Manville - Raybestos Manhattan

Jan. 22, 1935
"Only two forms of dust, free silica and asbestos, are definitely known to produce disabling fibrosis of the lung. . . . The strongest bulwark against future disaster for industry is the enactment of properly drawn workers compensation legislation, which would (a) eliminate the jury... and (b) eliminate the shyster lawyer and quack doctor . . . ." Letter from Manville attorney to Raybestos Manhatten, summarizing topics discussed at Symposium on Industrial Research on Dust Problems.

Sept. 25, 1935
"Always you have requested that for certain obvious reasons we publish nothing [about the health hazards of asbestos], and naturally your wishes have been respected. . . .By this time, your objections to publicity on this subject have been eliminated, and we would like very much to review the whole matter in "Asbestos". A discussion of [the health hazards of asbestos] along the right lines would serve to combat some of the rather undesirable publicity. . . . " Letter from Editor of Asbestos Magazine to President of Raybestos Manhatten (RM).

Oct. 1, 1935
"As I see it personally, we would be just as well off to say nothing about it . . . I think the less said about asbestos the better we are. . . ." Letter from RM President to Manville Attorney.

Oct. 3, 1935
"I quite agree with you that our interests are best served by having asbestosis receive the minimum of publicity." Reply letter from Manville Attorney to RM President.

1949
"The fibrosis of this disease is irreversible and permanent so that eventually compensation will be paid to each of these men. But as long as the man is not disabled it is felt that he should not be told of his condition so that he can live and work in peace and the company can benefit by his many years of experience." Internal Memo to Corporate Headquarters by Manville's Medical Director, Dr. Kenneth Wallace Smith.

Sept. 12, 1966
"My answer to the problem is: if you have enjoyed a good life while working with asbestos products why not die from it? There's got to be some cause." Letter from Director of Purchasing for Allied Signal (Bendix) to Manville, offering final solution to the growing asbestosis epidemic.

1984
"I'll never forget, I turned to Mr. Brown, one of the Browns made this crack (that Unarco managers were a bunch of fools for notifying employees who had asbestosis), and I said, "Mr. Brown, do you mean to tell me you would let them work until they dropped dead?' He said, `Yes. We save a lot of money that way.'" Testimony of Charles Roemer about the meeting of Unarco officials with Johns Manville President Louis Brown and his brother, Vandiver, in 1942 or 1943. Deposition dated April 25, 1984.