Abbildungen der Seite
PDF
EPUB

The CHAIRMAN. Is Rev. Thomas E. O'Connell, of St. Paul's Rectory, Richmond, Va., here?

(No response.)

The CHAIRMAN. Senator McKellar, do you know how long the testimony of Mr. Farris will be? I believe you requested Mr. Farris.

Senator MCKELLAR. Yes, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. Could we get through with him in 15 minutes or 30, do you think?

Senator MCKELLAR. We might. It would not come in naturally at this time, however.

The CHAIRMAN. There is a certain continuity as to Mr. Barker's testimony, and perhaps that of Mr. Farris. I think the committee had better adjourn at this time.

I am going to ask the Senate for permission to meet this afternoon at 2 o'clock in this room. Unless the Senate refuses permission, we will start the hearing at 2 o'clock this afternoon in this room.

(Whereupon, at 11:50 a. m., a recess was taken until 2 p. m., of the same day.)

AFTERNOON SESSION

(The committee reconvened at 2 p. m., at the expiration of the recess).

The CHAIRMAN. The committee will come to order.

Is the Rev. Thomas E. O'Connell here?

Will you take the stand, Reverend O'Connell? You may sit in this chair next to the reporter.

Will you please raise your right hand?

Do you solemnly swear that you will tell the whole truth, nothing but the truth?

[blocks in formation]

TESTIMONY OF REV. THOMAS E. O'CONNELL, PAST PRESIDENT OF THE CATHOLIC COMMITTEE OF THE SOUTH, RICHMOND, VA.

The CHAIRMAN. Your name is Rev. Thomas E. O'Connell, from St. Paul's Rectory in Richmond, Va.?

Reverend O'CONNELL. That is correct.

The CHAIRMAN. I believe the chief purpose of your coming here, Father O'Connell, is to contribute whatever testimony, or statement, which you would like to make in connection with the selection or appointment of Mr. Lilienthal as Chairman of the Atomic Energy Committee.

Reverend O'CONNELL. That is correct.

The CHAIRMAN. That is substantially the gist of your statement? Reverend O'CONNELL. Yes.

The CHAIRMAN. I will ask you, then, if you would like to proceed in your own words to give your statement in connection with this appointment and the confirmation.

Reverend O'CONNELL. Mr. Chairman, I have two brief statements, may I read them?

The CHAIRMAN. You may remain seated and read your statements. Reverend O'CONNELL. I would like first to read a review of Mr. Lilienthal's book, Democracy on the March, written by the Jesuit

Father, Rev. Mortimer H. Gavin, and published in the Book Reviews called the Publisher's Galley.

In reviewing Democracy on the March, Father Gavin has said:

There is a book lying around on the newsstands and drug-store counters of the country that deserves the attention of ours, especially ours who are interested in the field of socio-economic problems here in America. It is TVA Democracy on the March, written by David E. Lilienthal, Chairman of the Tennessee Valley Authority, since its creation on May 18, 1933. The copy that is in the writer's possession is a 25-cent paper-covered edition published in February 1945, by Pocket Books, Inc. Another inexpensive edition was printed in September 1944, in the Penguin Series. The original edition by Harpers ran into six printings between March 1944 and February 1945.

The book is a record of the development of the Tennessee Valley and the parts of seven Southern States that are touched by it. The author does not conceal his pride in the achievements, and he is very anxious that the philosophy underlying the program, behind every move in the process, be known and appreciated. For he is convinced that the spirit behind the material works, motivating the policies, dictating the methods, inspiring the whole staff and giving life and energy to the whole, has been the key to its success. He is confident, as this writer also is, that a wide knowledge and a true appreciation of the intimate connection between that philospohy and the material achievements of TVA cannot but be an inspiration and encouragement to all who are seriously interested in a sounder, saner social order for America.

Whether David E. Lilienthal is indebted directly to Pope Pius XI for his philosophy of administration is a little doubtful. He does quote Quadragesimo Anno in one place as expressing exactly his own thoughts on the need for material wellbeing as a normal requisite for decent moral living. But the fact is that there is an amazing parallel in the pronouncements of Pope Pius and the enunciated philosophy of the TVA Administrator.

For instance, the Chairman of TVA is at pains in many places to make clear that the resources of that valley are to be looked upon as God's provisioning for the people of the valley in the first place, and then for the Nation and the world. And he tells us that it has been a point that had to be kept in mind in every move made by TVA. Reading this, one remembers that Pius XI wrote in Quadragesimo Anno in treating of the right to private property that these things have been granted by God the Creator and Author of Nature "not only in order that individuals may be able to provide for their own needs and those of their families, but also that the goods which the Creator has destined for the human race may truly serve this purpose.'

