POLITICAL NOTE: Dear Frank

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But "Dear Frank" in Albany would not be satisfied with such an informal reply, even from his good friend "Bill" Castle. He said that the President owed him at least the courtesy of a formal answer. He made public his original letter.

Net result of this political give-and-take was not favorable to President Hoover and his office staff. New York newspaper editors advised the White House to put its letter system into better order. Perhaps the President had managed to steer clear of an open dispute on the power issue but his staff's feinting raised doubts even about the authenticity of Mr. Castle's denial of negotiations with Canada. In an effort to clear up another "misunderstanding," so frequent in the Hoover regime, Mr. Castle issued an elaborate explanation. Excerpts: "The President in referring the Governor's letter to me thought that since the letter was based on a false premise it would be better that I should informally communicate to the Governor the fact that he had been misinformed since it was on this misinformation that he had based his letter. . . . All foreign relations rest in the Federal Government. ... It has always been the custom to consult local interests in the course of the negotiations."