The Chronicle-star combined with the Moss Point advertiser., 1948-12-17
BY CLARKE A

ton. petroleum products and
fertilizer. China has received
500, 900 900 worth of these sup
plies from the Economic Co.
operation Administration (ECA)
during the first six months of
the China program. In the next
six months it will mean more
of the same, plus two new pro-
jects:
l.. A capital equipment and
technical services" program
which will cost $40, 900. 2.
A rural reconstruction program
on which Congress has author
lied the expenditure of as much
as $27, 500 ,000.
All the rice, 81, $3.50 long tons
(2,240 pounds, has been pur-
chased in Siam; all the flour,
1873 long tons, in the United
States. These have been used
almost entirely to support ra-
tioning programs in major Chi
nese cities, into which hordes
of refugees have flocked.
With 372, 349 bales of Ameri-
can raw cotton furnished by
ECA, China has been able to
keep the wheels turning in her
largest single industry. Cloth
sold abroad helped bring in
direly needed foreign exchange.
About $40 ,000, 900 worth of
petroleum products have been
allotted to China's key indus
tries and services, most of it
from the Middle East. ECA has
furnished about $780, 900
worth of heterogeneous fertilizer,
purchased in the United King
dom, Belgium and Canada.
The capital equipment" pro-
gram is .iSst ready to commence.
Groundwork was laid last June
by a technical survey which
found almost all of China's in
dustrial and transportation IA
cilities suffering from lack of
maintenance.
About $35 ,000, 900 will be
spent on replacement of equip
ment or parts and an equal sum
for industrial reconstruction
and some expansion.
Chinese government repre-
sentatives and ECA officials
have jointly decided where the
requirements of capital equip
ment will go.
Start New Project
The capital equipment, food
and other materials are being
distributed in the war zone of
North China as well as in the
safer southern and central areas.
ECA officials admit this in
wolves a chance of their falling
into Communist hands. But
they feel the risk is warranted
because of the great economic
and strategic Importance of the
northern region. A breakdown
in essential industries and serv-
ices there would weaken the
governments military position.
The Communists have not cap
tured any of the material yet
as far as they know.
The second new project got
its start Sept. II. A Chinese
American Commission on Ru-
raj Reconstruction will attempt
to develop a realistic, long
range program to make life
more tolerable for China's ru-
raj folk, who comprise 30 per-
cent of the population.
1t will try to modernize farm
ing practices, promote rural ed
ucation, raise health standards
and improve local administra-
ton. 1t will seek reforms in
credit and marketing arrange
ments and in China's system of
agricultural tenure-the own
ership of land and the relation
ship of landlord and tenant.
Congress has authorized the
expenditure of as much as ST.
100000 on the rural program.
1t is expected that only a small
portion of it will come from
ECA funds. Most of it will be
derived from the counterpart
funds = the local currency
which the Chinese government
has agreed to place on deposit
to match each dollar spent by
ECA on its China program.
WASHINGTON = One ele-
mental question keeps popping
up in Washington discussions
of the Chinese crisis. 1t is:
What will it cost the United
States to stop the spread of
Communism in China?
And this raises a second ele-
mental question:
What will it cost us if we do
not stop the Communists?
One reason that no definite
answers can be given is this:
If the Chinese are in the
mood to embrace Communism,
who can say what it would cost
us = in dollars and possibly
lives - to swing them over to
our viewpoint? One great diff
ficulty is that for years the
Chinese have been a divided
nation. There has been much
-