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No . 4--1825 -WORKS - - - - -P-R OGR E S S A D MI N I S T R A T I O N For Release to Mor ning Newspapers Honday , November 7 , 1938 WILLIAMS REPORTS REVIEW OF SHEPPARD COMMITTEE FH'])INGS SHOWS " HOT A WORD OF TRUTH" IN CHA.RGES MADE BY SENATOR DAVIS . Aubrey Williams, Acting Administrator of the Works Progress Administration , today announc ed that he had re viewed the ten charges submitted to the Special Committee to Investigate Campaign Expenditures by Senator James J . Davis of Pennsylvnnia and had found not a word of truth i n them . Previous reports of the Committee, inc.lica.tir.1.g that WPA employes might be involved in thr ee of the ten charges , prompted further in- vestigat i on of these cases, Mr . Williams said , which established the fact that there had been no political coercion by anyone connected with WPA . In a lette r to Senator Morris Sh0:ppard , Chairman of the Committee , Mr . Williams wrote : November 6 , 1938 Honorable Morris Sheppard., Chairman Special Committee to Investigate Campaign Expenditures United St.ates Senate Washington, D. C. My dear Senator Sheppard : In my letter to you of October 24 , I stated that I was unable to est ablish any political activity on the part of persons conne cted with the Works Progress Administration involved in the 10 charges made by Sena tor James~ 'ti~~ s and that there was not one S(§~~aH r~fh of truth in NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY 4--1825 - 2 - them so far as WPA employees were concerned. In your press release of November 3, the inference as it was carried in the press. was that your Committee had found evidence in three cases sustaining the charges of Senator Davis that WPA workers had been guilty of political activity_. Based upon the press reports, which is the only material which has bea,. made available to us, I have again reviewed very caref~lly the charges as to whether or not WPA employees were involved and I again can find no evidence of any WPA employees being involved in either of the three mentioned in the press release or the other seven which were a part of the former charges. With relation to the first one of the three, a charge made by Senator Davis that truck drivers in Carbon County were requested by a WPA foreman to call at the home of William J. McGinley, Garage Inspector in the employment of the State of Pennsylvania, who solicited political contributions, our investigators interviewed each available truck driver on the project and not a single one of those interviewed, with the exception of Paul F. Schoch, the complainant, testified that the WP.A. for eman, Warren Mortimer, directed him to report to McGinley. All of t his bears out the statement I made to your Committee on October 24. lf.c,:;.i nley is not an employee of the Works Progress Administration. We heve a0solutely no control over his conduct and there is no evidence whatsoever that any truck driver was released for failure to make poli+,ical ccmtributions , Therefore, any finding by your Committee that M~ . McG i nley, an employee of the State of Pennsylvania, solicited and r ece i,ed contributions from WPA workers , without a;ny evidence establi shbt: t, hat employees of this Administration were connected with the soli c i t ~,.-~ton , would be clearly misleading unless your Committee stated that t he s 1·i;Fe,t i or1 was not within our jurisdiction. The second of these three charges has to do with WPA workers in Luzerne County being requested to change their registrati on. The charge wa: made that 23 petsons had made affidavits that they were coerced to change their registration . In my statement to you on October 24, we pointed out that c. H. Killian, Campaign Manager for a Republican Candidate, had named 23 persons alleged to be in the employment of the Works Progress Administration who had been requested to change their registration. I also report ed to you at that time that we had checked our pay rolls Md had found only four of these persons to ever have beeh an employee of tho W~rks Progress Administration. My report at that timb disclosed that there was absolutely no evidence at any time that any of the four persons had been coerced to change their registration. I also pointed out that they have not changed their registration and that they are still employed by the Works Progress Administration. Again what this comes to then is a charge by a Republican Campaign Manager concerning which we are unable to find any supporting evidence. In the third ~ection of the press release of your Committee, it was stated that at the time I advised your Committee there was no truth in any of the charges made by Senator Davis, that officials of the Works Progress Administration in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, knew that WPA workers in Digitized by Original from NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY 4--1825 - 3 - Luzerne County had received postal cards re~uesting them to report to Deruocra.tic Campaign Headquarters . In my letter of October 24, I informed your Committee that we had knowledge that truck owners had re ce ived a notice from a political organization that they were expected to make political contributions, but I also stated to your Committee that we could find no evidence of any contributions having be en made by truck owners , including those who had received the notice . My point here is that your statement gives the impression that your Committ ee holds this Administration responsible for the action of persons who are mem-bers of a political party but over whom we have absolutely no control and I am sure your Committee would not want to place itself in any such pos ition. Your statement also implies that local WPA officials were withholding information from the National office. That this is not true mi,s borne out by the statement which I made to your Committee that our local staff had knowledge of this matter and were cooperating with this offi ce to the fullest extent to prevent any use of the Works Progress Admini stration for political purposes. I shall be happy to receive any information which your investigators have gathered where anyone has made any charge s that persons employed on the Works Progress Administration are being co erced for politicaJ. purposes and I assure your Committee that I will make a most careful investigation and will deal summarily with any person found to be euilty . I have gone over the material and have sent people again into Pennsylvania with reference to the se three charges and I find that none of the charges involve any person actually in the employmant of the Works Progress Administration. This was the s tatement I made to ;yo11 in my letter of October 24 in which I stated that there was not one word of truth in the ch1')rges which Senator Davis made and there i s nothing in anything that your Committee has s o far published or that you have sent to - this office that shows any part of my statement to have been in error. Sincerely yours, Aubrey Williams Deputy Administr ato.r Digitized by Original from NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY
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