Evening star., 1963-05-19
BY CHARLES BARTLETT
Star Special Writer

star special WRITER
The move toward normaliz-
ing relations between tn e
United States and Hungary is
prompted on one side by Presi-
dent Kennedy's policy of
carefully pressuring tyranny"
and on the other by the need
Of the Hungarians for material
help from the West.
The pattern Of this need, re-
flecting the failure of the Eu-'
ropean satellite economies to
keep pace with the public i'm
patience for better standards
Of living, Is emerging as a
force second to nationalism In
sts potential for disrupting the
Soviet domination over East
ern Europe. A. &
The Hungarians are reach
ing for the benefits Of public
law 480, enabling the sale of
surplus foods for local cur
rency, and the United States
Government appears inclined,
unless Congress balks, to make
them available.
Economic Wedge
But the experience with Pol
and, which has been allowed
to pay zlotys for some $476.6
million worth of surplus foods
since 1857, suggests that P. L.
480 is only an entering wedge
In the economic relations
which these satellite countries
desire with the United States.
The food meets the press
ing needs Of the moment, but
it does not provide the spring.
board for the economic take
off which Poland and the other
countries must manage in the
near future to sustain their
momentum.
These satellite countries,
which boast almost half the
population and only two-fifths
of the gross national product
Of the Soviet Union, feel a
special urgency to demonstrate
promptly the fruits of Com
munism.
Most of the Europeans lived
better than most Of the Rus
SLAMS before the war and they
view the advances Of recent
years with a more sophisti-
Gated eye. They have not been
as deeply Schooled in Marxist
zeal or as impressed with the
necessity to subordinate their
wants to the demands of COM
petition with the West. Com
munism has been accepted as
an answer to economic prob
lens and not as a crusade in
Eastern Europe.
Pressing Problems
But the answer is proving
to be a slow one and the
strains, reflected by recent
demonstrations in Poland over
rises In the prices of coal and
electricity, are growing. Mans
memory is short and the glow
of satisfaction with the initial
recovery from the devastation
of war is fading.
Warsaw humorists are say
ing that economic development
has two phases: the problem
of growth and the growth OF
problems.
The most pressing of these
problems is how to secure the
investment capital necessary
for further industrialization.
Capital for the advances to
date has been provided by re-
straining the rate of consump-
ton and by long-term credits
from the Soviet Union but
both of these devices are near
ing their limits.
Bloc officials are studying
the formation of an integrated
economic unit in which each
country would hold specific
roles toward the common en-
hancement. But this planning
has faltered before the ma
tionalistic desire of every coun-
try to have its own share of
heavy industry.
West Holds The Answer
The answer clearly lies in
the West, which has both the
resources and the technology
necessary to capitalize upon
the competitive value Of the
cheap labor supply available in
the bloc.
West Germany, undaunted