The Waterbury Democrat. [volume] (Waterbury, Conn.) 1917-1946, 1944-03-29


neighborlineSs may be extended to
! other nations Of the world, outside
Latin America.
Hearings on this proposal are
scheduled to open soon before the
! House Committee on Foreign At
, fairs and Rep. James w. Wadswortl
o. New York is already promising
! Republican opposition. SO what's it
ali about?
The charge will lie made that this
is another scheme to spend lot of
! money and spread the New Deal all
] over the world. 1t will be called an
international WPA. 1t may be
| branded an effort to perpetuate
UNRRA or set up new co-ordina-
tor, not of just Inter- American, but
OF World Affairs. In short, it will be
called globaloney.
When you ask at the Department
of State for specific examples of
what this broadened good neighbor
policy may get the United States
into, you come up with definite re-
quests that have already been made
to the United States by foreign gov
ernmentS.
HE'LL WANTED, MOSTLY
ENGINEERS
Afghanistan asks for the loan of
o hydro-electric engineer, to replace
a Jap who has been kicked out.
There are six non-sectarian
American colleges in the Middle
East, some of them going back to
the 1868. Robert College in Turkey
has asked to expand American en-
cheering training for the Turkish
army. Beirut College in Syria seeks
to improve its course in agriculture.
Ethiopia has asked for military
engineer, road builder, and plant
breeder, to aid in national recon-
Struction.
India has asked for Reclama-
ton Service engineer for a project
in the Punjab. This man will go on
to China.
China itself has asked for 80 tech
nicians. Anr so on.
All such requests are now being met
by appropriations from the Pres
ident's emergency funds. The idea
for postwar development is simply
to center all such activities in the
cultural relations program of the
Department of State, give the work
a definite appropriation every year,
and keep it subject to control by
Congress.
The exchange of technicians rep
resents only one phase of the cul-
tural relations work that has been
carried on since the good neighbor
act was authorized in 1889.
Primary emphasis has been placed
on increase of mutual understand
ing through exchange of students,
professors, journalists, doctors, lead
ers of thought in all fields. Many of
these exchanges are privately fl
nanced.
SOME COST is SHARED
American cultural centers have
been established in a number Of
Latin American countries, where
English is taught, American music
and documentary films seen and
| AlCdlu' 11lA lido DCClA BAVCl w u dIlS"
| lation of American books into Span
ish and Portuguese, and vice versa.
The whole program, in fact, has
been carried out on a reciprocal
basis, even to the sharing of ex-
penses.
From a materialistic viewpoint it
can be shown that such cultural ex-
changes pay dividends. Technicians
trained in American methods want
American equipment. Cultural CEN
tiers spread knowledge Of American
scientific development, help raise
the standard of living in other
countries, create a demand for
American goods
The presentation is made that
this is not charity. but security. 1t
is not benevoIence. but Insurance. 1t
is not propaganda. but service. Even
Sen. Hugh A. Butler oe Nebraska,
who toured atin-America and lam
baSted s.. spending there, has put
his approval or The cultural rela-
lions progcam--even at cost of
100000 a year. Actually, it has not
yet cost the Department of State
even $5.0O0,0O0 year. but that Is
| 81