What the Soviet government expects from the American committee which is to arrive here to survey the Biro Bidjan region was described by Peter Smidovitch, vice-president of the Soviet Union, in an interview granted the Jewish Telegraphic Agency correspondent.
“We expect the expedition to install in Bidjan the latest American technical machinery and a system facilitating the maximum colonization in the minimum time, avoiding the difficulties usually met when colonization is conducted along the ancient and traditional methods of our forefathers. The Soviet government plus American technical aid is what is necessary and also sufficient to upbuild Bidjan on a socialistic basis. This is why we expect American technical assistance from the expedition which will receive everywhere organized government scientific support, reporting its findings later to the working masses whose aid we consider necessary.”
Mr. Smidovitch concluded with words of praise for the Icor. “If Bidjan has succeeded so far in having 1,350 hectares ploughed, as well as a timber factory started, it is due to the fact that last year the Icor contributed $120,000,” he said.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.