740.00119 Control (Germany)/11–1449
Excerpt From the Journal of Colonel H. P. Jones, Chief of the Division of Economic Affairs of the Office of the United States High Commissioner for Germany1
Dean Acheson, Secretary of State, came to Berlin. We had a small staff conference with the Secretary, Mr. McCloy, General Taylor, and myself to discuss the principal problems of Berlin. I outlined briefly the desperate economic situation of Berlin and emphasized the necessity [Page 431] for substantial ECA assistance if further deterioration in the Berlin situation were to be prevented and Berlin started on the way to economic recovery. I pointed out that in contrast to Western Germany Berlin’s industrial production was hovering around 20 per cent of 1936 levels and due to antiquated machinery, Berlin manufacturers were unable to compete in world markets.
Mr. McCloy and General Taylor agreed the urgency of economic assistance to Berlin and Secretary Acheson promised to give his full support to a request for financial assistance.
- Jones also prepared a 3-page memorandum on the briefing with Secretary Acheson, not printed (740.00119 Control (Germany/11–1549). For another account of Acheson’s visit to Berlin, see Acheson, Creation, pp. 342–343.↩