The people's voice. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1939-1969, 1953-12-25
The Duel For Asia ;.

! low standard, made them hopeful
that midas problems, too, could be
solved, though neither of them would,
/ think, say that he wanted India to
! go Communist. They wanted some of
the results they believed Communism
had achieved for the masses, without
taking everything Communism had,
or employing the methods of Com
munism. This, found, was a wide
ly prevalent, pathetic faith that |
encountred throughout Southeastern
Asia, India, and to some extent the
Near East.
When l asked, as I did always,
whether Communism would come to
their countries, the response often
went something like this. "Well, some
kind of modified Communism, indigo
nous to India Cor the country of the
person speaking), but without any
close tieup with either Russian or
Chinese Communism. 1t was a matter
of continual wonder to me that most
of these who had been to China saw
nothing of the impact of Russian i'm
perialism.
1t was clearly to China, not Rus
STA, that these people looked. In
China they thought they saw prob
lens similar to their own being met
to the advantage of the common peo-
pie. "Here," they said, sis a people
like ourselves who suffered under
the exploitation of Western imper-
ialism. They were exploited by the
West and their dupes in the form
Of Chang Kai-shek and his followers
until they were hopelessly poor. Then
came Communism and see what has
The people of India were greatly
when the Good Will mis-
sion composed of representative In
dian businessmen and educators, re-
turned from China with these con-
clusions:
During the Nationalist regime
China had been plundered to the tune
Of 20 billion American dollars by
the "four families of bureaucratic
capital" They were unable to raise
enough food to support themselves,
SO they had to import it. Now with
he progressive liquidation of land
ordism, China not only supplies all
Ter own food needs but has a sur
)lus for export. Today" they said, |
the standards for the peasant, the |
worker, and the petty bourgeois are
'ery much higher than in India"
Whether they were mistaken or
lot is perhaps less important for our
purpose than the fact that such re-
orts arouse hope in the people of
ndia. Particularly is this true of the
tress placed on the right of the peo-
lie to own land as individuals, to
ny, sell, or rent it. They report
o collectivization of farms such as
as been enforced in European Com
lunist states.
On the contrary, they insist that
ne Peoples Government "pursues
policy which can by no means be
allied Communism. Private property
| land and industry is recognized
nd safeguarded. The Land Reform
rogram allows private owners the =
ght to buy, sell and rent land, and
omits all reference to COLLECTIVE :
atom"
When | ventured to ask some of Z
lese men about the more sinister
;pects of the story, | was reminded /
lat in every great revolutionary |
ovement some people are bound to
? hurt. They seem clearly to be v
oking only at the desirable results [
at have been attained, rather than t
the process itself. The important Ii
ings seem to be not abstract prin- s
pies Of justice and freedom, but the f
ore practical matter of meeting the t
problems of subsistence, W
T it is at that level that the most d
essing problems of India lie. What 0
er the merits of the argument, Il
ere can be no question that O
omise to deal head-on with hunger h
d poverty is much more likely to O.
heard and needed by the people N
an concern for those deeper un- el
rlying principles and questions of
ethod which may be involved. l,
In Formosa, | was greatly impress OF
by the caliber and character of OF
lang Kai-shek, whom l interviewed, hi
d the lesser figures around him. fc