[ocr errors]

*

Again, the author speaks of the unswerving policy, adopted from the beginning, of enlisting in the execution of this mammoth project the aid and the services of every type of organization already existing in the region. Here we are reminded again of Quadragesimo Anno:"* * Just as it is wrong to withdraw from the individual and commit to the community at large what private industry and enterprise can accomplish, so too it is an injustice, a grave evil and a disturbance of right order for a larger and higher organization to arrogate to itself functions which can be performed efficiently by smaller and lower bodies. This is a fundamental principle of social philosophy, unshaken and unchangeable, and it retains its full truth today. Of its very nature the true aim of all social activity should be to help individual members of the social body, but never to destroy or absorb them. The State should leave to the smaller groups the settlement of business of minor importance."

Compare with this, Lilienthal on page 138: "* * * This is a job not only for all the people but for all the people's institutions. The purpose is national, but the task is one that calls for a partnership of every agency of Government, State and local as well as Federal, that can further the common purpose. Therefore the grass-roots policy of drawing in private organizations and individualssuch as those of farmers, workers, and businessmen, as we have described in previous chapters-has in like manner been applied by TVA, a Federal organization, so that the governmental agencies of local communities and of the State of the Tennessee Valley have become TVA's active and responsible partners." The whole book is replete with passages similarly parallel and complementary to the teachings of the encyclicals. Any reader familiar with the papal doctrines will recognize embodiments of sound Christian social principles in every chapter of this remarkable record of twentieth century socio-economic planning and achievement going on right here in our own Southland. The recurrent insistence

on the common good as the ultimate aim, the common purpose, the steady view of the whole even in the consideration of each separate part, the constant regard for rights, the insistence on voluntary cooperation as opposed to dictated compulsion, the accent on the spiritual values that must be held superior to immediate material accomplishments and which inspire those very accomplishments and make them worth while all these strike the reader on every page.

The book is recommended to every one of ours who is concerned with the reconstruction of the social order. It is particularly valuable for the student of the occupational-group idea and its possibilities here in our United States. And it would be good antidote for some to recommend to people who always shout socialism at every project of the Federal Government intended to help those who cannot help themselves without help.

David E. Lilienthal is a native of Illinois, a graduate of DePauw University, a lawyer, for some time (1923-26) after his graduation from Harvard Law School, a partner with Donald Richberg. He is now 46 years of age and lives at Norris, Tenn., among the people of the valley, for whom he still works.

He might be very much surprised to find one of ours writing these things about him and seeing so much likeness between his philosophy and the teachings of Pope Pius XI. Perhaps he would be surprised. But I suspect he would not, The CHAIRMAN. Does that complete the review? Reverend O'CONNELL. It does.

The second statement concerns the annual award of the Catholic Committee of the South made to Mr. Lilienthal last September.

The Catholic Committee of the South composed of representatives of the bishops, priests, and the million and half laity of the Southern States has in the past presented an annual award to a person, regardless of race or creed, who has made some significant contribution to the progress of the Southland.

Recipients in the past include Dr. George Washington Carver of Tuskegee Institute, and Dr. Howard W. Odum of the University of North Carolina. At its annual convention in New Orleans in September 1946, the Catholic Committee of the South gave its award to the Honorable David E. Lilienthal in the form of a scroll worded thus:

ANNUAL AWARD FOR 1946

The Catholic Committee of the South honors itself in honoring David Eli Lilienthal who, like his namesake of old contended with a menacing giant, this time the Tennessee River, and conquered.

Victory was his because he brought to the fray an unshakeable confidence in his fellow man the burning love of an adopted son for the vast and hospitable region of the South; and a colorful genius for making every grass-roots farmer a warm friend, and for steering a true course through the eddying tides of partisan and political waters.

America honors a most capable son, as Chairman of the International Atomic Bomb Control Committee; the Southland honors him as the Director of the Tennessee Valley Authority and the "Man of 1946"; and the Catholic Committee of the South honors him for answering practically and courageously his own question: "Are machines to control man or are men to control machines, and direct them for the glory of God and the flowering of the human spirit?"

The Catholic Committee of the South believes that the eminent qualifications of Mr. Lilienthal which brought such great success to the TVA and such a bright new outlook to so many people of the South are exactly those needed by the Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission. The committee could not have conferred this honor had it not studied his philosophy of life and of government and found it to be in complete accord with the highest ideals of American democracy.

The members of the Catholic Committee of the South, like all other humble people of America, look to the United States Senate as second

08078-47-29

only to the Supreme Court in defending the finest American principles of democracy, fair play, and the integrity of one's good name. The committee, therefore, hopes that the United States Senate will maintain this high respect by being above all that is petty and partisan, in confirming the nomination of the Honorable David E. Lilienthal as Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission.

The CHAIRMAN. How long have you known Mr. Lilienthal personally, or have you known him personally?

Reverend O'CONNELL. I have known him personally since last summer, but I have followed him ever since the beginning of the Tennessee Valley Authority.

