Senator FERGUSON. Would you get them and make them a part of the record? Mr. SARGEANT. Senator Ferguson, I will be glad to see what can be done on that. (The information referred to follows:) One of the principal purposes of the Department's analysis of public opinion is to provide an indication of that opinion concerning a particular area of policy during the time that the Department is formulating its position. The Department makes every effort to ascertain the nature of the views held by various elements of the public prior to the final determination of policy. This is done in order to prevent a situation arising where a policy, determined without regard to public opinion, might later have to be changed or reversed because of adverse opinion. An instance of this general practice is the development of the Marshall plan for foreign economic aid. Secretary Marshall raised the problem in his speech at Harvard. A great deal of public discussion followed. The President appointed a committee of prominent representatives of the public, headed by Averell Harriman, to study the problem. The results of all this were available to officers of the Government in formulating final recommendations. Another instance of public opinion making itself felt in policy formulation was the inclusion of a provision giving the UN a role in the Greek-Turkish aid program. Senator FERGUSON. Referring to item No. 3 on page 171, you state "Developing and executing necessary policies pertaining to international information and educational activities to implement United States foreign policy objectives." You use the word "developing" there. If you develop a policy, you make it, do you not? Mr. SARGEANT. This, however, again, does not relate, Senator Ferguson, to the appropriation item that we are discussing. Senator FERGUSON. But you do make those, do you not? Mr. SARGEANT. We make policy there, but again let us be quite clear that that is different from the kind of policy that is developed when the United States Government take a position with respect to China, where we say "This is the United States Government's position vis-àvis China." We do not do that. We have no part in that, except to give advice on relevant public opinion factors. Our job, however, is to determine a policy-and I am referring now specifically to item. No. 3-that is: What shall be the policy by which we present, as information specialists, the decision that has been taken? Senator FERGUSON. Well, now, when you said $20,000, you only meant the cost of printing and binding? Mr. SARGEANT. I meant that, but I can give you, sir, the additional costs. Senator FERGUSON. Can you give us the cost of getting it out? Mr. SARGEANT. Yes, sir. I have the additional cost here. I gave you the total cost as 12 cents per copy, which included all of the writing, editing, and printing costs. The total cost for 200,000 copies of Our Foreign Policy was $24,692. That includes all costs, personnel, writing, editing, and printing. Senator McCARRAN. And distribution? Chairman McKELLAR. In addition to that, it has to go through the mails, and that is an additional cost, of course, because the Post Office Department is in arrears. Mr. SARGEANT. Yes, sir; it does not include the cost of distribution. CORRESPONDENCE ENDORSING OR CONDEMNING FOREIGN POLICY Chairman MCKELLAR. Now, I want to ask another thing. Would you be good enough to ascertain from your files how many letters you have gotten from the public endorsing or not endorsing Our Foreign Policy? When was this booklet published? Mr. RUSSELL. I think it was last September. Mr. THOMPSON. That is right. Chairman MCKELLAR. Will you get from your files the number of people that have written you, those condemning and those approving it? Mr. SARGEANT. I will be happy to do that, Senator McKellar. (The information referred to follows:) Press and other media notices which came to the attention of the Department: Newspapers carried an editorial, news story, or serialization_‒‒‒‒‒ Magazines reviewed or reprinted it---. Major radio networks carried reviews of it- TV network carried comments on it.. Syndicated columnist referred to it in his column_‒‒‒ 25 10 2 1 1 In addition to these communications, we have received approximately 20,000 letters which contained requests for copies. These inquirers made no comment concerning the publication. Such letters are returned to the senders along with copies of the publication since the Department, in the interest of economy, does not maintain filing space for such communications. The publication was translated into Japanese. Mainichi ran it as a serial in the newspaper, and then issued it as a pamphlet. It was also translated into German and distributed widely in Germany. The following are excerpts from a few of the letters received: Tennessee I find our Foreign Policy to be a wonderfully clear and consise statement of the foreign policy of the United States.