NO ACCUSATION

To The Editors of The Harvard Crimson:

I'd like to correct an impression left by a reference in the Feb. 28 Crimson to remarks I made the previous day at a press conference on the issues of the J.F.K. Library controversy and the credibility of C.E. Maguire, Inc. The Maguire firm has been chosen to do the environmental impact study for the Kennedy project.

I was reported to have read clippings identifying Peter J. Cloherty, a Maguire employee, as "a participant in several Boston political scandals." In actual fact I read only a portion of one newspaper clipping (from The Boston Globe) which merely identified Cloherty as having worked for John F. Kennedy in the 1940s and listed a few other positions in which he served during his political career.

The confusion might have something to do with my further remarks regarding serious questions raised about Maguire Inc. and Mr. Cloherty's political activities as described in Robert Winter-Berger's book, "The Washington Payoff." I made it clear, however, that the charges made by Winter-Berger had not been substantiated to my knowledge, but they were serious enough to be investigated.

The point behind all of this is the community's concern about allegations of political dealings on the part of the Maguire group, which should be free from all political pressures in undertaking the environmental study.

It is not my intention to accuse any individual of scandalous behavior. Rev. Richard J. Shmaruk   Saint Paul Church