Evening star., 1959-06-29
BY W. AvERELL HARTMAN

STALINABAD. - Americans
have never even heard Of our
republic" Prime Minister Do
dokhudoev of Tadzhikistan
complained to me.
Yet the Tadzhik state-one
of the 16 republics Of the Soviet
Union-provides a formidable
example Of how the Soviet die
tatorship has brought about
rapid social and economic de-
velopment of a backward coun-
try by centrally controlled plan
ming and direction.
It must certainly impress
visitors from Southern Asia and
other underdeveloped countries
whose people are impatient to
improve their conditions. II
also illustrates the sort Of COM
petition democracy is facing in
these areas.
A generation ago, this capital
OF Tadzhikistan was q typical
Central Asian village Of only
few thousand inhabitants iv-
ing chiefly in mud huts with
out sanitation. water, hospitals
or even schools.
Feudal System Vanishes
After smashing the feudal
system and the archaic customs
then prevailing. the central
Soviet government invested
heavily in the development of
the areas public education and
education and health. its agri-
culture and industry.
Today Stalinabad is a -four
ishing town Of 200. 900, and the
republic itself with 2 million
inhabitants, Mr.. Dodokhudoev
maintains. is self-supporting
with an annual budget Of q
quarter of q billion dollars.
The Tadzhik economy Is to-
day based largely on cotton and
cotton fabrics which 1t sup
plies to the rest Of the Soviet
Union. Low-yield short staple
cotton which formerly produced
only q few thousand tons yearly
have been replaced by long
staple varieties with yields
comparable to those Of Califor-
mia which gave the republic an
income Of 5000 million last
year.
New Cultivated Land
New dams and irrigation ca
nails have provided almost a
million acres Of new cultivated
land. Local officials spoke
warmly of the help they had
received from three American
engineers in planning their
irrigation system.
A textile mill in Stalinabad
turns out so million yards Of
fabric and expects to double
its production by 1864. How
profitable it is can be judged
by the fact that one of its
principle fabrics costs the fac
tory about 20 cents a yard and
retails throughout the Soviet
Union for 20 cents. (Amortiza-
tion Of the plant, but not inter-
est on the capital investment,
Is calculated N the COST
The builders of Tadzhikis-
tan's economy have had to cope
with many obstacles. Local
scientists told me that large
areas Of irrigated land were
rendered useless by salinization
until methods were devised to
wash the salt out Of the soil.
The manager Of the textile
plant explained to me how he
had had TO train 5000 un-I
skilled laborers TO operate his
looms ard spindles.
Endemic Diseases Gone
Thirty years ago there was
scarcely a doctor in all Of
Tadzhikistan. Today there is
one for every $40 inhabitants
and q trained nurse for every
241. I visited one Of Stalina-
bad's two children's hospitals
and. found 1t spotlessly clean
and its staff obviously compe-
tent.
Malaria and trachoma which
have ravaged Central Asia for
centuries were endemic in
Tadzhikistan. Anyone who had
had malaria, hadn't lived" one
official told me.
But today. he added. thanks
to swamp drainage and wide
use Of insecticides. doctors COM
plain there are not enough
malaria cases for research pur-
poses. Trachoma, too, has been
brought under control with
sulpha drugs.
In contrast to the wide tree
lined avenues in the newer
parts Of town with their blocks
Of government-owned apart
ments and many small but tidy
privately owned houses. the
back alleys in the older sec
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