33, who sai d he bas been employed ~n WPA about two years and · was discharged Mar ch 21 on_ t he gr ound hi s work was no t satisfactory. 11 About two weeks before I W--d.S di scharged , 11 Mr . Lawl ess swo r e , 11 i t was rumored among the wo r kers that a paper would be brought out on tho j o~ by some of the offic i als of tho WPA for the workers to s i gn pledging their support to Sen . Barkley or lose their jobs. "Before tho paper was presented on our job I had tal ked befor e tho fo r eman and hands that I would not sell my vote f or a 20- cent job , and what I sai d was t ur ned in t o the WPA office , and I was later showed a paper that I was marked unfavorable to Barkley. rlAftor I rece i ved notice that I was l aid off I asked tho assistant super v i sor why I wa s laid off ~ and he s~id tha t the talk I held on the road \18.S the reason , and he would do every man he heard ~alking against Barkl ey tho same way. 11 The f a cts concerning Charge No . 10 : County Judge Porter Dunbar of Russell County requested by Lawless to investi gate his case . After a complete inve stigation of the char ge s made by La.,1less , the Judge stated: Digitized by Original from NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY Ha:· 4-1715 - 8 - 11 A man by 1:he no.me of La.?Tl0ss camo into my office und told me that the WA forolllD.n had a meeting the night before and th£1t everybody was going to have to sign a pledge card to Barkley in ardor to hold his job . I told him that he had been misinformed. That I was at the moot i ng and if anything like that had been said or done I would be the first to kick. I further told him that there had been criticism in regard to his work and that the w..y to hold his job was ~o go ahead and wo rk and tend to his business and not go around starting rumors that he knew nothing about . "Sometime after I talked to Mr . Lawless the first time , he came in and said ho was fired because he would not support Barkley. I said to him that I would investigate the mattor . I did . He wn.s a republ i can working under a republican foreman and I was told that he was fired for not giving satisfactory work. After I had investigated tho whole matter he came in and wanted me to write the Louisville office and see if he would not be put back on. I told him that after my investi ga tion I did not think I could afford to do it i n face of tho facts regarding his dismissal . I have hoard no more from him since except his affidavits I have read in tho papo r s . 11 The officials in charge of the project testify under oath that the only reasons for discharging Lawless and the only reasons given to Lawless for his discharge , wore that he constantly shirked on the _job and failed to do a reasonable and honest amount of work. They also swear under oath that no papers asking the support of Senator Barkley were ever brought on this pr oject or any other pr oject in Russell County. Char ge No . 11 . o~ Ju...~e 9, Mr . St okes wrote : A 65- year- old foreman, E. T. Rich , in charge of a quarry project, swears in an affidavit that he was fired because he would not becom e active for Sen . Barkle;l, and tha.t the VlPA 8nginee r for Pulaski and Russell Counties told ~~m the only reason was tha t he was for the Governor. In his affidavit, Mr . Rich s a id that "George Nelson , the timekeeper on the job, brought some papers out on the job for the b oy s to sign up showing whethe r they would support :Barkley , that some of the boys came to me and said that they were for Chandler and did not want to sign the papers and asked my advice . ***** The facts concerning Charge No . 11 : Careful investiga.tion clearly establishes that Mr . E. T. Rich was guilty of wasteful practices , refusal to follow orders and attempts to delay compl etion of the job and wc1,s therefore dismissed. Sworn documentary evidence supplied by workers under Mr. Rich asserts that the timeke eper, George Helson, did not at any time present to them or a sk them to sign any paper or document pledging their support to any political candidate . Digitized by Original from NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY 4-1715 - 9 - Charge Uo . 12 . On J-une 9 , Mr. Stokes continued: In adjoining Russell County, Alyin Flanagan, 31, who was laid off in April after working for WPA for three years, said in an affidavit: 11 Before I was laid off the foreman called me off and said that I have a paper here that I wouid like for you to sign pledging your support to Sen. Barkley, and I told him that I would rather not sign a petition supporting anyone.