29 



Ritchie, upon receiving the Post Office notification, immediately 

 went to Washington where he endeavored to recruit a legal and tech- 

 nical staff, and sought support of the Committees on Small Business 

 of the House of Re]n-esentatives and the Senate. The House committee 

 responded to Ritchie's appeal by directuig a request, over the signa- 

 ture of the executive director of the staff, that the NBS "* * * make 

 a new test of [Ritchie's] product and submit a report on specific 

 results of your testing." ^^ This test was supposed to be carried out in 

 accordance with procedures specified by Ritchie. Subsequently, the 

 House connnittee withdrew from further participation in the contro- 

 versy, and left the followup action on tests and testimony to the Senate 

 Select Committee on Small Busmess. 



The tests run by NBS of AD-X2 in June 1952, were with the co- 

 operation and participation of Ritchie, and were under the personal 

 supervision of Dr. Astin. 



As he told the Senate committee, the following year, "* * * i i^.^j 

 hoped that by using a procedure described by [Ritchie], the matter 

 could be settled decisively for all concerned." ^^ An elaborate series 

 of tests was performed and was reported on Jidy 11, 1952. Again, the 

 NBS found no merit in the additive, and again Ritchie assailed the 

 tests as having been improperly performed.^^ 



When the rescheduled Post Office hearing took place, October 13-14, 



1952, Ritchie did not appear. Testimony was provided by Dr. Astin 

 and seven senior scientists from NBS. Decision was issued February 18, 



1953, then suspended within a week by order of the Postmaster 

 General, Arthur Summerfield, on Alarch 2, and eventuall}^ was can- 

 celed, August 20, 1953.^« 



AD-X2 and the Office of the Secretary of Commerce 



During the closing months of the Administration of President 

 Truman, after nearly 20 j^ears of Democratic succession, policies had 

 become habit and a minimum of policy surNeillance was exercised 

 by departmental secretaries over bureau chiefs. The AD-X2 contro- 

 versy at NBS did not involve the Secretary of Commerce. However, 

 the advent of the Administration of President Eisenhower brought 

 important changes in policy and personnel. The new Secretary of 

 Commerce, wSinclair Weeks, was particularly outspoken as to the 

 need for restoring a "climate" favorable to private business. When 

 his appointment was announced, in December 1952, he received 

 considerable mail from — 



* * * People telling me that an outfit in Oakland, Calif., making a product 

 called AD-X2 to prolong battery life tlirough reducing sulfation, was having tough 

 sledding in Washington. Your committee, in fact, issued a report on the subject 

 last December. One of the first things I did was to ask Mr. Sheaffer, Assistant 

 Secretary for Domestic Affairs, to make a full and impartial investigation. He 

 and his men have gone through file after file extending over the past 5 years.^^ 



« Hearings, op. cit., pp. 222-223. 



" Ibid., p. 222. 



55 Ibid., pp. 223-224. The report of NBS on the test is presented at p. 551. 



58 Lawrence. Op. cit., pp. 16, 19-20; 27. 



" Hearings, op. cit., p. 1. On Weelis' outspokenness, Lawrence, p. 18, notes: "Weelis' approach in his 

 early months as Commerce Secretary was direct and forceful. 'We shall clean up the mess,' he promised in 

 his first public statement. 'The administration has tlie backbone to do the job. * * * ShriU cries will be 

 heard as the ax is swung on deadwood and poison ivy.' This pledge was followed by replacement of five 

 higli-level officials * * *." 



