Evening star., 1947-10-12

OF Industry?
NO" he answered. There can be
no conditions as to whom we can
sell to, as in the first American
loan"
BY this he meant the nondiscrim-
inatory provision, now voided by the
British so that they can buy and
sell to the Commonwealths and colo
nies under the old Empire preference
tariff rates.
Why Make Any Loan or Gift?
Asked why the United States
should loan Or give money to Britain
to rebuild her economic machine
only to be Disseminated against in
such countries as Canada and Aus
tralia, Horner frankly replied:
Because we won't be able to COM
pete with you in the world markets
for many years Your costs are too
low for us. For instance, coal is basic
to British industry. Even after we
have modernized our mines will be
only so to rs per cent as efficient as
yours. Part OF this is due to your
quarry strip mining which ac-
counts for rs per cent of your pro-
duction. You are rich in coal and
We can not get at ours as easily as
you can get at yours. 1t takes three
and half tons of coal to make ton
Of steel. The higher cost of coal
increases the cost of steel and so on
down the line.
You came out Of the war with
a vastly increased efficiency in
your mines and heavy industry. We
lost up to rs per cent of our plants
in some of our industries. In our
mines we worked the richest veins
to give coal to the war effort. We
made no improvements. Now we
must 60 deeper to the costlier seams
and repair the damage done by the
war. In the 10 years before the
war only one new mine opened.
We must find new fields and i'm
prove the old. Even then we won't
be able to compete with you.
Unusual Kind of Communist.
'We must have empire preference
and must sell where we can. If our
costs were as low as yours, the en-
pire would OF course buy from us.
The Commonwealths and colonies
are bound to us by psychological
ties"
This was unusual talk from a
Communist. The Moscow line in
the United States is against the
British Empire and for the so-called
subjugated peoples. But Mr.. Hor-
ner is proud that he is an unusual
kind of Communist. .
Jus: a few weeks ago." he VOL
unteered, II spoke to hundred
officers at the General Staff School
about coal production. Not a man
there was under a major general,
and they listened. to a Communist.
In Washington Two years ago r at
tended the meetings of the Joint
Coal Board. AS Communist I had
to have the written permission of
the attorney general to enter the
country. I remember one American
telling me after a two-hour con-
ference: You're no Communist. You
talk sense"
In the interview here Mr.. Horner
had his own answers and they
were not the Moscow cliches ex-
cept to one question: what does
Russia really want and why is she
vetoing every important measure
before the United Nations security
Council?"
Territorial Security"
His answer was the stock "ter-
ritorial security"
First remarking that he had no
special information about Russia.
he said he was convinced that
Soviet Russia was reversing" the
Gordon. sanitaire of buffer states
set up by Lloyd George at the
Versailles Peace Conference pointed
out, marched into Russia through
those buffer states. The Kremlin
is seeing that it won't happen again.
Throughout our talk Mr.. Horner
was affable and matter of fact with
none of the ShakeSpearean poses
land quotations OF Mr.. Lewis or the
Ieautaous nervousness ,Aot Earl
BroWder.. His secretary returned
promptly at 8 clock to remind him
of an appointment. He took me to
the elevator, and. after showing how
it worked, he gave this parting
thought through the grimy grill:
"There'll be no war with Russia.
I am sure of that"