611.9417/153
Memorandum by Mr. Roy Veatch of the Office of the Economic Adviser of a Conversation With the Counselor of the Japanese Embassy (Yoshizawa)
Mr. Veatch referred to a recent visit of Mr. Claudius T. Murchison, President of the Cotton Textile Institute, to the Department when he had spoken of his last conversation with Mr. Inouye, Commercial Secretary of the Japanese Embassy, shortly before the latter’s departure for Japan. Mr. Murchison had reported that he and Mr. Inouye had agreed at that time that as soon as the American textile industry was ready to support discussions between Japanese and American cotton textile leaders, this information should be brought to the attention of the Japanese Embassy by the Department of State for transmission to Japan. Mr. Veatch then referred to the fact that the projected conversations between the cotton textile leaders themselves had not been brought officially to the attention of the Department of State and that Mr. Sayre had been of the opinion that the matter could be handled best by the private interests without the participation of this Government. In view of the understanding between Mr. Inouye and Mr. Murchison, however, Mr. Veatch had been authorized to pass on to Mr. Yoshizawa quite informally the information regarding this situation which Mr. Murchison had brought to the attention of the Department of State.
Mr. Veatch repeated Mr. Murchison’s statement that without exception the leaders of the American cotton textile industry had given their approval to the project of seeking a mutually acceptable adjustment of the competition between Japanese and American cotton textiles in the American market. Mr. Murchison had stated that the American industry would be prepared, therefore, to accept an invitation from the Japanese industry to send a representative delegation to Japan to discuss the matter. If such an invitation were forthcoming soon, the American delegation would prefer to proceed to Japan in October since the American executives could best be spared from their business at that time before the busy winter season had gotten under way.
Mr. Yoshizawa said that he would cable this information to Tokyo and that undoubtedly an invitation from the Japanese industry would be cabled as soon as possible in order to expedite the plans of the American delegation. He stated that he appreciated fully the informal character of this information and that he understood that no reply was expected by the Department. Any invitation forthcoming [Page 925] from the Japanese industry undoubtedly would be extended directly to the Cotton Textile Institute and not indirectly through the Department. To assist in expediting such a direct invitation, Mr. Veatch gave Mr. Yoshizawa the address of the Cotton Textile Institute.
Mr. Veatch then said that Mr. Murchison had mentioned quite informally an unfortunate occurrence which might tend to embarrass the projected effort for a rapprochement between the cotton textile industries of the two countries. He had spoken of an interview which a writer for Liberty (an American magazine) had secured with Mr. Donald Comer, President of the American Cotton Manufacturers Association, the association of the cotton manufacturers of the South. This interview had painted Japanese competition in cotton textile markets as a form of undeclared “warfare” with the United States and had been highly objectionable. When the text of the article had come to Mr. Murchison’s attention, he had taken up the matter with Mr. Comer and both had greatly regretted the character of the reported interview. They had made a strong effort to have the article in question withheld, but the management of Liberty had declared that the entire issue in which this article was to appear had been set up and that it would be impossible to withdraw the article at this late date. The article was to appear, therefore, in the August 29 issue of Liberty. In an effort to counteract the influence of this article, Mr. Murchison was preparing a careful statement of the whole problem of Japanese-American competition in cotton textiles and it was his expectation that this article would appear in the Sunday New York Times a day or two before the appearance of the August 29 issue of Liberty. Both Mr. Murchison and Mr. Comer greatly regretted this unfortunate occurrence. Mr. Murchison had wished that their feeling about the matter might come to the attention of the Japanese so that the article in Liberty would not be received as a true expression of the attitude of the American industry. For this reason Mr. Veatch had taken this occasion to pass this information on to Mr. Yoshizawa quite informally.
Mr. Yoshizawa said that assuredly he would see that this information was brought to the attention of the textile leaders in Japan. He then expressed the hope that, particularly in view of this occurrence, it would be possible for Mr. Comer to be a member of the American textile delegation visiting Japan. He felt that it was most important for such men as Mr. Comer and Mr. Murchison to know the Japanese industry at first hand in order that there might not be misunderstandings in the future between leaders of the American industry and leaders of the Japanese industry.