*** The facts concerning Charge No. 12: Flanagan was fired simply for failure to report for five consecutive work days and was automatically dismissed in accordance with a long-standing regulation of the Works Progress Administration. Sworn testimony discloses tl1at neither Mr. Flanagan nor any other WPA worker in Russell County has been asked to sign any paper pledging support to a~y po litical candidate . Further investigation discloses that Alvin Flanagan failed to report for WPA work because he had secured a job with the Kentucky State Highway Department . This may account for Mr . Flanagan ' s unfounded political charge. Charge No. 13 . On June 9, Mr. Stokes vrrote: Art Hargis , 36, snid the foreman on his job, Cleve Keeney, told him about two months ago 11 that the fellovrn on the job were going to have to supJ?ort Barkley if they stayed on the WPA . 11 The facts concerning Charge No. 13: Mr . Keeney and Mr. Hargis, returning one night from a meeting addressed by Gov. Chandler at Newport, Ky., did discuss politics and Mr . Keeney did say that they should su1)port Sen . Barkley . An affidavit was bbtained from Mr. H1,3,rgis on which this charge was based. We regard this remark by Mr . Keeney as repre- hensible and State Administrator Goodman has been instructed to take the necessary punitive action . Mr. Hargis is still em- ployed. on the same WPP. --:iroject . Charge No. 14. Continuing on June 9, Mr . Stokes reports : The s~me Cleve Keeney is mentioned in another affid.avi t as approaching ·volantus K. Burgin, 44, who said he was told that he would have to support the Senator if he stayed on WPA. Subsequently, Mr . Burgin said in his affidavit, he sprained his back and, on doctor's orders, was given lighter work as water boy . Before he had recovered , he said, the foreman told him he would have to give up the lighter job and go back to the qun.rry because he was for Gov . Chandler. Later he was discharged . The rea son given on his papers uns that he 11 quit beco.use he could not get a higher rate of pay ." The foreman, he said, offered h~~ a better position with more -money 11 if I would support Sen. Barkley but I refused to do so. 11 The facts concerning 'Charge No. 14: Documentary evidence shows that Burgin ,1us: fired solely because he was totnJ.ly unreliable and Digitized _b}:' _ _ _Qr,i ginal from NORTHwe~UMlV-E s1t r ~ord.ing to the SVT~~TM~~u'Mv~ffOUS 4-1715 - 10 - wit nesses, he fre quently report ed to the job while intoxicated and on one occasion threatened the foreman with a revolver . Charge No . 15 : Continuing on June 9, Mr . Stokes wrote: J ohn Jolmson, 40, of Eubank, who has bee n on ViPA for a long time , sa id he r efus ed to sign a :pap er for Sen. Barkley when it was pre s ent ed to him by a foreman, and a we ek l a t er wa s fired, the slip saying he had disob oyed orde rs and Has loafing on the job . Ho can prove by every man on the job, he said, that he was guilty of neither offense . ·The facts concerning Cho..rge No . 15: Had Mr. Stoke-s taken the trouble to interview Johnson 1 s fellow workers, he would have discovered thr1.t there was no foundation whatsoever to this charge . Johnson says he can prove by every man on the job that he never disobeyed orders or was guilty of loafing. The facts are that every man on this job has sworn, under oath, that Johnson was guilty of both l oafing on the job and disobeying orders, not once but many times . They further swear that at no time have they ever been solicited by anyone to sign a paper for Sen . Barkley . Charge No . 16 . Continting on June 9, Mr. Stokes reports : A foreman , Jim Yancy, was represented in an affid~vit by G.W.Maynnrd, 71, as t al king to the men on the job about the election and saying that those who did not sign a paper for the Senator vmuld be fired . Mr . Maynard al so mentioned in his affidavit another foreman, Joe Lewis, sqying that while lots of men ,1ere on a job 11 Joe Lewis said in a loud voice so we could all hear him that n.11 of you have to re- register and support Barkley for it was your meat and bread , and if Chrindler was elected nll the j obs would be cut off • 11 The fo..cts concerning Chnrge No . 