Document JJN8yJb3d3xwb3w64mrezdEje

/ July 26 1944 Mr* J. L. Stecher E. I. du Pont d Nemours k Company Boom 7526 - Nemours Building Wilmington, Delaware ' _ . Bear Mr. Stecher . - We acknowledge receipt of your letter of July 22 in refer ence to requests by members of our Corporation for various and sundry information from different departments of the du Pont Company. - Tour remarks were apparently precipitated by the three letters all dated July 17 1944 written by our Service Section at Baton Rouge to your Technical, Library in Wilmington, but I should judge from the ton that your comments reflect a long-established feeling on your part against certain practices of ours in relation to contacts with your company. . First, let m say that I feel.I must reply mainly in a personal sense as the situation, appears to me from Ethyl's viewpoint. You will recall you mentioned this matter to me a few days ago over the telephone and I assured you of attention to it and as much co operation as was possible. Frankly, I did not expect a written letter from you covering your views, which incidentally I think are rather strong, and as a result was just a bit startled to realise that you feel as definitely as you do with respect to the action you have requested me to take. Accordingly, if I am somewhat lengthy in my.reply, it is only in the interest of trying to have the subject fully understood by you. In specific reference to our Service Section's action in asking your Library directly for a routine cost quotation for photostatic copies of technical data in your Library files which is public information generally available to anyone, I cannot find anything that would be especially improper. It would seem to me to be merely a routine practice, hardly worthy of either your or my attention. Nor, frankly, can I see how such requests as these should lead to unnecessary (or even necessary) confusion and embarrassment. Your Technical Library enjoys a very enviable reputation and is recognised in technical and scientific circles as an excellent Library for information, assistance. Kf? 0000991 , Mr* J. L. Stecher 2 July 26, 1944 or reference, and I dare say that with the usual free interchange of tech nical data in this country it must receive a very large number of similar requests. I would also further dare say that if the requests for this information came from without the circle of the Ethyl Corporation, perhaps no comment might have forthcome and entire cooperative compliance normally would have resulted. It seems to me uncalled for, therefore, to ask our Service Section to take back the letters and address them to you before the requests would receive consideration. You already know the contents of the letters from having had them before you, and to resort to your sugges tion would seem to me to be too much like finger-smacking our Baton Rouge Section. Suffice it to say, we will locate the information through other channels and you may consider this particular matter closed. As to your general remarks on our actions, it is a fact, as you point out, that I have personally made a definite attempt to direct to your attention matters relating to the manufacture of tetraethyl lead in connection with all activities of the Manufacturing Department for which I am responsible. There have undoubtedly been some inadvertences on our part. In fact, probably there have been instances or occasions on which, in my judgment, I felt that other contacts might be beyond your immediate concern. Likewise, to my knowledge, there have been similar instances on your part. We have always been able to straighten these out -as they had been occasioned mainly by perhaps not a thorough understanding of the situation. I can say, however, that w have both, in the main, endeavored to follow the same principle in relations between your office and mine as far as any matter of importance Was concerned -- and also in most cases as far as matters of a routine or detailed nature were concerned. You must realise, in general, that I am not solely responsible for activities beyond the general scope of manufacture and its related activities in the Ethyl Corporation, and, therefore, I would neither prefer nor feel it wholly proper to impress all the members of the Ethyl Corpora tion with the fact that each and every request for information of any kind whatsoever, which must be supplied by the general service departments of the du Pont Company, be cleared through your office. I think it would be presumptuous on my part to take such a course with my associates. For example, if our President, M r . 's. W. Webb, wished to address a communication to your company, he would consider it strictly his business with whom and how he would handle any given matter and not any particular concern .of either yours or mine. Those responsible for adver tising, publio relations, finance, employee relations, accounting, sales, research, or other departmental activities in our Corporation, must best judge themselves how to conduct their affairs and I cannot see how I could put myself in a position to dictate to them the best way of running their jobs in this respect. KE 0000992 Mr. J. L. Steeher 3 JUly 26, 1944 Such a course as you request, in ay opinion, would need an expression actually from the President of the du Pont Company to our President, as, in general, we recognise a relation with the du Pont Company and not any particular office. In cheeking on some of the contacts made by members of our Corporation (beyond -foe Manufacturing Department) with other depart ments in your Company (and in some cases actually within your own Depart ment but not through your office), I am advised that contrary to your contention such practices lead to unnecessary confusion and embarrassment my associates have had splendid cooperation and prompt attention to matters so referred and have received quite reliable and satisfactory information or service* . Fortunately for both of us, my associates have seen fit to cooperate excellently with me on substantially all communications to your Company by either sending me copies of their correspondence or favoring me with information on their contacts. In turn, I honestly believe I have fully cooperated with you by keeping you advised on matters which I thought would be of concern and interest to you. That is about all I can do in good grace and I sincerely hope these remarks will be of assistance in explaining stir position. I am calling the contents of your letter to the attention of our Department Heads and am asking them to give us as much cooperation as they feel they are in a position to give. It seems to me that we are now engaged in as big a job as has ever confronted us over the many full years of our association and I am sure, between Ethyl and du Pont, it can be done. This means you and I must be in close harmony above all things. On my part I will certainly work towards that end, but please understand that we must reasonably and understandably concede, one to the other, practices and customs that do occur, and probably i n m o s t cases with justifiable reason, in the other's circle. Very truly yours, 3-2 J. H. Schaefer 0000993