Notes:
Easton Express:
U.S. Rep. Francis E. Walter Dies at 69; Funeral Services Set for U.S. Capital
Eastonian Served Over 30 Years In Congress
U.S. Rep Francis Eugene Walter, of Easton, who represented this portion of Pennsylvania in Congress for nearly a third of a century, died of leukemia at 5:40 p.m. Yesterday at Georgetown University Hospital,Washington. Mr. Walter was 69.
Mr. Walter - known to thousands in his home district as "Tad" - had been in the hospital since April 15.
Funeral services will be conducted at 10 a.m. Tuesday at Fort Myer Chapel in nearby Virginia. Interment will follow in Arlington National Cemetery. Friends may call at Gawler's Chapel (Wisconsin Avenue at Harrison Street NW) after 7 p.m., today.
The Easton congressman was one of the most powerful figures on the Washington Legislative Scene. He was best known as chairman of the House Un-American Activities Committee, was prominent also in the immigration and refugee fields.
He returned to congress in January after long indecision whether to run again because of his Heath. His last visit to Easton was just before Christmas.
Mr. Walter, it was revealed today, told close friends three years ago that he had chronic Leukemia. His physicians informed him, he said, that the condition was not dangerous at the time and that he could "Live for years."
However, in the past few months the chronic leukemia turned into acute leukemia and he was forced to withdraw from his official duties more and more.
He attended the opening of the 88th Congress in January to be sworn in for his 16th consecutive term but that was the last time he appeared in the house of Representative in the Capitol.
Shorty thereafter he entered the hospital for a three-wee stay and then returned to his office for a few hours a day. He again was hospitalized on April 15 and from then on his condition became gradually worse.
Mr. Walter told a representative of the Easton Express who visited him in the hospital May 12; 'You have heard of people living on borrowed time. Well I have been living on borrowed blood.: His treatment included many blood transfusions.
He was in a coma for more than 24 hours before his death but up until that time had been seeing visitors daily.
Mr. Walters was married to the former May Doyle, Dec 19,1925. He is surviving daughter, Constance, Wife of William Mack, of Chevy Chase Md., The Mackes have a son, Brian. Another daughter, Mrs. Barbara M. McGarry died Nov. 15, 1956. Mr. Walters brother, Robert D., died in California about 15 years ago.
Mr. Walter, long a controversial figure in the nation as well as influential on the international scene, was serving his 16th two year term in Congress. He had been a member of the House continuously since 1933, and was high in seniority. He represented the 15th District, Comprising Northampton, Monroe, Carbon and Pike Counties.
Much of the controversy stemmed from his sponsorship of the disputed McCarean-Walter immigration act tieing immigration quotas t national origins; and from his chairmanship of the house Committee on Un-American Activities. He conducted many of the committee's hearings in the continental United States and Hawaii.
Among other major positions he held in Congress were those of ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee and the Joint Committee on Immigration and nationality Policy. Immigration and refugee migration were among his principal interests. He had been a U.S. delegate to the Intergovernmental Committee on European Migration since it was formed in 1951, attending its semiannual meetings in Europe.
The Congressman became increasingly concerned about flood control and water conservation in his district, especially after the disastrous 1955 flood. He pressed for the long-stalled Leigh River Flood Control program which after 1955, Brought construction of the huge Bear Creek dam and protection works at Bethlehem and Allentown. He has been credited with being the prince force 2which brought congressional approval of a federal-interstate compact for development of the Delaware Basin and of a program of construction of major dams in record time.
Strong Party Leader
Mr. Walter was recognized as a power in state and national Democratic politics, as well as being the acknowledged party leader of his district. Much of his power in Congress stemmed from his chairmanship of the patronage committee. He headed the state Democratic Policy Committee.
Mr. Walter was born in Easton May 28, 1894, a son of Dr. Robley D. and Susie E. Walter. His father was a physician, who served as Northampton County controller from 1918 to 19236. The congressman was educated in Princeton Preparatory School, Leigh University, Lafayette College, George Washington University and Georgetown Law School He was admitted to the Northampton County Bar in 1922, maintaining a law office in Easton. Much of his early law practice was in criminal court. After he was elected to Congress, he switched mainly to the civil field, representing many industries. He continued some law practice until the time of World War II.
