Outstanding TLS signed “W. G. Harding,” two pages, 8 x 10.5, United States Senate letterhead, June 25, 1918. Harding writes to Cornelius C. Cole concerning President Wilson, World War I, and a domestic scandal. In part: “If we were to deny the President the fund which he requests, even though we very earnestly believed there are many partisan abuses in the use of it, we should be charged with seeking to hinder the effectiveness of the Chief Executive amid the anxieties of war, and I am, very sure that public sentiment would be hostile towards us in its attitude…. I was particularly interested in the paragraph in which you refer to the employment of Judge Hughes in investigating the air-craft scandal. Not many of us here in Washington expect Mr. Hughes to find anything criminally crooked in the air-craft failure. If he had been thoughtful enough to consult with leaders of the minority before he accepted his commission from the President I doubt if he would have undertaken the task assigned to him. The President has undoubtedly played some very shrewd politics, and, as your letter suggest, he seldom forgets the partisan side of the game. I do not agree with your letter that the war is going to drift to a point where we shall be called upon to pay indemnity. My own judgement is that if the United States at war with Germany cannot bring the Central powers to a surrender we deserve to bear the burden of an indemnity. However, I do not for one moment believe there is any other than one possible outcome of this great world war. I can believe that a reasonable adjustment of peace terms might be had in the very near future, but it seems to me the war will have been fought in vain if we permit German domination of the enormous material resources and man power of Russia. The war is not a pleasing thing, and since we have entered upon the enormous task it seems to me we are called upon to fight it to a wholly satisfactory finish. There is much done concerning which I am not in entire accord, and I do not think that President Wilson is the most effective war leader in the world, but we have our task cut out and must go on to a final conclusion notwithstanding the phases which so much discourages us.” Harding has added “partisan side,” in his own hand above the text. In fine condition, with paperclip impression to top of both pages and minor show-through from an ink notation on reverse of second page, not affecting any text. Charles F. Kettering and Edward A. Deeds formed the Dayton-Wright Company. When the war began, Deeds was commissioned and put in charge of procurement for the Aircraft Production Board. He divested himself of his financial interest in Dayton-Wright but awarded the company two contracts to produce more than 4,000 DH-4 and Standard J-1 aircraft. Given the company’s inexperience, the size of its contract led to charges of favoritism. A Senate committee corroborated these allegations, and President Woodrow Wilson appointed a commission headed by future Supreme Court Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes to investigate. Although mismanagement and favoritism were documented, charges were not brought, and the company survived the scandal. LOA John Reznikoff/PSA/DNA and R&R COA.
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