April 13, 1949
MEMORANDUM OF CONVERSATION WITH MR. CHARLES MURPHY
Congressional Responsibility for St. Lawrence Seaway
Mr. Charles Murphy called on me at the President's request. The purpose of his call was to discuss a proposed transfer from the Department of State to the Department of Commerce of responsibility for the presentation to Congress of the St. Lawrence Seaway legislation. The President wished Mr. Murphy to give me the President's thought on the matter and to ask for my comments.
The President's thought was that the Department of State has a very heavy legislative schedule. This schedule will probably require more time and effort than the officers of the Department can readily give to it. To add to this responsibility that for the St. Lawrence Seaway will overburden the Department and necessarily cut down on the time and effort which it can give to each of the projects. The Department of Commerce does not have a heavy schedule. The Secretary of Commerce is a lawyer of great capacity and vigor and has had success with his legislative programs. He can give much more personal attention to the St. Lawrence Seaway matter than I could give. Furthermore, the Department of State is deeply interested in the St. Lawrence and will cooperate fully in presenting it. The administration case will be strengthened by having another Department put its full energy into it instead of merely cooperating.
I told Mr. Murphy that he could assure the President that any suggestion of his would be most completely and loyally carried out by the Department. Since the President had asked for my comments, they were that I thought such a transfer of responsibility as had been suggested was very wise, both for the reasons which Mr. Murphy had suggested and because the good will of the Department on the Hill would be strained to the utmost in order to get through the legislation immediately in contemplation. It would be most helpful to the St. Lawrence legislation to have a new Department come into the picture, the good will of which on the Hill was not subject to such heavy drafts.
Mr. Murphy said that he was not sure that the Secretary of Commerce would be too enthusiastic about the suggestion and that the President did not wish to force him to take the responsibility if he did not wish to do it.
I asked Mr. Murphy to assure the President that the very considerable background of knowledge and experience in the Department on the St. Lawrence matter would be put completely at the disposal of Secretary Sawyer.
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