Pearl Harbor: The Seeds and Fruits of Infamy - Ludwig von Mises ...

374 Pearl Harbor: The Seeds and Fruits of Infamy
were found, it was to determine “who were responsible therefor.” 3
Th e Commission’s authority was limited to investigating Army and
Navy personnel only; no civilian personnel.
The Commission Begins Hearings
Th e Commission convened in Washington December 17, with
only four of its fi ve members present. When Admiral Standley
arrived the next day, he found the Commission to be a “mixed”—
and a very mixed up—Presidential commission “with civilian,
naval and military members, for which there was no precedent in
law, custom or jurisprudence.” He was “shocked at the irregularity
of the procedure of the Commission and of the reliance placed
upon unsworn testimony.” 4 It was “empowered to prescribe its
own procedure” but as originally set up, “it did not have the legal
power to do anything which would be usual and essential to carry
out the purposes for which it had been formed” 5 —to summon
witnesses, enforce their attendance, administer oaths, or take testimony.
Standley protested at this lack of formal authority. 6
Washington Testimony—Unsworn
Th e Commission members knew nothing of pre-attack events
except what they had read in the newspapers. Th ey began by questioning
top military offi cials on the Washington situation. None
3 79th Cong., 1st sess. Joint (Congressional) Committee on the Investigation
of the Pearl Harbor Attack. Pearl Harbor Attack, 39 vols. (Washington, D.C.:
U.S. Government Printing Offi ce, 1946), part 5, p. 2210; part 23, p. 1247; part
24, p. 1306.
4 William H. Standley and Arthur A. Ageton, Admiral Ambassador to Russia
(Chicago: Henry Regnery, 1955), pp. 81–82. See also Standley interview in
US. News & World Report, April 16, 1954, pp. 40–46.
5 Standley, Barnes June 1, 1962 interview, p. 8.
6 Standley, U.S. News & World Report, April 16, 1954.