[Dear Friend: Enclosed for your information, is an open letter to President Jimmy Carter.]

The mailing includes a Dear Friend cover letter, a copy of a letter to President Jimmy Carter signed by William Booth and George M. Houser, and a reprint of a newspaper article "CARTER SPEAKS ON SA". The Dear Fiend cover letter says enclosed for your information, is an open letter to President Jimmy Carter. The question dealt with (increased outside investment as a way of change in South Africa) is one on which the new administration will have to act soon. The Dear Friend cover letter says we would be glad for any comments you may have on our letter and the position it takes; you may wish to send a communication of your own on this issue; if so please send us a copy; we would be glad to supply more information if it would be useful. The letter to Carter says we write to you out of our deep concern for United States policy toward South Africa; one of the critical questions your administration will have to face will be the conflict created by white domination and black resistance in southern Africa; where the confrontation has already entered a violent stage. South Africa is central to the resolution of the conflict, not only internally, but in Rhodesia and Namibia as well; thus U.S. policy towards South Africa has critical importance; it is our fear that the present U.S. policy of tempered friendship with the apartheid regime, if continued, will inevitably lead to an escalation of involvement and perhaps even confrontation. The letter to Carter says we write to you because we hope your administration will inaugurate a new and different policy; you have said this is what you want to do; African leaders have also expressed a hope that your administration will bring a fresh outlook to dealing with Africa and particularly southern Africa; unfortunately, the hope of a new policy was not bolstered by an interview you gave to the South African Financial Mail Which appeared in their November 5th issue. The letter to Carter says first, increased U.S. investment as a means of encouraging change in South Africa is not new policy; American corporations have actually followed this policy, backed by the government, through at least four administrations; since the Truman years, American corporate investment in South Africa has grown from about $50 million to over $1.5 billion. The letter to Carter says second, we would like to point out that U.S. investment (and other foreign investment, for that matter) has not really bettered the lot of the black South African under apartheid' trade union rights are still not permitted under the law for black workers; Africans still earn less than minimum subsistence in almost all sectors of the South African economy; household Subsistence Level is estimated at $150 a month in the major industrial centers. The letter to Carter says third, increased investments from overseas have not made any change in the basic structure of apartheid; within the last year in particular, the internal struggle in South Africa has intensified. The letter to Carter says and so have the repressive measures of the government: thousands have been arrested and other hundreds killed or wounded by the brutality of police. The letter to Carter says we ask you to chart a different and hopeful course in our relations with South Africa; it must at least include a policy of strongly discouraging economic investment; it should prohibit all loans from the Export-Import Bank and counsel an end to private loans to the South African regime - or to its enterprises; it must cease giving American corporations in South Africa tax credits for their profits made there; we believe that tensions in southern Africa are building swiftly. The mailing discusses economic development, U.S. investment, pass laws, political and land-holding right, majority rule, minority rights, the Ford Administration, Cuban troops, the Transkei, military aid, military intervention, and repression.