December 12, 1949
S/S - Mr. Humelsine:
Carl:
The Secretary has not dictated on the Hoffman appointment of last Thursday. He did cover it pretty fully in the meeting this morning. Do you have anything to add to the attached? I feel sure this covers the main points and will not ask the Secretary to dictate on the call unless you or someone else in the Department needs further details.
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[Handwritten: Dec. 8]December 12, 1949
MEMORANDUM FOR S/S:
The Secretary reviewed in a meeting today a conversation which he had had with Mr. Paul Hoffman on last Thursday (December 8). Mr. Hoffman had called at his request to discuss with the Secretary the problem of the United States "dollar gap". Mr. Hoffman indicated that he considered the problem one of great urgency. He felt that the Treasury Department, ECA and State were the departments most concerned. The Secretary said that he considered the Commerce Department in this category also. Mr. Hoffman suggested that an appropriate person in the Department get together with Mr. Bissel of ECA and prepare a paper on the question. He felt that this should be a first step toward reaching an over-all policy in general terms. The policy in his opinion could be included in the Presidential Message to Congress. He thought the President might also create an Advisory Committee to study the problem and include this announcement in his Message also. Mr. Hoffman suggested Mr. Donald (?) David as a possible Chairman. He also mentioned President Johnson of Temple University as a possibility. Mr. Hoffman expressed the hope that the Committee could bring out a preliminary report in mid-winter.
The question of the advisability of having a government official chair the Committee was discussed. Mr. Hoffman recognized the advantages of having a Cabinet member serve as Chairman, and thought the Secretary of State was the logical man. He realized that it would be difficult for the Secretary to take on this time-consuming assignment, however. Mr. Hoffman said that he hoped something could be done on the discussions between State and ECA this week in order that he could have something to present to the President when he returned from his vacation.
In the meeting in the Secretary's office, it was decided that Mr. Thorp should get together with Mr. Bissel to go into this problem.
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