-LUKE G. BEAUCHAMP, General Board of Education of the Methodist Church, Nashville, Tenn. New Jersey At present I am superintendent of maintenance in one of New Jersey's large industrial concerns. Your booklet is very valuable and takes care of the need for information from a Government source to the citizens of this country, but we need more and the knowledge of these booklets, and their existence must be publicized.-JOHN F. LANG, 102 Grant Avenue, Jersey City, N. J. Massachusetts You have done a superb job in setting forth a complex and often confusing but always highly important area of citizen concern. You have done it in a clear and interesting fashion which should go far in helping the average citizen better to understand our foreign-policy objectives, how they are determined, and where he himself fits into the total picture.-MERRILL E. BUSH, American Unitarian Association, Boston, Mass. Our Foreign Policy is inspiring and encouraging. This booklet should be distributed in scores of millions of copies. It should be put in the hands of every laboring man and woman. It should be circulated without stint in business and professional circles, and, among other things, should be put before every high-school, college, trade- and professional-school student in the country. It should be translated into all foreign languages in which we have minority groups in this country and sent into every new American's home.-NORMAN J. PADELFORD, professor of International Relations, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Mass. Arkansas This is a worthy effort and a great production. It should be in the hands of every school teacher and preacher in our Nation. If possible, in the hands of every high-school and college student.-FRED E. REED, The Valley Bank, Hindsville, Ark. West Virginia * * * your booklet is full of valuable information. I feel now that I understand our position in world affairs much better.-W. W. KEYLOR, principal, Wheeling High School, Wheeling, W. Va. Connecticut Let me congratulate you on Our Foreign Policy. It is a singularly clear and precise statement, and exactly what is needed at this time.-RUSSELL HENRY STAFFORD, president, Hartford Seminary Foundation, Hartford, Conn. DEVELOPING POLICIES ON PUBLIC-INFORMATION DISSEMINATION Senator MCCARRAN. Now, your second basic objective here as set out on page 171 is "Developing policies on public information designed to keep the United States public informed on international affairs." Will you describe some of the policies you have developed? Senator MCCARRAN. I am using the language you have here in your justification. Mr. SARGEANT. Yes, sir. We have developed policies of this kind: The first is that it is our job in the Public Affairs area in the Department to make the case within the Department for the fullest exposition and explanation of the facts underlying foreign-policy decisions. Senator MCCARRAN. Now, give me that again, please? You say "to make the case within the Department"? Mr. SARGEANT. To make the case within the Department. Mr. SARGEANT. The Department of State, for the fullest exposition and explanation of the factors underlying foreign-policy decisions. The second policy that we have developed is that to the extent that we can we will work through the great associations and organizations in this country that have an itnerest in foreign policy. We will attempt to work closely with the leaders of labor groups, veterans' groups, of church groups, so that they, through their own constituencies, will be able to get information to the people that are members of their organizations. This is opposed to developing a large direct operation that tries to reach directly into every community. Instead, we are working through the people that I have described as the middleman. We are working through perhaps 450 national organizations and perhaps some 700 regional organizations in this way. Those are the examples of what we mean by developing policies of public information. Senator FERGUSON. What does it cost for that one item-these 400 organizations where you invite people down here? Do you send them abroad at times? You do; do you not? Mr. SARGEANT. Well, Senator, do not let me confuse you on that. Chairman MCKELLAR. Wait one moment. He asked you a perfectly direct question that can be answered "Yes" or "No." Let him repeat it, and you answer the question "Yes" or "No." Do not give us a roundabout answer. Senator FERGUSON. What is the cost of bringing these people down? Mr. SARGEANT. There is no cost, sir, for bringing the people to these meetings, other than the cost of the salary of the officers of the Department who participate in the meetings themselves. The people who attend pay