-6-  
 
 
Mr. Barr: The Italian Government may wish to make a purchase of those shoes.  
 
 
Avv. Montini: The Italian Government has no foreign exchange.  
They have five billion lire, but that cannot be changed into dollars.       
 
 
Mr. Taylor: I made a suggestion that $50,000,000 credit be given  
to the Italian Government to purchase urgently needed relief  
materials in America and distribute them through ENDSI. That may  
happen sometime, but right now it is an urgent suggestion.  
 
 
Ing. Vicentini: The National Committee was very glad to hear about  
your letter concerning shoes to be bought in America and decided to  
present the problem to the Italian Government to ask if it was  
possible to buy shoes.  
 
 
Mr. Keeny: I think it is more practical at the earliest moment to get   
hides in here and have the shoes made in Italy, We ought to put the   
pressure for that through the Allied Commission. I think there is a grave   
danger in this next period in that we have opened the channels for relief   
and are sending in manufactured goods when Italy's greatest need is for   
employment. Wc should use all our influence to get raw materials in here   
and put ourselves out of business. We can be the greatest enemy of Italy,   
mainly by continuing to send in finished products.  
 
 
Brig. Parkinson: As soon as we can, we are going to get raw material  
from the north and help with that program.  
 
 
Mr. Keeny: I am going to ask Mr. Honderson of the Allied Conmission to see   
if something like that can't be started. Personally I am much more in   
favor of getting raw materials into Italian mills rather than spending our   
money for new clothes. Of course, there are other problems of machinery   
and power.  
 
 
Mr. Taylor: I agree with you, but there is an element of time in which you   
can buy raw materials and get them into usable products, such as shoes,   
which are urgently needed now.  
 
 
Mr. Keeny: I am not speaking against getting in an immediate supply  
of essential finished products. The danger is, though, that we get  
so busy working on finished products that we don't take into consid-  
eration what will most benefit the country in six months or a year.  
The Allied Commission has raised the question many times, but nothing  
has been done, partly because of the short supply and competition  
with the military but partly because nobody pressed it in the United   
States.  
 
 
Mr. Taylor: I'm not so certain of that latter statement, because I think   
the obstacle in all this matter of restoring Italy to production on a   
sizeable basis is one of lack of foreign exchange.
 
I don't believe our people are going to furnish any adequate   
quantity of cotton or hides or anything else of that sort unless some   
sort of a credit agreement is made. The first obstacle is credit.  
 
 
Mr. Keeny: I don't agree with that. It is one of the problems, but credit   
is available for cotton right now . If that were the only problem, cotton   
could be moved in. But shipping is short--machinery is not in shape--there   
is not enough power to run the mills. It is because it is complicated that   
the problem gets pushed aside.  
 
 
Mr. Taylor: You mentioned three other things besides the raw material   
transportation, machinery and power--so it is rather a chain of developments   
rather than the single element of foreign exchange or