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{
    "localId": "193223097",
    "label": "Memorandum of Conversation with Secretary of State Dean Acheson, Senator Theodore F. Green, Senator Homer Ferguson, George C. McGhee, Livingston Merchant, and Others",
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    "id": "193223097",
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    "contentType": "document",
    "title": "Memorandum of Conversation with Secretary of State Dean Acheson, Senator Theodore F. Green, Senator Homer Ferguson, George C. McGhee, Livingston Merchant, and Others",
    "citationUrl": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/193223097",
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        "Dean Acheson Papers",
        "Secretary of State Files"
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            "logicalDate": "1951-01-09",
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            "year": 1951
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{
    "seq": 3,
    "pageIndex": 0,
    "type": "photo",
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    "ocrText": "SECRET\nSenator Green remarked that almost every Asiatic he met told him\nabout how bad the British were and how good the Americans were, but\nTRUMAN\nexplained that it was frequently impossible for the ordinary Southeast\nAsian to tell them apart.\nS. ARCHIVES SERVICE\" RECOROS AND\nSenator Ferguson quoted Lord Alexander as being confident that\nHong Kong would not be taken over by the Chinese because as a British-\nES OVERSEY\nrun city it had done so much good for them and that by the same token\nSingapore would not be taken over by the Malays.\nSenator Green, however, remarked that that was the story of the\nBritish in Hong Kong, but that the Chinese in Hong Kong said that the\nChinese had done the work and the British had reaped the profit.\n(Senator Green quoted from his conversations in Hong Kong on his trip\nlast year.)\nBoth Senators agreed that the basic attitude in the Conference on\nForeign Policy and Defense of the Commonwealth and Dominion countries\nin Canberra had at the beginning been almost one of surrender, that\nthey would have welcomed our being pushed off of Korea. It was more\nthan defeatism, it was a policy of surrender, and it was only after\nvery pointed speeches and a series of very frank conversations between\nthe Senators and members of the British, Indian and other delegations\nthat there was some relaxation of this defeatist attitude.\nLord Alexander had been the leader of the movement toward appease-\nment and the New Zealanders had been the most enthusiastic about co-\noperation in a Pacific Pact guaranteed by the United States, Canada,\nNew Zealand and Australia, but excluding the rather shabby so-called\n*Nationalist\" democracies of the mainland. Prime Minister Menzies\nhad been forceful and effective but had indicated that there would\nbe no conscription in Australia at this time and stressed the need\nfor assurances if Australian troops were to be used in other areas.\nThe Senators remarked that conditions were really difficult in\nAustralia and New Zealand on the labor front. Senator Ferguson had\nbeen very much impressed by our Labor Attache's statement that the\nlabor unions were becoming more and more subject to Communist infiltra-\ntion and that a Communist had been elected President of the Coal Mines\nduring the days that the Senators were there. They remarked that con-\nditions were so bad that it took 54 days to turn a ship around in\nNew Zealand and 30 days in Australia. There were many problems in\nboth Australia and New Zealand which will be mentioned more fully in\nthe report.\nPassing reference was made by Senator Green to the severe Moslem\nriots in Singapore which both Senators described as being more a case\nof 'Malay-Moslem' sensitivity and pride than Nationalist in character.\nThis was one riot which the Communists were not accused of fomenting\nalthough they had been quick to take advantage of the situation after\nthe rioting started.\nThe Senators\nSECRET"
}