Evening star., 1952-08-17
By Earl n. Voss

lation. Surveys show that all have
found adequate housing. Neither
employment nor housing figures give
any indication that the DPS have
deprived the rest Of us Of work or
shelter.
The DPS also seem to be keeping
out Of trouble. Only three out Of
the 100000 have been deported, all
for reasons Of health. The average
DIP Is surprisingly young-29.9 years
old. Most came as farmers or semi
skilled laborers from Iron Curtain
countries like Poland. the Baltic
countries. Czechoslovakia, Hungary
and Russia.
The Displaced Persons Commits
sion claims that refugees coming
here have been good security risks.
This is attributed to the detailed
screening system employed in Europe
before the DPS were approved for
admission. No known cases Of
espionage have cropped up among
them.
Promotes Good Will
The program also paid dividends
as a promoter of international friend
ship. For every DIP who reached
America there were several families
who learned to know and like Amer
lea better.
West Germany still has million
unemployed refugees on its hands.
but it has asked for help in re-
settling only IL million Of them.
Western Austria shares the load Of
refugees of German extraction. In
addition. Italy. Greece and the Meth
erlands also have overpopulation
problems, some of them aggravated
seriously by the war and its after
math.
President Truman, therefore. pro-
posed to Congress last March that
the United States take in another
100000 refugees over three-year
period. The Department of Labor
had estimated that, if the applicants
were chosen for skillS that were in
demand here. this country could abb
Sorb 100000 a year.
Congress, of course, refused to con-
tinue. the DIP program. Why? One
fear was that too liberal an immigra-
ton policy would drag us down into
the same overpopulation problems as
Europe had. Another reason could
well have been economy. The four
year, 400.000-DP program cost the
taxpayers just over 500 million. not
counting what individual sponsors
may have put up. A third reason
was that some Congressman were
obviously miffed at the way the
program turned out. When Congress
first passes the Displaced Persons
Act in 1948 it stipulated that 20
per cent must be farmers. The DPS
came as farmers but this actually
was their secondary skill. Most of
them soon moved into semiSkilled
jobs. The original requirement for
80 per cent farmers was abandoned
in 1850 because it had been found to
be impractical.
Congress at the same time re-
quired q good faith oath" which
Z seems to have had the psychological
effect Of keeping the refugees in
jobs they had agreed to take. Ac-
tually. there was less malice afore-
thought on the part Of the DPS than
It appeared. They followed the
countrywide trend. which has been
Increasingly toward the city. Many
times American sponsors encouraged
the DPS to take jobs where the
wages and working conditions were
better.
Quickly Settled
Refugees have not become fioaters
here. John w. Gibson, chairman of
the Displaced Persons Commission.
says that most refugees have become
permanently settled within two years.
Many Of them already have applied
for citizenship.
Looking at the United States part
in the DIP problem kem the 1ccld