16 : Investigation discl oses not only that no such c onversations ever took pla ce on this project , but that Meyn-8,rd ha s not worked under the supervision of Joe Lewis since June, 1937, so that Maynard could hardly have heard Lewis mclce the alleged statement regn.rdless of how l oud LeYTis yelled . The persons in charge of these projectn deny, under onth, that any papers for Sen . Barkley have ever been brought on the job and it is interesting to note that Mr . Meynard is still employed on the project as a cnrpenter Ulcder t he supervisi on of James L. Yancey. Charge No . 17. .,, Continui ng on June 9, Mr . St okes wrote : From Knox County, Ja.~es Disney, 48, related in an a ffidavit how 1>. timekeeper, Paul B:1-in, handed out Barkley crunpai gn butt ons to t he no rke rs on the p roject . He sa i d he t old the timekeeper he was not for the Senat or and TTould n ot we ~r n button.**** Digitized by Original from NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY 4-1715 - 11 - "The next day Parke r Hemphill, who is the foreman on that job, came and c:tlled affio.nt off from where the rest of the WPA ·men were working and t ook him down the hill ove r a hu.>1dred yards and put him t o work by himself in a mud hold standing in the ~ater ~nd mud ru.most up to his knees. Affiant had.no boots end neither the s aid Hemphill or the said Bain did obt ain or a t tempt to obtain any for him." The f acts concerning Charge No. 17 : Affidavits signed by his fellow workers, Parker Hemphill, his project foreman , and Paul Bain, his project timekeeper , declare that politics has never been mentioned on this job and that Disney has never TTorked away from the crew in any mud hole . Mr . Di sney 1 s fellow ,70rkers further sweo.r that t hey have worked beside him in the srune cren, that boots were needed only on r a re occasions , and vrere furnished to the workers, including Mr . Disney, on t hese occasions . It is interesting to not e that Mr . Disney has not repo rted for work since giving this false information . Charge No. 18 : On Ju:.~e 11, Mr. Stokes wrote from Paintsville : Recently a WPA job paying $50 a month more th~ he was getting ns a stnte highway employe was given to John L. Wells, of this town, a brother of R. G. Vlells of Pikeville, 40 miles away, ,1ho is campaign rnnnage r for Sen . Barkley in Pike County and a Democratic st ate committeeman. The facts concerning Ch?.rge No . 18 : John L . Wells had been paid $125 a month by the state highway department before he %~S assigned to a superviso ry job paying $19 a month more--not $50-- on WPA . He hns been working for the WPA for the po.st three months . The salo,ry paid Mr . Wells is the uniform rate of pay for this type of work on WPA, and investigation discloses that he was hired solely been.use of his n.bil i ty, by r eason of experience 0,nd qunlifications, to perform certain supervisory work. R. G. 'i'folls, cmnpaign man.ager for Sen. Barkley in Pike County, sueo.rs u.nder oath thn t he did not approach or use his influence in 2:.,.1.y \7ay with nny WPA officil\l in order to sec1.1re the assignment ·o f his brother to his present :position; that he hnd no knoYTledge whatsoever of any contacts between his brother and WPA officinls regE1,rding this matter and took no part i n it nli..'l.tsoeve r. R.G. Wells 1 [tffidavi t is supported by sworn t e stimony of officiru.s in charge of the WPA progrrun in J ohnson County. Digitized by Original from NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY 4- 1715 - 12 - Char ge No . 19 . On June 11, Mr . Sto}~e s wrot e : R. G. Wells himse l f wa s report ed to have angl e d for a t l eas t three employes of the st a te h i ghway dep·1.r t 'Ilont - an age ncy par ti cul a rl y a ctive for Gov . Chandler - who we re re garded as good pol itica l worke rs in Pike County. The letter ~1ggAsting better jobs was sa id to have been skillfully wor ded , without mention of WPA . The Facts concer ning Char ge No . 19 : Swo rn t est i mony by both Mr . We ll s and local WPA offici a ls establishes that Mr . Wells ha s never a t any time r eques t e d the WPA to offer employme nt to any pe r son empl oye d by the State Highway Department . As a Bar kl ey campai gn ma nage r Mr . We lls has a perfect ri ght to addr ess le tt e rs to anyone he pl eases and the WPA i s not concer rn~d with the l e tt er , al s o mentioned by Mr . Stokes , wh ich Mr . Wells admits writing in an a tt empt to get more money from the St a t.o Hi ghway Department for one of it s employes . Mr . Wells ha s never been and is not now conno cte d with the WPA in any vray and has no au t hority to of f or WPA employment to anyone . Cha rge No . 