Mr. Walter entered the legal profession because"there were too many doctors in the family." Besides his father, there were nine physicians - uncles and cousins - in the Watler family.
If he hadn't taken up law, there is a good chance he might have made his mark in baseball. He was considered an outstanding athlete, particularly in football and baseball, in college and earlier, then, while playing semi-professional baseball, he was offered contracts by several major league clubs.
He was Northampton County Solicitor from 1928 to 1933. He served in naval aviation in both world wars. He entered service in World War II on Dec 24, 1941, with the rank of lieutenant commander, but soon returned to his congressional duties.
During the Roosevelt administration, Mr. Walter was far from a rubber stamp for New Deal Policies. He specially opposed "Court Packing" and other proposals affecting the judiciary. He moved up to more prominent position in the he Truman years, when he was speaker pro tem of the House, a member of the Post-war Economic Policy and Planning Committee, the Herter Committee on the Marshall plan and the first became chairman of the Democratic Caucus. He was a sharp critic of administration policies in the Eisenhower administrations.
It was in the 1950's that Mr. Watler achieved national prominence, first by sponsorship in 1952 of the Controversial McCarran Walter Act. Bitter attacks on the act by liberal elements brought retorts by Mr. Watler that attacks were inspired by Communists. The dispute increases when Mr. Walter became chairman of the Un-American Activities Committee in 1955, after proposing in 1954 that it be abolished. He was under heavy criticism in the 1950's when "witch-hunting" became a foremost issue and replied with sharp comments about those who appeared to support communist=front organizations and who evaded questioning about their affiliations. He often pointed with much alarm to what he termed Communist infiltration of the nation and castigated opponents as "Fuzzy-minded" Liberals.
But even as Mr. Walter was under fire for the immigration law, he did much to bring in immigrants through special bills individual and legislation To bring in relatives of those already in the country. And After World War II, his concern grew for unfortunate displace persons scattered over Europe. He studied the DP problem on several trips to Europe and in 1949 headed a congressional Committee on the problem., This led to formation of the Intergovernmental Committee on European Migration.; Mr. Watler attended more that 20 ICEM sessions in Europe as well as meetings on the refugee problem in Hong Kong and Australia. His desire to aid refugees increased in 1956 when on a trip to the
Austrian border, he saw a feeing refugee shot by Russian guards.
Flood Control, Refugees
The congressman appeared to mellow somewhat after the tense "50"s although he remained critical of Soviet and domestic communism. As early as 1956, in a speech at a pre-election dinner of the Easton Democratic Committee, he described his major interests as flood control and refugees. He spend increasing time on river valley problems. Because of his interest in flood control, the house twice has passed a bill to name the Bear Creek Dam for him. The first bill failed to reach the Senate Floor last year. This year's measure is pending.
Mr. Watler's health had been an issue since 1955, when he reported that he suffered a minor heart attack in Europe. In August 1957, he broke a hip in a fall and in 1958 was quoted as uncertain whether to again seek re-election. In 1960, health again was a factor but he agreed to run after his physicians approval. He announced on Feb 27, 1961, that he would not again be a candidate, but after much urging by Democrats in the district and the nation, he changed his decision on Jan 9, 1962. He waged a vigorous Campan in 1962 and appeared in improved health ?? 16th term in January election to a second term head of the House Democratic Caucus.
In his 16 campaigns, Mr. Walter won regardless of the political currents in the nation and state. He even survived huge Republican trends in the Eisenhower elections He was an influential delegate to many Democratic National conventions. He was a turbulent influence in county politics often intervening in contests among others, or in leadership decisions. Some of his sharpest local disputes were over postmaster appointments. He was considered largely responsible for choice of Richardson Dilworth as the party's gubernatorial candidate last year.
Friend of Rayburn
Mr. Walter was a close to the late house speaker Sam Rayburn. He said that Rayburn influenced his decision to run again last year. Rayburn was among those to urge him publicly not to retire at a testimonial dinner in Carbon County June 26, 1961.
