Dear
Roy:1 Thank you very much for your very informative letter and for the legal analysis that accompanied it.2
As to the basic purpose that guided me in my official action, I think it is unnecessary for me to reiterate my dedication to the free enterprise system and my opposition to socialism. Moreover, I remind you that it was I who organized the Cabinet Committee on Fuel Resources, the Committee that brought out the report in favor of ameliorating the situation created by the action of the Supreme Court in the Phillips Case.3 Insofar as states' rights are concerned, I further remind you that it was I who, two years ago, recommended the Tidelands Bill, pushed its passage, and signed it.4
In my veto of the current bill, I recommended that remedial legislation be re-introduced, and I pointed out that if the American people could be assured that the bill was enacted in an atmosphere that was free of suspicion, I would be glad to sign it.
What was involved was not any doubt in my mind that the American people would question my own honesty. They well know that I have no commercial interests and that in no direction at all have I any ax to grind. But what was involved was the right of the American people to believe in the probity and integrity of their entire governmental processes.
Of course I recognize that a certain amount of educational lobbying is not only legal and acceptable, but in many cases I believe it is desirable. But when an individual purporting to exercise great influence in an industry comes to this city and deports himself as one of them did in this latest affair, I believe that public reaction could later bring about very bad results for the industry.
So far as the bill itself is concerned, I hope that when re-introduced it will contain one or two phrases that I favor as constituting assurances to all consumers that their interests are never going to be forgotten by the Federal Power Commission. While I realize that all regulatory legislation is designed to protect consumers, I believe that when any bill constitutes an apparent step in the other direction, then such assurances should be specifically repeated.5
This is a mere matter of wording, but it is a point that could be very important to the future welfare of the oil and gas industry.
With best wishes, Very sincerely
