Evening star., 1952-03-06

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areas. greatly increases the ne
icessity for speed in meeting thes'
lccnditions speed In the interest
mot alone Of orderly. and demo
lcratic development, but Of thl
security Of the whole free world.
| As q nation born in q struggle
flor individual freedom, we cor
idially welcome the aspirations o
people to free themselves from
oppression and misery. To plac,
yourselves wholeheartedly at thei
lside, we must work with them il
their struggle against poverty ant
famine and illiteracy and disease
In the Point -Four concept, WI
thave a means Of joining hand
with the constructive forces o.
these areas before bitterness ant
/ Illustration drive them into {
fatal alliance with Soviet com.
Imunism.
Aid Must Be Tailored.
| Point Four means making oul
scientific advances and technica
Iknow-how available for the inn,
lprovement and growth of under.
developed areas. Point Foul
means technical missionaries a
work, and it also means the sup
iplies and equipment that arr
needed to put new technique
Into effect.
| No one should think that Poin
Four involves some single formuli
1or program which is to be, ap
Iplied everywhere. in equal mea
Isure, throughout the under -devel
oped regions Of the world. Tn,
kinds Of aid we plan must b,
tailored both to what we cal
afford at any given time and 3,
the specific situation in each coun
try. Our experience in Latil
America has demonstrated tina
Point Four operations, to be sue
cessful, must be supported by ade
quate supplies and equipment
The supplies and equipment cal
be financed in various ways.
Some countries can attrac
private investment capital ant
loans to finance most Of their out,
Hays for economic development
Other countries can earn enough
dollars from their own export
to finance most Of the equipment
and supplies the need. In still
other countries, where neither
loans nor private capital can NEE
the need, this Government mus
provide substantial quantities O.
supplies and equipment to assur,
real progress on vital program.
for development. That is the di.
rection we are taking in Indis
today, and In other places wher.
the need is particularly urgent
and where the local plans ar,
firm enough to produce a sounC
result.
Today, we have technical anc
economic missions in 40 countries
The shirtsleeve diplomats of Point
-Four are carrying the American
revolution to the villages anc
farms Of the world. They .rs
providing farmers with better seec
and better fertilizer, better meth.
DDS OF plowing and sowing anc
better means Of harvesting snC
saving the crops. They are help.
ing to fight malaria and dysentery
trachoma and rinderpest. The,
are providing training In the tech.
lniques Of modern government
They are teaching people to read
to revftalize the soil, to irrigate
1t, to drain it. In short. they
are teaching people by methods OF
peace to change their own world
without bloodshed.
The funds we invest in Point
Four viii yield direct and imme-
d1ate results In terms of larger
food production, better communi-
cations, more agricultural and
health specialists, engineers, and
other technicians. But even more
important are the longer term
results. For the magic of this
work is in its multiplying effect,
II we can help train 10 teachers
they can train hundreds Of chill
dren; If we can help set up 10
demonstration farms, hundreds OF
farmers can come and learn to
Iuse new methods; if we can heir
drill hundred new wells or build
Ia new irrigation dam, thousands
|of farmers can increase their
yields and plow back their earn
ings into further Improvements
In this way. a relatively small
investment can bring immense re-
suits.
In one district in India, the pro-
duction of food has already beer
increased 46 per cent. Repeat
this across the continents of Asia
and Africa and Latin America
and we enter q new era in the
history Of man.
THE NEAR EAST AND AFRICA
The Near East presents a SHARP
challenge to American statesman
ship. The countries of these areas
Eare Of vital Importance to the
security of the free world, but
the problems Of achieving con-
lstructive and orderly development
ARE extremely difficult.
Living standards are generally
very low. Transportation anc
land tenure systems are otter
archaic. Political and religious
controversies simmer throughout
the region. Nationalism is some.
times misdirected into fanatical
loutbursts which ignore the bene-
fits to be gained from interna-
Itional cooperation. The Commu-
Inists are doing their best to stil
lup confusion and trouble.
Most Of these problems can only
be solved by the people of these
countries finding ways to make
solid progress in developing eco
nomic strength and effective free