Memorandum of Conversation with Secretary of State Dean Acheson; Walter White, Secretary of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People; and Others

DEPARTMENT OF STATE 53 s/. 507/ ap Memorandum of Conversation 698 TENANT DATE: and ARCHIVES "NATIONAL RECORDS AND A 2/9/50 SUBJECT: & SERVICE* Interview with Walter white, Secretary of National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, on Aid to India and Other Matters. PARTICIPANTS: Mr. Walter white, Secretary, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People The Secretary Nr. Mathews - SOA Mr. Mackay - MID COPIES TO: s/s, NFA, E, EUR, UNA, ARA, DRN, CIA Embassy New Delhi 1-1493 Mr. White told me that he had been discussing with Walter and Victor Reuther and with Fowler McCormick and Henry Ford a plan whereby the members of the United Automobile forkers engaged in the manufacture of farm implements would contribute one day's production to India. Management would match labor's contribution. The purpose of this plan was to give tangible evidence to India that the American public was interested in its problems and wished to assist in their solution. Mr. White said that he had discussed this idea with Mrs. Reid of the New York Herald Tribune and that he was sure that he could obtain adequate publicity at the appropriate time. I said that the plan seemed excellent and that it would be highly effective in convincing the Indian people that we had a real interest in them. I commented that our feeling was that any agricultural implements which were sent to India should be of a simple type as there were not enough people trained to handle large and complicated machines. When asked whether it was contemplated that the UAT nembers would contribute a day's wages to be matched by an equal contri- bution from management, lir. white replied that his idea had been that the contribution would be taken from the equipment produced on the day selected. Mr. Mathews commented that this might result in varied types of equipment being contributed, many of which might not be suited to Indian conditions. He went on to say that the Department had recently been told by informed observers that the greatest contribution to Indian agriculture would be the provision of a large number of six-inch moldboard plows which would enable a pair of bullocks to plow a greatly increased acreage each working day. Mr. White expressed his appreciation of DECLASSIFIED ity F.O. 10501