The CHAIRMAN. I think I have no other questions.

Senator MCMAHON. I have a question.

The CHAIRMAN. Proceed.

Senator MCMAHON. Father, who was the presiding officer when that award was made?

Reverend O'CONNELL. The presiding officer was Archbishop Rummel of New Orleans in the presence of Archbishop Stritch of Chicago. Immediately after the award was made, Cardinal Stritch came down himself, personally, and congratulated Mr. Lilienthal.

The CHAIRMAN. Any further questions?

Senator MCKELLAR. Father, you understood, or your body understood that Mr. Lilienthal was the engineer that built these dams? Reverend O'CONNELL. Yes, sir.

(Correspondence relating to the above testimony will be found in the appendix at p. 938.)

Senator McKELLAR. That is all.

The CHAIRMAN. Any other questions?
Thank you, Father.

Mr. Robert Barker?

Senator MCKELLAR. May I interrupt a moment, Mr. Chairman? The CHAIRMAN. Yes, sir.

Senator McKELLAR. I understand that Mr. Hart is to be here tomorrow and I would like to postpone one of my witnesses a little longer, but he has been here for 2 or 3 days already and wants to go home tonight. Could I take Mr. Frank Farris just before Mr. Barker is put on the stand?

The CHAIRMAN. Certainly, sir. I suggested that before noon and I understood the Senator to say that you wanted him to follow Mr.

Barker.

Senator MCKELLAR. No; I wanted him to follow Mr. Hart, but I cannot keep him here that long.

The CHAIRMAN. Why, yes; if he is a short witness we will take him now.

Will you raise your right hand, please?

Do you solemnly swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?

Mr. FARRIS. I do.

TESTIMONY OF FRANK M. FARRIS, PRESIDENT OF THE THIRD

NATIONAL BANK, NASHVILLE, TENN.

The CHAIRMAN. Give your full name, please.

Mr. FARRIS. Frank M. Farris.

The CHAIRMAN. Your home?

Mr. FAP

Nashville, Tenn.

The CHAIRMAN. Your occupation?

Mr. FARRIS. Banking.

The CHAIRMAN. I have no information as to what Mr. Farris desires to say, Senator. Would you proceed?

Senator MCKELLAR. I will.

The CHAIRMAN. Do you have a statement, Mr. Farris, that you would like to read? You may do whatever Senator McKellar wants. Mr. FARRIS. I have a short written statement here.

Senator MCKELLAR. That will be all right, but before you do that, tell us how long you have been in the banking business in Nashville. Mr. FARRIS. 34 or 35 years.

Senator MCKELLAR. You are president of the Third National Bank in Nashville, Tenn.

Mr. FARRIS. Yes, sir.

Senator MCKELLAR. Go ahead, sir.

Mr. FARRIS. Mr. Chairman, after I found out that I was to be called on to testify before this committee, I prepared a written statement this morning and I should like to read it.

The CHAIRMAN. Proceed.

Mr. FARRIS. Mr. Chairman and gentlemen of the committee, my name is Frank M. Farris, and I am president of the Third National Bank in Nashville, Tenn. I am appearing here as a witness under these circumstances that I happened to be in Washington on other business and in the course of that, had occasion to see Senator K. D. McKellar of our State. The matter of Mr. Lilienthal's confirmation came up and I told the Senator that I felt he is doing the people of the United States a great service in opposing Mr. Lilienthal. He thereupon asked me to appear here and state my views.

1

Necessarily, because I had not come to Washington prepared to be a witness in this matter, I must therefore be general and not specific in the matter. I can assure the committee that there are hundreds of businessmen throughout Tennessee and the southern regions where Mr. Lilienthal has worked during recent years who will, I feel confident, say much the same that I am now prepared to say if the committee wishes to listen to them.

I believe that the general attitude of business and industry as I know it will agree that Mr. Lilienthal is not the sort of man who could best serve the interests of the United States as Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission. Such feeling is based primarily on Mr. Lilienthal's general reputation for contentiousness and arbitrariness in his administration of the Tennessee Valley Authority, on the record of the TVA as a harbor for Communists and Communist sympathizers and as an agency that tends to ride roughshod over local sentiment of the people brought under its control.

I believe that if the primary purpose of the TVA under Mr. Lilienthal's management had been to serve rather than to regulate, a far better relationship would have existed between the people of the region and the Authority.

I am speaking in a general way as an American citizen, very much concerned about the security and welfare of our country. I am deeply disturbed to think that of all the 130,000,000 or more people in this country, it is Mr. Lilienthal who is offered us to direct the Atomic Energy Commission, especially when I believe that Mr. Baruch has said that the Chairman, General Counsel, and General Manager of the Commission will control it. That statement of Mr.

« ZurückWeiter »