of food in both Panama and Costa Rica, which helped in saving shipping space and made fresh vegetables, and other food products, available for our troops down there. Malaria control work at Belem, Brazil, and at San Jose and Puertos Barrios in Guatemala, and community health work in Salinas, Ecuador, were of marked benefit in reducing the prevalence of disease among soldiers of the United States Army stationed in the vicinity. We controlled malaria which would have been a very definite hazard for our own troops. At Belem, the marines, the first troops who were sent there, practically all contracted malaria. Now, because of the public health work we did there, for months there has not been a case of malaria amongst our troops at the army air base in that vicinity. Then on the question of strategic materials, we have done a great deal of public-health work in connection with rubber production in the Amazon Valley, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Colombia, Venezuela, Costa Rica, and Nicaragua; also in connection with the production of minerals in Brazil, Peru, Bolivia, and elsewhere, and the production of sisal in Haiti. These cooperative services were established, as units of the local governments. The chief of field party, who is an employee of the Institute, is also the director of the servicio, that is, cooperative service, and in that capacity is an official in the local government. At the very beginning, because of these conditions that I mentioned, the military angle and the production of strategic materials, speed was essential in setting up these cooperative services. We had to go down there, and we had to go to work. The other countries have all contributed services and personnel and supplies of various kinds, buildings, land, and so forth. In many instances they contributed a considerable amount of money. Colombia, for example, appropriated a peso, or 57 cents United States, against every dollar we contributed. Venezuela contributed two bolivars, or or 65 cents United States, for every dollar contributed by the Institute, and Brazil and other countries put up funds. After the war situation clarified, we went back to renegotiate these agreements, or rather, set them up so that they would have definite termination dates, and also to provide for the local governments putting in funds. The majority of the countries now match the money we put in for program operations. Brazil contributed $5,000,000 against our $3,000,000. Bolivia put in $1,000,000 against our half million. A few of the countries only appropriated 50 cents against our dollar, but they were the smaller countries which were in bad financial condition because of the war. The point I want to make, sir, is that this program is entirely cooperative. All projects are mutually agreed upon by the representative of the Institute and by the representative of the local government. Their personnel works with ours. We had in the field, at a recent date, 237 North Americans engaged in public-health work, that is, working in the field south of the border, and we had over 10,000 nationals working in the cooperative services. While some of those nationals were laborers, we had about 3,500 technicians who are nationals working in the services. So, there are about 15 national technicians working for each United States technician. We try to hold down the number of United States personnel, and also to train the local people by having a large number of nationals engaged in the work. In my opinion, I do not think that there is any other one activity in which the United States is engaged in the Latin-American countries that has had as wide publicity, or as favorable publicity, amongst the people as has the work done by the Institute of Inter-American Affairs. Mr. ROCKEFELLER. Or that has created as much goodwill. PROJECTS UNDERTAKEN General DURHAM. We have about 600 major projects in health and sanitation throughout Latin America. I might say that each one of these projects undertaken, which include malaria control, control of various epidemic diseases, operation of health centers, all public health activities-each one of these projects is mutually agreed to by the Ministry of Health and the chief of our field party in the country involved. This plat shows the distribution. We go all the way up the Amazon and all through here [indicating on plat]. These are all individual projects carried on by the public health personnel. This indicating] is Belem, which I spoke to you about, where we did much work for our own troops, and this is Recife, where the food supply party produced a great deal of food, particularly for the Navy there. This is our Central American set up, plus Mexico which is here. Those are all major projects in the public health field. FOOD SUPPLY PROGRAM Now, let us show the food supply program. This is the food supply work done in Central America, Panama, and Haiti. I have talked a good deal about public health. However, it is also absolutely essential for the economy of these countries that the working people get an adequate food supply. We are not engaged in producing competitive crops with the United States. We are engaged in demonstrating better agricultural food storage and distribution methods. The other Americas are not going to get anywhere economically until they correct the food supply problem they have down there. There is a great deal of malnutrition in many places. The food-supply program followed what is known as the Brazilian bulge. This program was concerned a great deal with producing food for rubber workers, and it entered into the picture of producing rubber for the use of our own troops. Paraguay is one of the best examples we have of food-supply work. They have an excellent program there. TRAINING PROGRAM In regard to our training program, we have training programs on public health, and on food supply techniques. We bring selected individuals to the United States for postgraduate training. For example, we bring doctors up here who are given postgraduate work in public health at Johns Hopkins, Harvard, Michigan, or the University of North Carolina, and they go back technically very well trained. We have brought up more than 300 individuals up to the present time, on both food-supply and public-health-training projects and I have yet to find one in that entire number who is not a friend of the United States. Every one of them has gone back home an enthusiastic friend of the United States. Now, from a political point of view that is very important, because we are dealing with the class of people who have a good deal of influence in those countries. We have at the present time about 200 trainees in the United States. We have a training program which will extend up through 1948. We will train around 600 men. Those people go back and work into our programs and they gradually take over operation of projects that have been started by the cooperative services. If the program should go on after 1948, of course, these trained personnel will eventually have complete supervision of the work. Mr. CANNON. Right there, in your opinion, a continuation of this work would result in benefits to the United States from a monetary point of view as well as from a philanthropic point of view? General DUNHAM. Yes, sir; definitely