20. On June 10 , Mr . st okes ' articl e f r om McKee , Ky., wa s he a dlined in the New York World-Te l egr am, "Count y Manage r for Barkley 1 Live s 1 at WPA Off ice . " Af t er des cribing t he little '!rPA office , he wr ote : A s i gn na il ed bes i de the entr a nce r eads :-11No loafing. " This appli e s apparently to everyone except Caspar Ra tts, the Barkley campaign manager for J a ckson County, of which McKee is the count y seat . He spends a lot of time in t he office-- though he has no conne ction with WPA . According to loca l citizen s he also spe nds a lot of time wo rking for Sen . Barkl ey among WP.A employes on proj e cts i n this a r ea. The facts concer ning Cha r ge No . 20 : Car eful inves tiga tio n of Mr . St okes • impli- ca ti on s w.q,s made , and sworn testimony of Mr . Ra tts and local WPA officials establishes clearlJr thRt Mr . Ratts not only does not attempt t o dictate WPA pol icy in t ha t county. but seldom visit s the local WPA office . Cha rge No . 21 , On June 7 , Mr . St okes wr ote : At Madisonville , in we st ern Kentucky , I went to see J . B. Boddie , di r ec t or of Dietrict No . 4, regarding a r eport he h ad s ou ght t o int e rest members of t he city school board in Sen. Bar kl ey ' s cause a t a ti me when additionnl Fe de r a l funds were needed t o complete a school. Mr . Boddie was fr !'lnk . 11 What happene d, 11 he expl a ine d , 11 'f'a,s that they came t o ask if t hey should go to Sen. Barkley t o help t hem get the money. I told them that I t hought if they we nt Digitized by Original from NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY 4-171 5 - 13 - t o a polit ici/:rn fo r a favor it was only fa ir t hat they should support h i m. Isn 1 t that fair and logical? 11 A majority of t he school b Oard i s for Gov. Chandler . 11 I hope they ge t t he money," Mr . Boddie continued, "be cause they want to fini sh the school and I want to see it finished. This is my home, I've lived here 18 years . But there 's been no politics he r e and there'll be none in connecti on with any pr ojects , nor has anybody been fired nor will anybody be fired on account of politics." The facts concerning Charge No . 21 : A si gne d s t atement by every member of the school board at Madisonville as serts tha t Mr. Boddie has never at any time mentioned politics in his de a lings with them on matters pertaining to the Works Progress Admi ni str at ion and that he has never suggested that t hey support Sen . Barkley. An aff idavit si gned and sworn to by Mr. Boddie asserts tha t he ha.s not used or attempted to use at any time his influence as District Director upon a ny member of any school board in behalf of Sen . Barkley and that he has not at a.ny ti me t hreatene d t o wi thold Feder al funds from a ny pr oje ct unless the sponsors or other perso ns agree d to support Sen. Barkley. Mr . Boddie furt he r swears that at no time has he permitted the political status of the spon sors of any project to influence him in the di schar ge of his duties nor has he in any way sought to influe nce such spon sors f or or aga in s t any c8Ildi date f or public off ice . The fact , are t h11t Mr . Stok~e int erviewed only one member of the Board of Education in Madisonville . This man , Mr . J . C. Riddle , an insur a nce man a nd a Republican , according to his own volunt ary t es timony , states that he assured Mr . Stokes tha t never had an insta nce of political favoritism or pr a ctice come to h is attention in connection with the operation of the WPA program in Madisonville . The signed statement of the members of the School Board compliments Mr . Boddie on the excell ent and non- political administr a ti on of his offic e . Had Mr . Stokes live d up to his reput at i on a s an impartia l correspondent , he would have a t l east r eport ed the true facts concerning his conver sation with the only member of the School Board whom he saw duri ng his hasty v i sit to Madis onville. Digitized by Original from NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY 4-1715 - 14 Cha r ge No . 22 . On June 13 , Mr . st okes v:r- ote , fr om : ikevill e ,Ky.: An open blow-up over WPA foremen for shirking the ir regul a r duties occurrPd recently in a ·se ss ion of the fi s cal court at Monticello in Wayne County. The fiscal court is the local county governing bo dy, c ompArable to county commissions in other states. Two squir es - the fiscal court off icials - tot up in the mee ting, in the presence of Russell Mar shall, WPA ar ea engineer , a nd demanded a re organ iza ti on of WPA in the thr ee counties of Wayne , !foCr eary and Clinton in southern Kentucky. One of them said t wo f or emen in his district we re paying no attention to the ir jobs , and a,...TJ.othe r said that there was a shirki ng foreman in his district . The f a ct s c once rning Charge No . 