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Show It's 'catch down1 with Russia By Henry McLemore A longtime friend of mine Johnny Montgomery, who a-mong a-mong other things, owns and publishes the English language Brazil Herald in Rio de Jan-eirorecently Jan-eirorecently sen me a clipping clip-ping of a column by one of the Herald's staff "writers, Paul Vanorden Shaw. Johnney suggested that I use the facts in Mr. Shaw's column in my own. "I think it is the kind of information that Americans should have, " Johnney wrote. The article deals with what the United States would have to do to "catch up" with Russia. The Russians are forever for-ever broadcasting (maybe lying ly-ing would be a better word) of their tremendous progress and soon they will equal and surpass sur-pass the United States in production, pro-duction, standard of living, etc. "Catch down" with Russia is a more apt phrase than "catch up," for here is what the United States would have to do to "match" the Russia of today: "(a) Abandon three-fifths of its steel capacity. (b) Abandon two-thirds of its petrolium capacity. (c) Abandon 95 of its electric motor output. (d) Destroy two out of every three hydroelectric plants. (e) Destroy 90 of its volume of natural gas. (f) Rip up 93 of its paved highways. (g) Rip up 66 of its mainline main-line railway tracks. (h) Sink eight out of every nine ocean-going ships. (i) Scrap 19 out of every 20 cars and trucks. (j) Shrink its civilian air fleet to a mere shadow. (k) Cut its living standards by three-fourths. (1) Destroy 40 million TV sets. (m) Destroy 9 out of every 10 telephones. (n) Destroy 7 out of every 10 houses. (o) Put 60 million people back on farms. (Seize all homes, farms, business bus-iness and industry, (q) Destroy freedom ot speech, freedom of religion, freedom of conscience, dignity dig-nity of man." Actually there's no need to end with "Q". |