Many on the district attributed Walter's political success to operation of an office which efficiently served thousands, Democrat and republican alike, in his district. He aided many also from Warren and Hunterdon counties in New Jersey, who found it more convenient to appeal to him than to their representatives. Be Cause of his policy of limiting stays of page boys in Washington, to a month, scores of boys from his district had this Experience.
Mr. Walter introduced much legislation, especially on judiciary, government security regulations and immigration and nationality questions. He presided over a number of key debates in the House including the important 1960 argument on civil rights
Convention Delegate
in 1928, when Mr. Watler became county solicitor, he was a delegate to the Democratic national Convention in Houston Texas. He agreed to run for Congress for "One term" in 1932 after much persuasion by Democratic Friends.
In his early years, he was busy mostly with interests of his district, then the 20th. Following severe floods in the mid '30's he started to press for flood control. In 1936, the House passed his bill authorizing the Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission to build a toll bridge at Delaware Water Gap.
One of his greatest early efforts came with co-sponsorship of the controversial Logan-Walter bill pervading for judicial review of regulations of New Deal agencies. The bill was vetoed by President Roosevelt, but a measure with similar aims became the Administrative Procedure Act of 1946. Shortly before his death, Mr. Walter was updating the Act and preparing hearings for the Judiciary Subcommittee on Administrative Procedures, of which he was chairman. As World War II developed, Walter sponsored measures to curtail strikes in defense industries. IN 1947, he was named chairman of a newly formed group of War Veterans in Congress.
He went to Europe in 1948 as a member of the Herter Committee and helped write it's recommendations which led to the Marshall plan of foreign aid, about the same time introducing his first legislation to aid displace person. He strongly supported foreign aid during his career. He started hi work as second ranking Democrat on the House Un-American Activities in 1949, a post he took reluctantly and only at the urging of the administration Democrats." he had opposed a bill in 1945 for a permanent committee on Un0Americna Activities.
In 1950 Mr. Watler introduce various bills to aid war refugees among them measure which led to creation of ICEM. He was active in investigating of Communist in the early "50"s holding the ?wood hearings in 195.
Received Foreign Awards.
The congressman had received special awards from Japan, Netherland and Italy for his fight against communism and humanitarian work on immigration. Since he entered the hospital, the Greek government informed him it planned to honor him with a citation.
Many civic service and religious groups and all veterans organization in the nation have honored Mr. Watler. He was cited by the Captive Nations. He received honorary doctorate from Norwich University, Northfeild Vt., June 12, 1960, and Dickinson Law School,Carlisle, June 2, 1962.
He was cited at Trenton may 18,1962, by the Water Resources Association of the Delaware River Basin " for moral leadership and diligence and tenacity in almost single handed guiding Passage of the interstate-federal compact for the Delaware River Basin through Congress.: He was pressing at the time of his death for creation of a national recreation area along the Tocks Island reservoir to "Bring unlimited economic opportunities to Eastern Pennsylvania>" The Easton Congressman had the ear of four presidents, Roosevelt, Truman, Eisenhower and Kennedy. President Kennedy was described as his closest friend of the four. When the President was a congressman, their offices nearly adjoined. Walter often said of Kennedy: 'He's a fine, Brilliant young man with the courage of his convictions." The president made a call at the hospital during the congressman's Illness "to visit my old friend, Tad."
Displace Person Laws of 1948 and 1950 co-authored by Walter were responsible for bringing some 420,00 war refugees into the United States.
As chairman of the un-American Activities committee, Mr. Walter was responsible for strengthen the Internal Security Act, revision of the Smith Act and much other legislation strengthening security provisions.
Mr. Walter twice served as speaker pro tempore of the House, Sept 1, 1960, and Aug 28, 1961, in the absence of Speaker Rayburn.
Among his efforts to aid depressed area of Eastern Pennsylvania was active support of the Area Redevelopment Administration legislation, vetoed by President Eisenhower but later enacted. One of his most recent investigation was touched off by the 1961 crash of a non-scheduled airline in which 29 Lehigh Valley men were killed. Regulation cover such airlines were tightened as a result of Mr. Watler's efforts.
He as a director of the Easton National Bank and Trust Co., and vice president and director of the Broad street trust Co., of Philadelphia. He was a trustee of Easton Hospital.
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