22: s. R. Marshall , th·3 WPA a r ea engineer who 'att ende d t he court session ·a t wh ich the 1tbl ow-up 11 vras supp ose d to hav e oc curr ec1 , s t a t es in an affidavit that n o such criticism of WPA was expressed by ~nyon e at this meet ing . s. E . Anderson , cl erk of the fisc a l c ourt, ce rtifies that the f acts as given by Mr. Ma rsha ll a r e c orr e ct . suggest 11 The fiscal c ourt squir es did that the foremen ' s jobs shoul d be equally divided between Democrnts and Republi ca ns , 11 accordi ng t o the re po:-. attested by both Mr . Marshall and the court clerk , but t hat Mr . Mar shall "answered thi s b y adv i s ing t hat we could not r ele'.'l.se any man unless someone could prefe r charges t he.t he was not do ing his duty ancl tha t pol itical affil i at i on did not enter in c on s ideration. The fisc al c ourt was of the op i nion t hat a ll of our present · f or emen were good men ." Unsolicited. s tatements , most of them t oo l ong t o q1.1 ote in full , we r- e submitted by the c oun ty supe rint endent of s chools , the mayo r of Mont i cello and c ounty judf,e s, and a ll asser t th2 ~ t he 0 c coperati on given by the enginee rs a nd a ll of t he supervisory force of the WPA i s very sat'isfactor y in eve ry r espe ct and if it were placed i n our power t o . make any changes in engineers or f or emen , we would n ot desir e to do so. 11 "T he re you have t he r ecord on e ve ry spec jf ic cha r ge made in this s e ri es of a rti cles , 11 Mr . Hopkins SA.id. "Against the unsupport0d s t a t ements of the r eporter and the Aff idri.v i ts of disgruntled wo r kers a..i-id party wo r ke rs, stands the docu;~ented evidonce and the sworn te s ti mony disproving eve r y i mportan t accusation . Digitized by Original from NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY 4-1715 . - 15 11 Genera1 charges of political favoritism by WPA official s have been based upon the se spec i f ic cases . They have no nore validity t han the s pe cific cases upon which they depend for support; and a thor ou gh investiga tion, as fully se t fo rth above, has sw$pt away the ir f oundati on in f a ct. 11 I recognize tha t in a far-flung organization covering the 3,300 counties in America, with 64, 000 pr0jects and 2 ,700,000 workers , there will occmr indiscreti ons by over .... zeal ous partisans in t he midst of heated campaigns, but thnt is a vas tl y different thing from a planned and organized politica l campai gn on the part of the responsible he ad s of any government a gency. 11 I am □ indful of the f P.,ct t hat in politica l campaigns ne ws papers and others have a tendency to make l oose and unsupport ed charges involving. the integrity of the political party they oppose . In t he heat of a campaign partisans on occas ion give out mislea.ding and ina ccura te inf ormation. This seem s to be inher ent in our politicRl system. While I know tha t this series of articl es was based on ine.ccur a te informa tion, I am quite aware of the f a ct ne vert he less that othe r s i mil ar misleading and inaccurate st a tements may be r..acle before the coming elections are over. I do not intend to permit charges against WPA offici e.ls, and employee s, in whose integrity I have confidence. t o go unanswe r ed and I inte nd t o use every instrument a.t my command to acquaint the American people with the truth or falsity of such char ges. 11 The Arr.e rican people have a right t o know whether these charges are true or not. I am convinced that people will not tolerate the prostitution of public funds appropriated t o a id t he unemployed. By the same token they will not tolerate attempts to smear public officials who are trying honestly to do their duty. I have on all occas ions, where the facts war- ranted. dischar ge n employe es for coercive or other i mproper activities, and I .am quite prepared to do it a.gain wherever a72:y real evidence is available." I 0000000000000000000000000000000 Digitized by Original from NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY
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