from a monetary point of view. NEED FOR CONTINUANCE OF PROGRAM TO IMPROVE ECONOMIC CONDITIONS AND INCREASE PRODUCTIVE POWER If this program could go on after 1948, at least, for 5 or 10 years, I think it would be of immense benefit, because we are not going to increase trade with these countries unless economic conditions are improved and unless their productive power is increased. The point you raise about acquainting people with production, and with the engineering features of production, I think, illustrates that. If we have the engineers who can go down there and design plants, then our products and equipment are going to be used rather than those of foreign countries. Before the war Germany sent men in to promote industry in Brazil and there are other developments started by the Germans. If this program could go on after 1948, it would benefit the taxpayers of the United States. There are other things that should be done, but, nevertheless, there is not going to be economic progress unless there is improved public health and food supply. Mr. LUDLOW. Why do you mention 1948? General DUNHAM. I beg your pardon. I forgot to say that under present agreements our programs terminate in that year. We have one in Panama, a health program, that will terminate in September 1945, because we do not have money to carry it on. The food supply program in Brazil will terminate this summer. The other food supply programs will run until the end of 1946. We have in Colombia a health program which will terminate in 1946. The majority of the health and sanitation agreements terminate in 1947 and the remainder in 1948; three health programs, in Brazil, Chile, and Mexico, terminate December 31, 1948. If I may just say a word off the record. The CHAIRMAN. Yes. (Off the record discussion.) Mr. CANNON. After you complete these programs, or you discontinue these programs, to what extent are you expecting the local governments to take up where you left off and support these very obvious advantageous programs you have initiated? General DUNHAM. We expect that they will take up the work. Mr. CANNON. The work will go on whether we participate or not? General DUNHAM. The work we have done will go on, but there is not enough of it. For example, at the health center, which we have started over in eastern Peru, the Peruvian Government is going ahead with the nurses' program there and has made a definite agreement that they will continue the health center. I do not think there is any question but what the work we have started will continue, but there is a great deal more which should be started. Mr. LUDLOW. Do you have any standard agreement with these countries under which they are to continue afterward? General DUNHAM. Yes; we have some in writing. In other cases we have only a moral understanding that the work will continue. I think I can assure you, Mr. Ludlow, that the enthusiasm with which they have carried on the work will result in its being continued. Mr. LUDLOW. I was wondering if you had a standardized agreement; and if so, what it was. General DUNHAM. We have, for example, such an agreement with Peru. RATE OF EXPENDITURES Mr. TABER. General, I am wondering about this: I would like to have you put in the record the table on page 6 and bring the information up to date, covering the expenditures so far, showing how much you have spent, how much you plan to spend; in other words, the amount you have actually spent down through this time on this whole set-up. Mr. HISLE. You will note that page 6 shows the estimated total of expenditures through June 30 of this year. Mr. TABER. Yes, I saw that. That will be in the table. Mr. HISLE. Yes. Mr. TABER. But that is not what I want. Mr. HISLE. The current expenditures as of February 28, 1945, shown on this page [indicating] are $36,570,815, and the disbursements are running at the rate of about $1,500,000. Mr. TABER. Per month? Mr. HISLE. Yes. General DUNHAM. I might say, Mr. Taber, that we made agreements with these countries to put in so much periodically, covering a definite period of time, and they put in specified amounts on specified dates. Mr. TABER. Do you mean you dollars a month? have spent at the rate of 11⁄21⁄2 million Mr. HISLE. That has not been the constant rate all through. Mr. TABER. Has it been constant-more or less constant-through the current year? Mr. HISLE. During this fiscal year, it has been fairly constant. However, our payments, as General Dunham has explained, are covered in the agreements, which set up definite payment dates; as the program goes on our payments decrease, and those of the other countries increase. General DUNHAM. Generally speaking. Mr. HISLE. In figuring out the estimated disbursements for the fiscal year 1946, we have taken each one of these agreements and put down the amount that would be paid out by us in the fiscal year. Mr. TABER. You are planning on this 11⁄2 million rate per month for the last 4 months of this fiscal year? Mr. HISLE. That is correct. Mr. TABER. And you are planning to continue at what rate next year? Mr. HISLE. The estimate is $11,587,335 for the year. Mr. TABER. Yes. How fast are you planning to spend it? Mr. HISLE. That is the amount our agreements, projects, and other items call for Mr. TABER (interposing). That is, the agreements that are already in existence? Mr. HISLE. Yes. The rate decreases in the fiscal year 1946 over the current rate. EXPENDITURES, BY COUNTRIES AND PROGRAMS Mr. TABER. I am going to ask you to supply a table covering this whole business. I do not know whether you are prepared to do so now, but I would like to have in the first column the names of the countries. You may not be able to give that offhand. Mr. HISLE. Congressman Taber, I can tell you what we have worked up already. We have each program by countries and a statement showing the expenditures through June 30 of this year and the estimated expenditures for 1946, 1947, 1948, and 1949. Mr. TABER. That does not quite get at what I have in mind. I not only want that, but I want to know how much has gone into each country, and I want a break-down by projects. Mr. HISLE. In each country? Mr. TABER. Yes. Mr. HISLE. That would be a book of considerable size. Mr. HISLE. You mean by programs, health, sanitation, and so on? Mr. TABER. I want to know what the money is spent for. If it is for sewers, I want to know that for each country; and if it is for suplies, I want to know what they are. And if it is for building a power dam, I want to know what that is. If it is for the development of agriculture, I want to know what that is; and I want to know why you are doing all these things. Have you got any such thing as that available at this time? (NOTE. The committee was furnished with the latest status of projects report of the Office of Inter-American Affairs, which lists the projects under each program in each country.) General DUNHAM. We have all of that information, Mr. Taber. We would have to work it up in table form. CONTRIBUTIONS OF LOCAL GOVERNMENTS Mr. TABER. Have you got the amount that these other people have contributed on these different types of projects? Mr. HISLE. Yes. Mr. TABER. I would like to see that. Mr. HISLE. That is on this table which has already been prepared. (The statement referred to is as follows:) |