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    "label": "Memorandum from Major General Philip B. Fleming to President Harry S. Truman",
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    "title": "Memorandum from Major General Philip B. Fleming to President Harry S. Truman",
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    "ocrText": "- 7 -\nThe President\nThe Ruhr is producing only 15 to 20 per cent of its normal coal\noutput, and, as in Belgium, it is contended that many miners are not\nat work, or are not working up to normal productivity, because of\ninsufficient food. If coal production in the Ruhr could be restored\nto normal much of Europe's fuel difficulties would be solved.\nIn addition to the low output in the Ruhr, lack of navigation\non the Rhine presents a further complication. Almost all the bridges\nare down, and where new ones have been built they were carried across\nthe stream with little regard for navigation. I visited many of the\nsites and came away with the impression that the local laborers were\ntrying to remove the damaged bridges with no other equipment than a\nchisel and a small hammer. Since the United States, Britain and\nCanada all have idle engineer troops in Europe whose commanders are\nstriving to keep occupied, it would be my recommendation that they\nbe given the task of clearing the Rhine.\nEngland. I arrived in England shortly after the Labor Government\nhad been installed and found the ministers rather bewildered by their\nnew responsibilities.\nA year ago on my last visit I learned that the Government then\nin office had made rather extensive plans for postwar construction,\nparticularly in the Ministry of Town and Country Planning. The new\nMinister seems to view all plans made by the previous Government with\nsuspicion and appears rather inclined to throw them away and start\nover again.\nBecause of wartime destruction, housing presents a serious problem,\nbut planning is hampered by the fáct that responsibility is diffused\nthrough the three Ministries of Town and Country Planning, Health, and\nConstruction.\nI visited a city in which some prefabricated housing shipped from\nthe United States was being erected, and another in which the British\nwere erecting some of their own prefabricated units. It occurred to\nme that our houses are far better designed. But they are frankly\ntemporary structures and I had the impression that the British\nprefabricated house, being more durable, is likely to be an unsightly\nblot on the landscape long after it has served the temporary need.\nI had a long talk on the coal situation with Sir Francis Salter,\na member of the former Government and now a minority Member of Parliament,\nwho has made a long study of the subject. He rather hesitatingly told me\nthat he thought the British, who control the Ruhr, are \"making rather a\nmess of it.\" He suggested that representatives of the United States\nsit down with British authorities and force the issue. He also thought\nthat the Ruhr offers the means by which the fuel famine can be alleviated\nall over northern Europe.\n: ARCHIVES \"INATIONAL SERVICE' RECORDS AND\nthe"
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