840.48 Refugees/2127⅓
The Under Secretary of State (Welles) to President Roosevelt
My Dear Mr. President: With reference to your memorandum to me of today’s date concerning Mr. Van Zeeland’s suggestion, I am afraid that the plan you proposed would not cover what Mr. Van Zeeland had in mind.
He told me specifically and very emphatically that unless you saw personally the three men he mentioned and indicated in this way your own interest in immediate and effective action, there would be little likelihood that the plan he outlined could be carried out.
I hesitate to suggest anything which imposes any additional demand upon your time, but from my knowledge of the gentlemen concerned, I think he may probably be right. Would it not be possible for you some time next week or the week following to let the three of them meet with you at the White House some afternoon with Van Zeeland himself preferably present. That will give Rosenwald the opportunity of saying to you that he and his family were prepared to make initially this large subscription, and presumably the other two would then have to define their position concretely.
I forgot to mention in my earlier letter to you on this subject that Mr. Van Zeeland said that all of the members of the Rosenwald family were meeting on May 12 to determine the exact amount which each member of the family should put up and that, consequently, he thought if it proved convenient for you, and you desired to adopt his suggestion, the suggested meeting with you might be fixed for some date after May 12.
Believe me
Faithfully yours,