Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1956-04-29
BY ALLEN w. DULLES

The Soviet Union has become
the second greatest industrial pow
er in the world Today the gross
national production of the USSR
is slightly more than one-third that
of the United States; it is about
three-fourths again as large as that
of the United Kingdom, which ranks
in third place. We still have very
great lead. but the Soviet rate of
progress is rapid.
Capital goods and basic materials
form in the Soviet Union a greater
share of its overall gross national
production than in the United
States. Thus while their gross ma
tional production was only one
third of ours. their production of
capital equipment is much higher
percentage, namely, about As per
cent of ours.
A few examples will graphically
illustrate the areas of difference.
The Soviet production of machine
tools now exceeds that of the United
States However, their production
of automobiles is between l per
cent and 2 per cent of our own
(although if one adds in trucks as
we'll as automobiles. their automo-
tive production is about 5 per cent
OF ours). We produce so washing
machines for every one produced
in the USSR, and radio and TV
sets for each one they produce for
population almost one-fourth
larger than ours.
But before going into more de-
tailed comparison of the two coun-
tries in the industrial and educa-
tional fields, it may be worth while
to consider the general basis we
adopt for appraising Soviet tech
meal competence and accomplish
mentS.
Because of rapid advances that
the Soviet Union has made in re-
cent years, there is growing
school of thought that tends to
eXaggerate Soviet accomplishments;
to portray the Soviets as the
giants" of the industrial world.
There is another school that tends
to belittle what they have done and
to consider that while good at chess,
the ballet or even in sports, they
are IN some way mentally inferior
to WesternerS. The truth lies with
neither of these extremes.
In my work as the director of
the Central Intelligence Agency,
have the problem of gathering to-
gether from all intelligence sources
available both here and abroad, the
facts and figures on the Soviet
economy and then getting the most
competent experts available, in and
out of Government, not only those
in the CHA itself, to examine and
analyze these facts and figures.
In general, this examination
has led me to the conclusion that
the only safe position to take is
that in technical, engineering and
industrial fields the SOviets can
achieve any particular objective
we can achieve. Of course they
like to let us do the pioneering in
many fields and then copy our
results. In some fields, however.
they are doing pioneering work
on their own.
Those who have assumed that we
have superior technical skills, that
we could produce atomic weapons,
aircraft and the like which are be-
yond the competence of the Soviet,
have generally proved to be mis-
taken: Certainly in recent years l
have not proceeded on any such
assumption.
Highly Efficient Aircraft
The Soviets have shown high
competence in the field OF nuclear
development both for military and
peaceful purposes. They have pro-
duced highly efficient aircraft, from
heavy bombers to helicopters. They
are highly competent in the field
of electronics, their steel industry
is efficient and the same is true
generally across the board in the
industrial field. Where we particu-
larry excel is in our highly compe-
tent manpower and in the efficient
use We make of it. particularly
through the incentives our society
provides to call forth individual
effort.
There is no doubt that in many
countries. particularly among the
countries in Asia which have OBJ
tanned freedom over the past few
decades, the rapid industrial prog
ress of the Soviet Union has made
very deep impact.
These Asian countries tend to
forget that the Soviet Union has
built upon years of pioneering work
in the United States and Western
Europe, particularly in developing
their industrial revolutions through
basic discoveries in the field of
internal combustion, electricity. and
the like. The Soviets, in fact, started
more than half way down the
course of the industrial revolution
The USSR in its industrial pro-
grams has accorded second place
to its peoples needs or wants. If
the Soviet leaders wish to con-
centrate on military development
at the expense of all else, they do So
If they wish to invest most of
their money in heavy industry-as
they have done-at the expense of
light industry and agriculture, they
do so. If the labor force. from their
point of view, can be used to better
advantage in one field than another
they can and do shift it accord
ingly.
Reason for Confidence
While. as I have indicated, the
Soviet industrial base is still only
fraction of our own. it is never
theless large enough to permit the
Soviet leaders to expand impress
sively their military capability, to
play an increasingly active econom-
&c role in undeveloped areas and