Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1959-07-03

enOr OF New York. originally wOs
scheduled to oppsor Monday.
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more workers than they should
We shall take them away when
we need them to work in indus
try" he said. I had no doubt
that he had the power to do so.
Earlier he had admitted to me
that his word is law in the So
Wet Union.
He was equally confident that
the Soviet food problem was
being solved. l had myself seen
the virgin lands which he is
blowing up and sowing to grain.
I pointed out that even some
Soviet scientists were afraid
that blowing up the steppe
would create another dust bowl.
Despite two severe droughtS,"
he replied, the project has
already paid for itself and we
have made a profit of nearly
50 billion. Besides the area is
producing the cheapest grain in
the entire country"
THE skepticS are already
bluShing for shame" he added.
Nor is the power to electrify
the farms and drive his indus
try worrying him. From the
Volga River to deep in Siberia
had seen huge hydroelectric
plants rising. New coal and
gas deposits. he told me, had
opened the possibility of much
cheaper thermal power stations
which he now proposes to build.
BY 1870" he said, I'VE shall
be within 10 per cent of Amer
ica's 1857 power output"
With his great plans to catch
up with America" I asked him
If he was not Understanding
the United States capacity to
expand. His economists had
told me they calculated Ameri-
can economic growth at only
2 per cent, which is hardly more
than its population increase.
If this was the best informa-
ton he was getting, suggested
he fire his economists and hire
someone who knew the Amer
lean economy better and could
report more accurately what
was taking place there free of
dogmatic prejudices. Far from
the stagnation which his econ
omists predicted. I told him, the
American system was in Its
most creative period"
Backed by MikOyan
First Deputy Premier Anas-
taS Mikoyan had now joined the
discussion and together he and
Mr.. Khrushchev Stubbornly
supported their economists
findings. Though the American
democratic system was still far
from its end. Mr.. Khrushchev
said, it was inevitably heading
in that direction. He charged
that American prosperity was
due largely to profits made
during both world wars.
But when I explained the alb
Surdity of such statements, it
seemed to make little impress
sion on him. You have become
so rich" he said, that until
now you have been able to
bride or buy off your workers
with high pay and living stand
ards" But, he added, lone day
they. too. will overthrow your
capitalist system"
AS he described the inevitable
triumph of communism, Mr..
Khrushchev talked forcefully,
leaning forward and wagging
his forefinger under my chin.
His small, piercing eyes peered
intently at me and his round
cheeks were flushed with emo
ton. AS he grew more intense,
he spoke with a marked Ukrain-
ian accent just as Stain had
spoken with a Georgian one.
I'm five to seven years." he
said, 1--WE will be stronger than
you. We developed the hydro
gen bomb before you. We have
intercontinental missiles and
our rockets carry warheads
many times larger than yours"
War Possibility
I interrupted to tell him that
this sort Of talk hardly allayed
American fears of Soviet ag-
gresSive intentions. He replied
that Americans had miSunder-
stood Communist doctrine on
the possibility of war. Earlier
doctrine, he explained, had de-
fined imperialistic war as in
evitable. However, he contin-
ued, the goth Communist Party
Congress had revised the dogma
and declared such wars to be
avoidable, though not impos-
sible. Furthermore, he added,
the 21st Party Congress had
confirmed this view. Thus war
is no longer necessary. He
seemed to think that we should
accept without question the
DEGREES of party congresses as
predetermining our future his
tory.
Toward the end of our long
discussions, Mr.. Khrushchev
brought up the Berlin problem
and reiterated in the most
/ SonaaF,,I