93 



world." Both tlie Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as amended in 1966, 

 and the Food for Peace Act of 1966 have special provisions for the 

 use of U.S. -owned foreign currencies to conduct birth control research 

 and to assist family planning programs in countries requesting such 

 help.ioe 



Under the constraint of existing social values, the problem of 

 popidation growth presented to Congress by the State Department 

 understated the magnitude, gravity, urgency, and seriousness of the 

 problem of rapid population growth. 



The rate of increase of population is one of the undoubtedly serious problems 

 as far as the economic future of these areas is concerned.!''^ 



State Department information indeed revealed that popidation 

 growth rates approached 3.5 percent in the underdeveloped coun- 

 tries, ^°* but the impression was conveyed that the population growth 

 rate of these nations would not be likely to exceed 2 percent per annum 

 in the longer range future. ^°^ 



The programmatic solution developed by the State Department to 

 alleviate the perceived population problem was based on the premise 

 that the application of technical assistance, and concomitant increases 

 in food production and industrialization, would eventuate in a Eiu'o- 

 pean pattern of social relations and mores. It was suggested that a 

 middle class ethos would be developed and that persons therefore 

 woidd choose to have fewer children."" 



Hindsight, of course, reveals the deficiencies of this reasoning. 

 The cultm'al, technical, and financial obstacles to agricidtm'al develop- 

 ment are so great that food-producing capability did not expand 

 enough to keep pace with the burgeoning population. In addition, 

 policymakers learned that cultural patterns vary widely between the 

 developed and underdeveloped world. One cannot assinne that de- 

 velopment — whether agricultural or industrial — will produce the same 

 cultural values and mores evidenced in Europe and other developed 

 areas. 



No evidence was presented in Congress to reveal these fallacies. 

 In fact the position taken by the State Department, of eschewing 

 any form of bhth control, and opting for rapid economic develop- 

 ment to alleviate the impending problem, reflected the domestic public 

 opinion and some of the literature chculating at that point."^ 



w« U.S. Agency for International Development. Background paper: U.S. Foreign Assistance Policy and 

 Programs in tlie Field of Population and Family Plamiing. (Wasliington, D.C., mimeo, Sept. 14, 1967, n.p.) 

 and U.S. Agency for International Development. M.O. 1612.57 — Guidelines for assistance to population 

 programs, manual transmittal letter. Sept. 15, 1967, p. 3. 



">' Statement of Hon. Willard L. Thorp, Assistant Secretary of State for Economic Affairs. In House. 

 International Technical Cooperation Act of 1939. Hearmgs, pt. 1, op. cit., p. 21. 



"" Almost hidden in a chart m an appendix of its program planning material, the State Department in- 

 cluded figures which would reveal that 25 of the 28 comitries which were to participate in the point 4 program 

 manifested an annual birth rate over 3.5 percent — an alarming rate when compared with the 1.0 percent 

 rate of the developed countries. According to the State Department, " The birth rates refer to average annual 

 flgui'es for the period 1931-40. Official vital statistics were used where available, though for a number of 

 countries these were corrected to take account of apparent miderreporting of births. Birth rates were esti- 

 mated from other demographic information for countries lacking official vital statistics." (Point 4: Coopera- 

 tive Program For Aid in the Development of Economically tjnderdeveloped Areas.) (Revised January 

 1950), op. cit., p. 114. 



•09 Statement of Hon. Willard L. Thorp. In House. International Technical Cooperation Act of 1949, 

 hearings, pt. 1, op. cit., p. 21. 



110 Thorp, op. cit., p. 21. 



111 For instance, Galbraith,"In Commentary," op. cit; Stephen Raushenbush "People, Food, Machines," 

 No. 5 in the bold new program series. (Washington, D.C., the Public Affairs Institute, 1950), p. 11, and 

 Morris LleveUyn Cooke with Calvin J. Nichols, Dorothy Detzer and Peter G. Franck. " Groundwork for 

 Action" No. 3 in the bold new program series. (Washington, D.C.the Public Affairs Institute, 1950), 

 pp. 19-20. 



