37. Letter From the Secretary of the Treasury (Humphrey) to the Chairman of the Council on Foreign Economic Policy (Randall)1
Dear Clarence: I have just finished reviewing your Fairless Report recommendations and compliment you upon the neat, compact form in which you have presented it. It is very apparent that all of the knotty problems in paragraphs 6, 7, 8, and 11 require further study and a subcommittee of CFEP as a preliminary step is certainly a good way to begin it.
I must raise a question about Recommendation 10. I fear very greatly that if we don’t watch our step we will become involved in SUNFED and all of the other schemes which are everlastingly put forward to have us join with others in multilateral action which always results in our putting up the money and our associates deciding how to spend it. I am not adverse, of course, to joining with somebody else in putting up money together, but the only time I have ever seen it really offered was in collaboration with Great Britain and the original Aswan High Dam negotiations, when it was a case of one rabbit for them, one horse for us for the money, with equal voice in expenditures. I hope this will be very carefully watched. It sounds fuzzy to me.
[Page 179]Recommendation 14—I think it is not only feasible but extremely desirable to take the first step now and to transfer to the Defense budget military hardware and training items for current presentation, even though defense support and economic aid cannot be separated at this time. I think the President should be asked to reconsider this recommendation.
Recommendation 15—It has always seemed to me that the ideal set-up by ICA and State is in the nature of a self-contained bureau operating within a Department, in the same way that Customs, Internal Revenue and others operate within the Treasury, being given over-all supervision and control but effective, independent action for operations.
Best to you.
Sincerely,
- Source: Eisenhower Library, CFEP Chairman Records.↩