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Under the joint production plan, the USSR would supply other socialist countries with steel from such plants as Magnitogorsk (above).

COUNTRIES DOVETAIL PRODUCTION

Vast social

By SAM RUSSELL

MOSCOW
The biggest coordinated economic program ever known,
affecting one third of the world’s population, has now been

launched, the Soviet government announced here last week.
It embraces countries with a total population of 900 mil-
lion, which provide one-third of the world’s total industrial out-
put, and about 40 percent of the grain output, 37 percent of the
coal, 25 percent of the iron and steel and nearly 33 percent of the

cotton.

The announcement was made
after a session of the Coun-
cil of Mutual Aid had agreed
on directives to extend eco-
nomic cooperation between
the Soviet Union, China ‘and
the Peoples’ Democracies.

A gigantic joint plan, in
two parts, is to be prepared.
The first part will cover the
period 1959-65 and will be in
considerable detail. The sec-
ond will make suggestions for
the main trend of economic
development up to 1975.

A major part in the plan is
to be. played by growing
specialization by different
countries in the Socialist Com-

monwealth on special lines of’

industrial development. The
results of these are to be
made freely available to all.
The Soviet Union is to con-
centrate on development of its

* vast iron ore resources for

delivery to the People’s Dem-
ocracies, as well as to cover

‘iron ore,

its own requirements.

This will free the other
countries from the necessity
of investing funds for the ex-
traction of their own poor
iron ores and enable them to
direct their financial resources
into those industries yielding
the highest economic results.

The Soviet Union will also
set up its exports to the
socialist countries of large
quantities of major items like
semi-manufactured
iron and steel, non-ferrous
metals, chemicals, petroleum,
cotton, grain and all kinds of
machinery.

Eastern Germany is to go
ahead. with construction of
cement plants, sugar refin-
eries and similar equipment;
Poland is to specialize in ship-
building and production of
mining machinery; Rumania
in oil extraction and refining.

This does not mean that

other countries will stop mak-
ing these goods where they
make them already. But the
general idea is that there
shall be a rational division of
labor between the various
countries of the Socialist
Commonwealth:

The announcement of the
new plan makes it clear that
it will promote the common
interests of the Socialist Com-
monwealth countries and at
the same time safeguard the
specific interests of each
country and provide favorable
conditions tor its economic
development.

_ It is stressed here that the
new plans do not in any. way

»~mean that trade with the

West is to be curtailed.

On the contrary, the coun-
tries of the Socialist Common-
wealth look forward to an ex-
tension of this trade with the
West with the progressive
elimination of existing obsta-
cles to the development of
such trade hitherto imposed
by the United States.

The Soviet Union has re-
ceived from the Peoples’ Dem-
ocracies plans for 87 capital
construction projects and 912
descriptions. of technological
production processes.

Figures released here on
Soviet industrial production
in the past year show that
per capital output of elec-
tricity, steel and cement is al-
ready higher in the Soviet

st plan devised

Union than the world average
and that the Soviet Union is
rapidly closing the gap be-

Social democrats favor —
plan for atom-free zone

The most important question facing Germans in both East
and West is the creation of an atom-free zone, Hermann Mate!
Socialist Unity party leader, recently told a huge meeting °

steel workers in Brandenburg.

It was necessary to form
compel the Western powers to
discuss the Soviet Union’s lat-
est proposal, he said.

There has already been con-
siderable in West
Germany of the Adenauer goy-
ernment’s rejection of an at-
om-free zone in Central Eur-
ope — as proposed by Po-
lish Foreign Minister Rapacki.

“Only West German Chan-

criticism

‘cellor Adenauer fully brush-

es the Rapacki plan from the
table,” commented Erich Ol-
lenhauer, chairman of the West
German Social Democratic
party. ;
Max Bauer, Hamburg’s So-
coal Democratic mayor, has in-
sisted that West German pro-
vincial governments have the
right to a say in questions
deeply worrying the people,
such as establishment of U.S
rocket bases in West Germany.
“We claim the right and the

}

ial
tween its levels of industri?
production and those of |
United States. |

BERLIN

a broad people’s movement a
duty to express our opini0?)
when questions affecting evo
single family are being ;
cussed... If we want to dis
pose of the iron curtain, ther
at least we must start talkil®
with each other and exchans®
goods,” he said. |

Earlier, Dr. Konrad Ade?
auer in a broadcast, gave oa
outstanding “No” to Sovi@
Premier Bulganin’s propos)
to reduce tension between Ba
and West. |

He described Premier BUM
ganin’s letters as a well-pla?
ned propaganda move and an
effort to create unrest ai
confusion and flatly reject
all proposals on disarmamen |

Rejecting the idea of an a |
om-free zone in~Central Eu”
ope, he claimed the real oP
ject of such a move was “‘to pY
an end to NATO, West Eur?
pean freedom and our fre@™
dom.”

January 24, 1958 —- PACIFIC TRIBUNE—PAGE /