840.50 UNRRA/4–1345: Telegram

The Ambassador in Greece ( MacVeagh ) to the Secretary of State

391. The Department’s attention will doubtless have been attracted by the telegram from UNRRA, Athens to Governor Lehman which [Page 210] I forwarded as my No. 377 of April 12, 11 a.m., at Maben’s earnest request and it may be interested in such confidential comment as this Embassy can provide.

While it is understandable that its officials here, who are all now of a minor calibre, should be somewhat appalled by the practical difficulties inseparable from their assumption of full responsibility on April 1 and the political crisis which has since supervened,12 it would seem that UNRRA should have been aware before this of the poor prospects for a really strong and efficient central government in postliberation Greece. I believe that such higher officials as Hendrickson have been so aware, and certainly they have been appropriately advised on many occasions. Furthermore, I believe that it cannot yet be said with certainty that Greek administration will in the long run fail to accomplish distribution of supplies in a fashion acceptable to the Greek people, provided the country’s main needs are now adequately determined and imports are brought forward promptly within the limits of supply and shipping availabilities. In this connection, there has not yet been time for a fair trial, and the Greeks are notably apt in getting things done to their own advantage in one way or another. Accordingly, I feel that the telegram under reference may be chiefly significant as reinforcing my previous opinion (see my No. 289 of March 21, 3 p.m.13) that UNRRA’s chief need here at present is the appointment of a director capable of not losing sight of the larger issues in the maze of minor problems, no matter how difficult. For success here, the local UNRRA must show at least as much comprehension and confidence in dealing with the Government as Hendrickson displayed in signing the agreement,14 and as regards practical problems there must be courage and decision. Specifically, it would seem advisable at this time to reexamine Greece’s general requirements to determine whether too much emphasis is being placed on the importation of food and not enough on stimulating Greece’s own production by importing raw materials, transport, fertilizers, pesticides and seeds. It might also perhaps be considered whether UNRRA in Greece has become top-heavy as a nonoperational body, owing largely to the presence of several hundred persons from volunteer societies whose lack of specific duties is reported as causing confusion and friction within the organization; and as a corollary to this, whether the principal UNRRA officials in Athens are being forced to spend a disproportionate amount of time in looking after the welfare of their own somewhat demoralized staff.

MacVeagh
  1. A referrence to the replacement of the Plastiras government by the Cabinet of Adm. Petros Voulgaris, which was sworn in on April 8; see telegram 1408, April 8, midnight, from Caserta, and footnotes 55 and 56, p. 122.
  2. Not printed.
  3. Of March 1; see footnote 93, p. 202.