Evening star., 1949-06-27
To Sturt Point Four

~ JUL VIII WI
In calling upon Congress to launch his
Point Four program for the development
of the worlds backward areas, President
Truman has been at pains to emphasize
that the venture extends far into the
future. Decades Of effort will be needed
to make 1t effective, and since it Is stil little
more than a challenging idea Of the kind
that requires an experimental, step-by-
step approach, only a modest beginning Is
possible at this stage.
But it is important, as the President has
said, that that beginning should be made
without unwarranted delay. The world is
not standing still. It's population Is grow
ing at the rate of zoe, 900 900 every ten
years, but right now-under present pro-
ducing condftions-not enough food is
being raised to provide an adequate diet
for vast segments of humanity. Sim
ilarly, other social, political and economic
forces are at work in a way that makes
clear the need for far-reaching interna-
tional cooperation to promote freedom
and peace by bringing into play the
untapped agricultural and industrial re-
sources of the earth's underdeveloped
regions. without such cooperation, the
have" and "have-not" frictions that help
the totalitarians and breed war will grow
progressively more and more dangerous
with every passing year.
The United Nations, for its own part,
and at the request OF the United States,
has already drafted tentative proposals to
get Point Four started. The proposals
envision two-year preliminary project
costing the participating members q total
OF $4,000, 900. And now the President has
urged that our own country, as the initi-
ator and chief supporter Of the program,
should take two steps to put it into its
initial phase of operation. The first step
calls for congressional appropriation of
$45, 600, 900 to extend assistance in the form
of technical, scientific and managerial
knowledge essential to economic develop
ment. The second step requires that the
Export-Import Bank be authorized to
guarantee American private capital
against risks incident to investment in
Point Four enterprises.
The technical aspect OF the program
speaks pretty much for itself. The pro-
private industries and Government agen-
cies have been extending on small scale
for many years past-would consist pri-
marily Of sharing our "know-how" in
order to promote the fullest and most
efficient possible development of the pro-
ductive otentialities-agricultur and
industrial-of the underdeveloped areas.
As for guarantees by the Export-Import
Bank-which can begin to extend them
without any increase in its present author
lied funds-their purpose would be to
stimulate the investment Of nongovern-
mental capital in Point Four projects. To
that end, together with special treaty
arrangements with the countries involved,
they would safeguard the investor against
such risks as appropriation or the inability
to convert foreign-currency earnings into
dollars. =.
In all probability. there will be some
congressional opposition to the Presidents
recommendations. This is particularly
true as regards the guarantee idea, which
Is q subject Of divided opinion in American
investment circles. Nevertheless. 1t is dif-
fcult to see how Point Four can get very
far unless private capital is attracted to
it by safeguards against political hazards
of an exceptionl nature. In that respect
on their face. the proposed guarantees
which would be specifically limited to those
risks not usually undertaken by the indi-
vidual investor in ordinary profit-seeking
enterprises seem quite Is essen
tial as the proposed technical assistance.
In any case, there can be no doubt
whatever that the future well-being Of our
own country and of the world at large
will depend in no small measure on what
We and like-minded nations do together
to develop the backward areas. The prof.
ect is long-range one but the time to
begin 1t is now. Congress should be gov
erned accordingly In dealing with the
Presidents proposals to start Point Four