Evening star., 1949-02-06

llC lQCd dl1 SoOy A4d0 11llA As u
Hopkins when they we're at Teheran
Gen. Pat Hurley, then a rowing
Ambassador, I talked with Hopkins
for an hour or more in his room
at the Soviet Embassy. Later the
same day he took me in to see the
President. Mr.. Roosevelt remarked
how he had looked out of the win
dow of his plane as he flew over
the bare mountains and parched
plains of Iran. "At one time" he
said, they were all forested." He
declared that the country could be
reclaimed and revealed his hope to
apply American skills and Amer
ican capital in a planned way to
the development not only of Iran
or Arabia but of all the Asiatic
countries. In his Introductory
he linked this concep-
ton with the then evolving idea of
He acked me what I
thought of trusteeship as name.
He stated further two interesting
provisos. First, he said, the effort
must not cost the American taxpay-
ers anything and, second, it must
not involve any armed Intervention
Hurley Made Report
(When the Teheran Confer
ence ended, President Roosevelt
directed Gen. Hurley to remain
in Iran and to prepare for him
a report aid recommendations
on how such a program of Amer
lean aid might be devised and
applied. Gen. Hurley submitted
such a report to the President
and to the State Department
later and recommended that
American advisory and technical
assistance be set up to aid in
Iranian development.
(Some American private inter-
ests have been applying COM
parable programs of aid to un-
developed countries for years
past. One of the most notable
of these is in Saudi Arabia, where
American oil companies have
sponsored and assisted in ex-
tensive development of transport,
communications, health, irriga-
ton and education programs)
Mr.. Roosevelt knew that the .ides
even in 1943 had good deal Of his
tory behind it. He spoke with gust
Of q friend Of his, a diplomat, wht
had been involved in one way d
another with the Shuster Mission
which had taken American skills t
Persia in 1911 with the blessing Of
President Taft and had left wher
handed a Russian ultimatum. Then
too, Roosevelt and Hopkins took
time to see me for the sole reason
that I was then heading a financial
economic mission in Iran and In
the '20s had headed a similar one
in the same country, with the bless
ing of Secretary of State Hughes
In the earlier period we had gath
cred around ourselves experts in
agriculture, public works and munic-
ipal administration. An engineer
ing mission led by William B
Poland helped in the planning and
construction of the Trans-Iranian
Railway, later to become "the
bridge to victory"
Many Survey Missions
The historian OF the Truman.
Acheson plan may also take &C.
count Of other advisers and techni.
clans who went to China, Poland
and Latin America in the '20s and
sos and the various survey mis-.
sions led by Prof. Kemmerer OF
Princeton. Possibly these past ven
lures and adventures, as well as
more recent experience, will carry
some lessons to those who are now
ue-printing the bold new" pro-
gram. They may we'll consider also
our efforts beginning in 1915 aimed
at the regeneration of Haiti, as well
as what we did in the Philippines
from 1900 on.
Expectation of American skills
and capital is nothing new. Like
wise, the process of development
throughout the world has beer
under way for a very long time
and in most, If not all, parts of the
world development of some kline
and to some degree has already
taken place. Moreover, the Ole
colonialism, imperialism and dollar
diplomacy have played no impor-
tant part in the process of develop.
ment for many years. They are
now, we may believe, definitely out
dated, except in Soviet propaganda
in Soviet policy, and in the Soviet
sphere.
Works on All Fronts
Why is it that part of the worl6
developed itself and achieved high
standards of living while another
and a much larger part remained
relatively unprogressive (accordine
to our standards) and relatively i'm.
poverished? There is no simple
answer to this question Many
backward countries have been from
the start of the industrial age un.
derprivileged or disadvantaged. They
have lacked natural resources Of
favorable locations. Climate, rain.
fall (or the lack of it, and soil may
have been retarding factors, Some
areas are overpopulated. In these
and others lacking birth control
population runs neck-and-neck with
means of subsistence, leaving thu
mass standard of living substan.
TALLY unchanged. Generally, hu.
man capabilities are inadequate fol
progress along American lines; ant
this inadequacy exists not merely ir
the fields of technique, investmen,
and management. 1t presents .