[no source, no date of publication; letter dated March 29,
1941]
LETTER SENT TO WAR
DEPARTMENT BY LAND OWNERS
Weldon Spring,
Missouri
March 29, 1941
Farmers’ Committee elected by mass meeting of former land
owners in area embraced in
Weldon Spring
Ordnance Project.
Brig. Gen.
Brehon Somervell
Chief of
Construction Division
Office of
Quartermaster General
Railroad
Retirement Building
Washington, D. C.
Subject: Weldon Spring TNT Area
Dear General Somervell:
To our
amazement we. have just learned that General Somervell, an officer of the Corps
of Engineers is, among other things, actually the head of the Real Estate
Section, Quartermaster Corps, and has full say over our farms and homes. The
reason for our amazement is this. We in St. Charles County, due to our
location, have known the Corps of Engineers for a great many years and have had
daily contacts with them. They have been a part of our existence, we have seen
many officers of the Corps progress to general officers—we can think of General
Spaulding, General Moore, General Sturdevant, all of whom know St. Charles
County intimately and we know them. We have taken great pride in the Corps of
Engineers because of their fair dealings and we could rely on their word. We do
not know them as chiselers and browbeaters, they are not known to repudiate
their word or written contracts. We are familiar with the “offers” of the
Engineers when they require some of our land and when these “offers” were
accepted by the Corps of Engineers we considered them binding.
We only
know of one exception to this rule and this information we gained from our
attorneys. This particular instance happened when you were District Engineer at
Memphis when you offered a Mr. Danforth $31,000 for his land and accepted an
offer or an option for that amount and later “higher authorities” ordered that
your agreement be repudiated and condemnation proceedings instituted. However
the United States Supreme Court threw it out and ordered that the Government
pay Mr. Danforth the amount that you, as Major Somervell, agreed to pay him in
the first place. Now it so happens that you are in “higher authority” and that
decision rests entirely with you. We feel certain that you do not wish us to
have to pay the price and take time to carry this through to the Supreme Court.
We know the
flimsy objections about values being too high and the criticism which was
heaped on the War Department. We know exactly where this criticism originated
and further we know all about the joke appraisals which were handed to you.
Incidently, the War Department is certainly being denounced in this area for
repudiating its agreements. We could write pages on the subject of values, of
how we tried to move heaven and earth to get this plant out of here as none of
us wanted to give up our homes, our farms, our churches and schools.
We have
signed binding agreements with the Government executed under the directions of
the Secretary of War and approved by the National Defense Commission. Our
titles have been approved by the Attorney General, 95% of the unpaid landowners
have executed deeds to the Government. The checks were issued on $300,000 of
these farms and the property represented by these checks has actually been
deeded to the Government but the farmers have not their money. We are in
distress and suffering untold hardships—were dispossessed months ago, our homes
have been demolished, and each day of this season of the year is vital to us
for if something is not done immediately we will lose a whole farming year.
We are
relying on you, General Somervell, a Corps of Engineers officer, to see that
the Government promptly lives up to its binding agreements with its citizens.
We cannot reconcile ourselves to the idea that you are fully informed on this
matter for if you were you would not condone repudiation.
Yours very truly
O. L. SNYDER
GEO. H. HACKMANN
MORRIS MUSCHANY
ELTIN PITMAN
EARL R.
SUTTON
Property Owners’ Committee
