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TOP SECRET
SECRETARY MARSHALL felt that it is definitely necessary to
present specific figures.
SECRETARY FORRESTAL noted that at the peak of the war 75
billion dollars, or 45% of our total annual product, was devoted to
military expenditures He questioned to what degree we want to go to
that scale of operations. He doesn't think that we will need controls
for military purposes. One reason is that the primary requirement for
controls would be in steel, and this does not enter to a large degree
into military requirements.
MR. HILL stated that electric power would enter into those
requirements to a substantial extent.
SECRETARY MARSHALL said that in a talk yesterday the President
was very specific in stating that he is only willing to restore the au-
thorized strengths of the armed forces. The President does not want to
go beyond that point at this time. Secretary Marshall felt that the
question for the military was whether they feel they must convince the
President to take other action.
Secretary Marshall's reaction was that if we could ignore
political involvements we would be in a much stronger position. In
contrast to this, however, is the fact that when you reach a certain
point you have committed the country to an all-out effort for war.
The President's intent is to convince the Russians of our determina-
B
tion without entering into an all-out war effort. Secretary Marshall
feels that we must decide what actions it is necessary to take to deter
scavice
the Russians from making further moves. We must realize that we cannot
Re: 5
make it impossible for them to move in the next two or three months.
We must, therefore, find out what can be done to deter the Russians and
to have a maximum of encouraging effect upon the other countries of
Europe.
Secretary Marshall read a draft memorandum of his comments on
Secretary Forrestal's proposed speech. In it Secretary Marshall ques-
tioned the desirability of a comparison of Russian strength with that
of the Western world. He felt that this comparison would be very dis-
heartening to the nations of Europe, especially the remarks about the
number of weeks it would take the Russians to reach the Atlantic. He
felt that a picture of such hopelessness would do grave harm to the
European Recovery Program. He is not convinced that the Russians
realize the full nature of this comparison. He felt that the proposed
speech indicated more of the preparation for war than for the "cold
war" which we are still waging. He believes that we can overdo the
statement of our case to the extent that it will leave us vulnerable
to the charge that we provoked war.
- 2 -
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"ocrText": "TOP SECRET\nSECRETARY MARSHALL felt that it is definitely necessary to\npresent specific figures.\nSECRETARY FORRESTAL noted that at the peak of the war 75\nbillion dollars, or 45% of our total annual product, was devoted to\nmilitary expenditures He questioned to what degree we want to go to\nthat scale of operations. He doesn't think that we will need controls\nfor military purposes. One reason is that the primary requirement for\ncontrols would be in steel, and this does not enter to a large degree\ninto military requirements.\nMR. HILL stated that electric power would enter into those\nrequirements to a substantial extent.\nSECRETARY MARSHALL said that in a talk yesterday the President\nwas very specific in stating that he is only willing to restore the au-\nthorized strengths of the armed forces. The President does not want to\ngo beyond that point at this time. Secretary Marshall felt that the\nquestion for the military was whether they feel they must convince the\nPresident to take other action.\nSecretary Marshall's reaction was that if we could ignore\npolitical involvements we would be in a much stronger position. In\ncontrast to this, however, is the fact that when you reach a certain\npoint you have committed the country to an all-out effort for war.\nThe President's intent is to convince the Russians of our determina-\nB\ntion without entering into an all-out war effort. Secretary Marshall\nfeels that we must decide what actions it is necessary to take to deter\nscavice\nthe Russians from making further moves. We must realize that we cannot\nRe: 5\nmake it impossible for them to move in the next two or three months.\nWe must, therefore, find out what can be done to deter the Russians and\nto have a maximum of encouraging effect upon the other countries of\nEurope.\nSecretary Marshall read a draft memorandum of his comments on\nSecretary Forrestal's proposed speech. In it Secretary Marshall ques-\ntioned the desirability of a comparison of Russian strength with that\nof the Western world. He felt that this comparison would be very dis-\nheartening to the nations of Europe, especially the remarks about the\nnumber of weeks it would take the Russians to reach the Atlantic. He\nfelt that a picture of such hopelessness would do grave harm to the\nEuropean Recovery Program. He is not convinced that the Russians\nrealize the full nature of this comparison. He felt that the proposed\nspeech indicated more of the preparation for war than for the \"cold\nwar\" which we are still waging. He believes that we can overdo the\nstatement of our case to the extent that it will leave us vulnerable\nto the charge that we provoked war.\n- 2 -\nTOP BECHEN"
}