Mr. Jenner.

Now directing your attention to page 10 of the material that you supplied me, and which you discussed with me last evening, you wished to make a statement to the Commission with respect to this letter, do you?

Mrs. Paine.

Yes.

Mr. Jenner.

All right. Would you please proceed to do so?

Mrs. Paine.

I think it would be easier if I read what is here.

Mr. Jenner.

Any way you want to handle it, Mrs. Paine.

Mrs. Paine.

Marina stayed with me 2 weeks in the spring as you know, and I realized then what a proud and capable person she is. She was not accustomed to accept help from others, and I knew that her pride and independence would be a stumbling block to her accepting help even though she needed it.
I respected her for this and somehow I wanted to ease such acceptance for her, and to explain that the situation I proposed would be a situation of mutual help. I hoped--now I should say that in Commission Exhibit--

Mr. Jenner.

They are to your right on the table.

Mrs. Paine.

Yes; 411 and 412, I mentioned that if she were counted as a dependent on Michael's income tax his yearly payment to the government would be reduced by a certain amount, and that by that amount she we could very nearly live her expenses could very nearly come under this, so it would be more a case of breaking even than a case of her accepting so much as she might think from us. But I think that in fact this reference to the tax reduction did not encourage her, as I had hoped.

Mr. Jenner.

It wasn't quite correct either, was it, Mrs. Paine? (Laughter.)

Mrs. Paine.

Did I get a chance to read the second letter as written at 2 a.m. and I was hopeful only more than--

Mr. Jenner.

Mrs. Paine, I think the members of the Commission and also you from our talk last night, are interested in your letters which you have now identified suggesting financial arrangements to Mrs. Oswald, since to one who might read them without knowing the background they might seem crass.

Mrs. Paine.

I felt crass in Russian, particularly.

Mr. Jenner.

I was not thinking in terms of your difficulty in communicating with her, but you had no selfish or ulterior financial motive, did you, in this connection?

Mrs. Paine.

Did it appear that?

Mr. Jenner.

It might.

Mrs. Paine.

Even with such bad arithmetic.

Mr. Jenner.

Your arithmetic was all right. Your interpretation of the law was not as good as it might be.

Mr. Dulles.

Am I not correct, I understood you were trying to make her feel she was not going to be a burden to you?

Mrs. Paine.

That is right.

Mr. Dulles.

And were using certain subterfuges to accomplish that; that is the impression I got from what you said.

Mrs. Paine.

That is absolutely correct. That I hoped, and further I would say in the letters to her I made reference that this money not paid to the government would be therefore available for spending money for her. I had put myself in her position and thought wouldn't it be terrible to have to ask for a nickel for a package of Lifesavers every time you wanted it, and thought I wouldn't want to be in such a situation if she doesn't have her own, something she can count upon as her own money, it would be unbearable to her.
So I tried to cast about both for a way of making her feel that this would not be a burden to us, and a way of getting her petty cash in the pocket that she would not feel was a handout. So that it would be a legitimate possibility for her to consider.
I judge that my effort in this regard, besides the bad understanding of the tax law and the poor arithmetic, didn't help because of her following letter.

Mr. Jenner.

That is what I was coming to. Before we get to that, Mrs. Paine, I direct your attention to Commission Exhibit No. 414.

Mrs. Paine.

414?

Mr. Jenner.

That is a translation of your letter, Commission Exhibit No. 413. Have you read that translation?