Statement by the President Upon Signing Order Concerning the Point 4 Program.

I HAVE today signed an Executive order delegating to the Secretary of State the responsibility for carrying out the point 4 program authorized by the Congress in the Act of International Development. Funds were provided in the Appropriation Act signed September 6, 1950.

The United States, in undertaking the point 4 program, is seeking to help other peoples help themselves by extending to them the benefits of our store of technical knowledge. This program will provide means needed to translate our words of friendship into deeds. All activities will be on a cooperative basis, and projects will be undertaken by the United States only at the request of other governments.

Communist propaganda holds that the free nations are incapable of providing a decent standard of living for the millions of people in the underdeveloped areas of the earth. The point 4 program will be one of our principal ways of demonstrating the complete falsity of that charge. By patient, diligent effort, levels of education can be raised and standards of health improved to enable the people of such areas to make better use of their resources. Their land can be made to yield better crops by the use of improved seeds and more modern methods of cultivation. Roads and other transportation and communication facilities can be developed to enable products to be moved to areas where they are needed most. Rivers can be harnessed to furnish water for farms and cities and electricity for factories and homes.

The first year's appropriation of $34,500000 for the point 4 program is not a large sum in comparison with the need. Yet this money, together with the contributions of other countries, will have a cumulative effect in promoting the well-being of underdeveloped areas. United States money in this initial phase will be used to a large extent to provide technical assistance by sending experts abroad and to bring qualified trainees to this country. The participating countries themselves will supply local personnel and additional funds to help complete the projects.

In the Executive order, I have provided for the active participation of all departments and agencies of the Federal Government whose facilities and experience can contribute to the program. I am confident, too, that it will be possible to draw upon the great body of technical experts in State and municipal organizations, educational and research institutions, public service foundations, and agricultural, labor, business, and other private groups as their special skills are needed.

Part of the funds appropriated by the Congress for point 4 are to be devoted to the United Nations Technical Assistance Program, which is supported by contributions from other United Nations members as well. The bilateral arrangements between the United States and other governments will be supplemented by multilateral arrangements under United Nations auspices. As this cooperative movement progresses and the United Nations program becomes more fully established, we anticipate that more and more of the work will be carried out under United Nations auspices and that there will be a worldwide effort to further the economic and social progress of all peoples.