Polite Promise

For his first visit to the Pan American Union since becoming Secretary of State last January, Dean Acheson picked Pan American Day.* In the Council chamber of the white marble building the delegates to the Organization of American States awaited him. They hoped that he would use the occasion to spell out what President Truman’s Point Four would mean in economic aid to their countries.

The Secretary was polite and cautious, but in his own conservative way he did not disappoint them. He had high praise for previous cooperation between the U.S. and Latin America in joint cultural, educational and health projects. When he came to the future, he dotted no i’s, crossed no t’s, but he did make a firm commitment. Said Acheson: “Almost every kind of project contemplated in the worldwide program [of help to undeveloped areas] has been developed and tested in cooperative [InterAmerican] programs . . . Present plans include a substantial expansion of these joint activities in this hemisphere . . .”

*April 14, the date in 1890 that the Pan American Union was founded.