-2-                             
 
 
raised by about 50 percent. I said this was not due to
 
the importance of our cooperating. It was due to the fact
 
that the situation, especially in Berlin, was such that
 
everybody would attribute the drift towards negotiations
 
and peaceful solutions to the Roosevelt attitude. When
 
the debt question was raised, I cited McGrane's book,
 
especially to Johnson, indicating that our country had
 
repudiated between 1820 and 1850 something like 200 mil-
 
lions of valid obligations and had failed to pay interest
 
on nearly all obligations for a period of ten years.
 
This sort of discussion seemed a little perturbing, and
 
once more Johnson insisted on silence. However, there
 
was no disposition on his part to reassert his former
 
attitude. I had the feeling after the adjournment of
 
the Committee that if the matter had been cleared up
 
before all members of the Committee prior to their vote
 
we should have had a different result.
 
 
The Committee on Appropriations asked specifi-
 
cally what I thought about the Bluecher Palais business.
 
I said to them that we had $1,700,000 invested; that I 
 
                                            ' 500 000;
didn't believe we could sell it for more than $500,000; 
 
that it would probably be wise to make an appropriation
 
during the next few months for finishing the structure.
 
This I think would enable all the representatives of the
 
Government to have offices under one roof. There are
 
certain disadvantages, I said, but that I didn't see
 
any other way out, and that if the work were undertaken
 
in the next year I thought registered marks might be
 
used in such way as to save a considerable amount of the
 
costs. Merrill has estimated the cost at about $700,000.
 
I added that if I had been called on originally to pass
 
on the matter, I never would have put so much money in
 
the venture. However, I would not like to lose a million
 
dollars and consequently saw no other way out than for
 
the Committee to make the appropriation.
 
 The Chairman and every member present agreed that
 
it seemed to them the best solution, though they suggested
 
that there should be no great display and waste which 
 
of course I agreed to. I left a brief memorandum with 
 
Chairman Buchanan, and I wish you would indicate to the 
 
President this fact so that he will know about what our 
 
attitude is. I understood that the State Department was
 
of the same opinion.
 
 
Sincerely yours,
 
William E Dodd