THE TABLET, November 26th, 1955. VOL. 206, No. 6027

THE TABLET

PuWishe^i^^WewspapeF

A WEEKLY NEWSPAPER &

REVIEW

Pro Ecclesia Dei, Pro Regina et Patria

FOUNDED IN 1840

NOVEMBER 261 h, 1955

NINEPENCE

Unhappy C h ild ren: Parental Responsibilities in Theory and in Practice

Britain in Europe: The European Coal and Steel Community Meets. By John Dingle

Egg M arketing: An Exchange o f Views : 1 : For the Scheme. By Jorian Jenks

II : Against it. By Colin Clark

U topia in Paraguay: Jesuits at the Piccadilly Theatre. By A. A. Stephenson, S.J.

Family: A Musician in the Fleet Prison. By P. A. Boyan

Tregian Words for Advent: I : The New Creation. By Illtud Evans, O.P. B o o k s R e v i e w e d : The Oxford Nursery Rhyme Book, assembled by Iona and Peter Opie ;

Bamboo and Bushido, by A. G. Allbury ; The World o f Dew, by D. J. Enright ; The Personal Conquest o f Truth According to J. H. Newman, by A. J. Boekraad ; Old St. Paul's Cathedral, by G. H. Cook ; Marriage, by Alan Keenan, O.F.M., and John Ryan, M.B. ; The Gay Delavals, by Francis Askham ; and Kumari, by William Buchan.

Reviewed by Michael Derrick, R. P. S. Walker, J. Lewis May, A. J. Brooker, R. E. Havard, Aubrey Noakes and Christopher Hollis.

KHRUSHCHEV IN INDIA

T HE failure of the Geneva Conference looks very remote and insignificant when seen with Asian eyes. There the Soviet Union appears much more naturally as the victim of German Fascist aggression which tries hard to safeguard its frontiers against a possible recurrence of German attack, which would this time be supported by the Western capitalists. It is a picture to impress the minds of the Indian masses, who have not missed the logical connections between M. Molotov’s “No” in Europe and the flamboyant offers of peace and friendship which M. Bulganin, temporarily and democratically abandoning his military title, and M. Khrushchev have brought with them to India on their flying red carpet.

The ground had been prepared for the Soviet offer of industrial aid by the Pavilion of the Communist countries in the Industrial Fair at Delhi. The purpose of this impressive show was twofold : first, politically, to convince the Indian people of the achievements of Socialist industrial planning ; and second, economically, to sell goods to India and, in particular, consumer goods, from musical instruments to chocolates, liqueurs and wines. These last seem to have caused little surprise in a country where abstinence is widespread. Glass, radio-sets, textiles, shoes and toilet articles were exhibited, contrary to the request from the organizers of the Fair that it should serve to show India’s economic development. This massive display made its impact on thousands of Indian and Asian visitors who did not ask whether the populations of the Communist countries enjoyed the blessings of such consumer goods, or, indeed, whether future foreign customers will ever see them delivered.

Indian trade with the Communist countries has been very limited so far, and last year the total imports from the Soviet Union and the East European satellites amounted to only half of what India imported from Switzerland alone. However, since 1954 most Communist countries have established trade representation in India, and a number of trade pacts have been concluded with them under a “most favoured nation” clause. But the new era is chiefly characterized by Soviet participation in State enterprises, such as a new Indian steel plant, research into new Indian oil discoveries and the exploitation of Indian diamond mines.

Communist aid to the underdeveloped countries is naturally very small in comparison with American and United Nations help, but its propaganda impact is all the greater because the Western nations are represented by specialists and diplomats who, however well disposed they may be towards the aided country, remain foreigners nevertheless, while Communist propaganda is carried out by the local organization of the Communist parties, by Indian Communists, who talk the language of the people and identify themselves with the people. It was noticed that many members of the Communist teams which came to the Delhi Fair were able to speak Hindi.

The Soviet Union as an industrial producer is today second only to the United States, and is in a position, moreover, to use its resources at will. In the early 1930s Russia exported much grain, although there was starvation at home, and similarly if today a million tons of steel can be more usefully employed abroad, it will be exported. As Mr. Harry Schwartz showed in the New York Times on Sunday, economic and military aid, trade and diplomacy are but different aspects, proceeding in many ways and on different fronts, of the Communist war against the West. It is a policy unhampered by public opinion or domestic legislatures but aided by local Communist parties everywhere. If the Indian Communists are foreign-orientated, foreign-financed and foreign-controlled, this means little to the Indian masses, envisaged by Communism as a primary source of support—the landhungry peasantry, the unemployed educated or half-educated class, and the armies of unemployed workers, the raw material of Communist agitation everywhere.