Evening star., 1949-12-18

four was only a "punchllne" In a
the time or, to quote a recent
statement by Secretary of State
Dean Acheson. is "a task that will
require generations to fulfill" il
something which still puzzles
Washington and the world.
One thing is sure: The obstacles
faced by pending point four bills
in the Congress are as nothing
compared to the problems Of
achieving the Presidents dream
At the time of the inaugura.
address it seemed fairly clear that
what Mr.. Truman was proposing
would involve no large outlay o1
Government funds. The President
spoke of spreading "our store oi
technical knowledge" Those lin.
ponderable resources" he said
are constantly growing and are
inexhaustiible. We should foster
investment of private capital.
he told his listeners, including the
surprised officials whose duty il
would be to implement his policy
with a program. At this writing
the officials are still at it.
imperialism in Disguise?'
Probably it was inevitable that
people all over the world should
interpret point four as the promise
of dollars in substantial amounts
That is the risk when the Presi-
dent Of the United States calls
for something bold. People pre-
ferred to believe what they
wanted to believe. rather than
heed Mr.. Acheson's caution that
there is no magic in investment;
that, in any case, investment is
q two-way street and private
capital won't flow unless condi-
tions are favorable.
To illustrate: The Philippines
representative in the U. NJ. writing
In the U. N. World. declares that
Asia needs this bold new pro-
gram" and sees in 1t the kind OF
leadership it had always hoped
and thought America would pro-
vide. Point four" continues MIR
Romulo hopefully, promises the
kind of life Asians want to live
=. Possibly expanded at some
later date into a Marshall Plan for
Asia, point four will give to
the peoples of Asia the tools
they need to finish-in the
way they want to finish
the job which began with their
struggles for liberation" Thus
was great Philippine orator en-
ulating a great British orators
"Give us the tools and we will do
the job"
Mr.. Romulo's accolade for point
four is just one of many which
may be found in the speeches of a
statesman in many parts of the
world. Yet, one should not jump
to the conclusion that the leaders
who nave seized point four with
both hands and squeezed it hard
will take American investment
capital on just any terms the own
ers of that capital may fix.
In a discussion Of point four and
Asia. London's incisive weekly,
the Economist. quotes some
of the invectives tossed in our
direction by Asiatics fearful OF
western imperialism disguised as
aid, Point four in the Econo-
mist's view, is starry eyed to
q fault"
Our Attitude Resented
The very countries most anxious
to receive American investments
are often the most particular
about the terms on which they will
accept our capital. A Mexican
spokesman at the U. N. says
bluntly his country will shut the
door to the "shylock type" of in
vestor, but will welcome the kind
of investor Franklin D. Roosevelt
would have been. In Brazil, AZ
ghanlstan, Burma, Britian.-ev-
erywhere. indeed, there is resent
ment over the high and mighty
attitude OF the United States.
Just as in Europe many people
regard the ERP as selfish Amer
tcan program devised to get rio
Of American surplus and avoid
economic depression here, SC
American investment in under
developed countries is sometimes
viewed as a cunning plan to ex-
ploit and enslave less fortunate
peoples and give the United States
access to the raw materials on
which it is becoming, due partly
to the large foreign-aid programs
increasingly dependent.
Among the many obstacles to
raising the worlds standard o1
living to the American level Is
the fact that developing a country
is not just a matter of importing
steel mill. A competent Amer
lean industrialist estimates that
In the case of Mexico, to bring
about by 1880 the per capita in.
dustrial development enjoyed BY
the United States of America ir
1880 would require, on the basi!
of 1929 commodity prices $8,000,.
100000.
The International General Elec.
trio Co., a concern much interested
in foreign industrialization, find.
that to make a. given product il
Latin America requires about hal.
again as much capital investment
as in the United States. Uni
labor costs in Latin America art
high because the small market!
mean greater factory diversified
ton, rather than specialization
such as we have here. Added t.
this are the inferior industria
skills, delays arising from tn,
uneven flow of raw materials
packaging and the like. Also
be it noted, local customs Otter
impede production. A steel mil
cannot operate at maximum eff.
ficiency If the whole labor fore.