their own expenses. Senator FERGUSON. Do you not send some of these people abroad on these foreign-policy issues? Mr. SARGEANT. No, sir. Mr. RUSSELL. Only sir, in the case of German Affairs. There is an arrangement by which some newspaper editors and, I think, some presidents of women's clubs are in Germany, but that is not out of the budget here. Senator FERGUSON. It is out of some other budget? Mr. WILBER. The transportation in the latter case you spoke of was paid for by the women's clubs themselves. There was a subsistence factor that was paid out of the appropriation for "Government in the occupied area of Germany." Mr. RUSSELL. We don't pay that transportation, and we don't pay a per diem. QUESTION OF FOREIGN POLICY IN FAR EAST IN CASE OF FALL OF FORMOSA Senator FERGUSON. I would like to have you supply for the record the things that these people have changed. I want to know whether this is only a selling proposition or whether it is a selling and receiving proposition, or whether it is solely propaganda, and I would like to ask, in connection with that, whether you got up the famous document of December 23, with reference to the Far East. Did you get that up in this Department? Mr. SARGEANT. No, sir. Senator FERGUSON. Well now, there is a sample. You see, we have this Department that we spend so many thousands of dollars on, and then we have other departments doing similar work. There was a document gotten up to explain our foreign policy in the Far East in case of the fall of Formosa. Here was a document prepared to tell the world how we felt about the fall of Formosa. Now, is not that part of this work? Mr. SARGEANT. Senator, I would like to say Senator MCCARRAN. We were going to tell the world that we did not care. Senator FERGUSON. Is that not under this work? Mr. SARGEANT. When you say "this work," that would fall within the eight points that you find on page 171. However, we are talking here about the item of "Salaries and expenses," and the item that you speak of relates to the "International information and educational exchange" program, which will come before this committee subsequently. Senator FERGUSON. Wait. You say that that comes under these items 1 to 8. If it is distributed within the United States, would it not come under items 1 to 8? Mr. SARGEANT. Yes, sir. But may I make this distinction? We are talking here about programs that are primarily domestic programs. They are carried out in this country. They affect people in the United States. The document to which you refer was a document related to the oversea-information program, and as such is related only to those items on page 171 that relate to the oversea program. Senator FERGUSON. What I am getting at is this: That, if you had used that document in this country, it would have come directly under your Department. Mr. RUSSELL. But it does not apply to the domestic operations, Senator. That was only for overseas. Senator FERGUSON. Do you mean to say that it would have never been used domestically? Mr. SARGEANT. Yes, sir. Senator FERGUSON. What is the use of explaining that in foreign countries? Did you not contemplate explaining how you felt about this matter to the American people? Mr. SARGEANT. Yes. That was done, though, Senator, in an entirely different way. Senator FERGUSON. Now, was there another document gotten up on that? Mr. SARGEANT. I would have to check to see whether there was such a document. Senator FERGUSON. Will you do that? Mr. SARGEANT. Yes. (The information follows:) The subject of Formosa was publicly dealt with by Secretary Acheson at his press conferences of December 14, 1949, and January 5, 1950, and in his remarks before the National Press Club in Washington on January 12, 1950. The Secretary's remarks before the Press Club were published in the Department of State Bulletin of January 23, 1950. Senator FERGUSON. I am assuming that you were going to sell it to the American people. Chairman MCKELLAR. I note that item 2 on page 71 reads: Developing policies on public information designed to keep the United States public informed on international affairs. Item 3 reads: Developing and executing necessary policies pertaining to international information and educational activities to implement the United States foreign-policy objectives. Let me see if there are any others: "Historical research"-that has nothing to do with it. Senator MCCARRAN. Senator, I want to call your attention to the last paragraph, in connection with your question. During both fiscal years 1951 and 1952 the office will (a) direct the expansion and improvement of the United States "Information and educational exchange" program, seeking to implement its effectiveness through the development of new ideas and techniques. Chairman MCKELLAR. Yes. Would you like to explain that or make it clear? |