884.6461 Tsana Dam/19
Memorandum by the Chief of the Division of Near Eastern Affairs (Shaw) of a Conversation Between the Secretary of State and the Egyptian Minister (Samy)
The Secretary asked the Minister whether he had questions to ask on the subject of Ethiopia. The Minister replied that he had. The Secretary inquired as to the nature of the questions. The Minister replied that he wanted to know whether a contract had been signed between Dr. Martin and the J. G. White Company for the construction of the Lake Tsana Dam. The Secretary asked the Minister whether he had any other questions. The Minister admitted that the question he had asked was the particular one of interest to his Government. The Secretary then stated that so far as we were aware no contract had been signed. He explained that Dr. Martin had talked over the Lake Tsana Dam project with the J. G. White Company in New York and he understood that the Company had set down in writing their understanding of the nature of this project and of the manner in which they would, under certain conditions, carry it out. The Secretary added that of course we were delighted to have reputable American concerns go abroad and do business and that that was all there was to it so far as the Department was concerned. The Minister said he could not see that the American Government [Page 603] had anything to do with the matter; that it seemed to be a question between a foreign government and a private American concern. The Secretary emphatically confirmed the Minister’s views on this point.
Mr. Shaw was present at the conference.