RUSSIAN AID OFFERS

Press, Volume XCVII, Issue 28481, 10 January 1958, Page 11

RUSSIAN AID OFFERS

Economic Assault Alleged

(Rec. 9 p.m.) ‘ PHILADELPHIA, January 8.

A three-point plan to halt the Soviet Union’s economic assault on underdeveloped nations was put forward today by Mr Douglas Dillon, the United States Deputy Under-Secretary of State for Economic Affairs.

Speaking to a Chamber of Commerce conference, he said that Russia was trying to take over by an offensive of pouring technicians and financial aid into these areas.

Last week, at the Asian-African conference in Cairo, he said: ‘‘They seemihgly opened wide the door of economic assistance to all countries of Asia and Africa.”

“On our awakening to the importance of this issue may well depend the fate of free government in the world,” he said. “The Soviet leaders have shown that they are fully aware of this situation and today the Soviet challenge to our way of life in this economic area is perhaps even more real and active than it is in the sphere of military and service technology.” If the United States permitted the countries of Asia and Africa “to be picked off one by one by the Soviet Economic offensive, we can say goodbye forever to our own liberties,” he said.

Mr Dillon said the framework of United States assistance to the underdeveloped areas must include the following elements:— (DA forward looking and consistent trade policy of removing artificial restraints on world trade and encouraging United States investments abroad.

(2) The sharing of United States technical knowledge with the less developed countries.

(3) The provision of financial assistance to help the underdeveloped countries to gain momentum in their attempts to develop themselves.

COLOMBO PLAN Canada Gives Aid

(Rec. 9 p.m.) OTTAWA, Jan. 8. Canada would make 50 million dollars available to supply wheat to Colombo Plan countries, Mr Gordon Churchill, Minister of Trade, announced in the House of Commons today. Of this amount, 35 million dollars would be in loans to Colombo Plan countries to enable them to buy Canadian wheat and flour on long-term credit. The remainder would be an outright grant, chiefly to India, Pakistan and Ceylon.

This 50 million dollars financial aid would be in addition to Canada’s 34,400,000 dollars contribution in this financial year for economic aid to countries in South and South-east Asia. Mr Churchill said a total of 15 million bushels of wheat would be shipped to India during this winter and early spring. India would pay for this in seven equal annual instalments starting three years after the shipment was completed. Interest on this would be no higher than 4J per cent.

Mr Churchill did not give the sale price of the 15 million bushels. He said the terms were “unusual” and could not be granted to countries outside the Colombo plan. Pakistan, also a Colombo Plan country, has already asked for similar terms.

RUSSIAN WEATHER EXPERIMENTS

Rockets Thought Fired

[Rec. 8 p.m.) NEW YORK, Jan. 8.

Russians had told American scientists that they launched two meteorological instruments with the aid of the icebreaker Ob at Mirny, on December 31, the American Associated Press reported today from McMurdo Sound. The Soviet message did not state the nature of the instruments, but the Americans said they apparently were short-range rockets. Mirny is«a Soviet station on the Davis Sea, 1600 miles from McMurdo Sound. The message said that the Instruments attained an average height of 31 miles, which exceeded that attained by weather balloons, and measured temperature, pressure and winds during their descent, the agency said.

“Daily Worker” to ’ Stop.-—The Communist “Daily Worker” announced today that it would suspend publication with its 34th anniversary edition next Monday It said that the party’s high command had refused it financial aid. —New York, January 8.