[Released October 27, 1931. Dated October 15, 1931]
Dear Mr. Walsh:
I have your letter of October 14th. I think you will realize that I should not personally conduct the negotiations to which you refer inasmuch as they properly lie in the province of the Department of State, which has responsibility for the handling of our foreign affairs.
Your letter is one therefore which should properly come up for discussion with the Department of State.
Yours faithfully,
HERBERT HOOVER
[Mr. Frank P. Walsh, Chairman, The Power Authority of the State of New York, 80 Center Street, New York City]
Note: In April 1931, New York established a State Power Authority to undertake power development on the St. Lawrence River. To protect its interest State officials urged that it be made a party to Canadian-American treaty negotiations. Continuing requests and public protests led Secretary of State Henry L. Stimson to invite the chairman of the Power Authority to meet with him on October 28.
Herbert Hoover, Letter to Frank P. Walsh, Chairman of the Power Authority of the State of New York. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/206700