Impasse on Wheat

The great wheat deal with the Russians last week entered a backing-and-filling phase.

Two weeks ago, a Soviet trade mission in Ottawa offered to buy some $200 million worth of U.S. wheat to ease the effects of a disastrous harvest. Czecho slovakia, Bulgaria and Hungary weighed in with formal bids for another $60 million worth. First reaction in the U.S. was heavily favorable--even Arizona's Senator Barry Goldwater said he was for it. But suddenly the whole thing seemed to bog down.

Grubbing for Gold. The Russians were hesitant to submit an official or der, wanted advance assurance from Washington that it would be approved. President Kennedy was reluctant to commit himself until he got assurance from congressional conservatives that they would not clobber him at some future date for giving aid and comfort to the enemy. Compounding confusion, Premier Khrushchev made it sound as if he no longer wanted the wheat by declaring: "If we use bread economically, the resources we now have will be sufficient for the normal supply of the population." Taking Khrushchev's words to mean that Russia's recent wheat-buying binge was over, Soviet traders in Canada announced that they had enough wheat "without having to buy any from the United States."

Despite Khrushchev's comment--which might have been made strictly for domestic consumption--the Administration is going ahead on the assumption that Russia still wants the wheat. The next move is up to Kennedy, who could get things started by quietly giving wheat brokers the green light to accept Russian orders--provided the Russians are still buying. Once the orders were in hand, the brokers could begin moving the wheat.

Though most Congressmen expressed no objections to the deal, a vocal minority last week began lambasting it. "Why not sell the Russians our tobacco surplus?" said Idaho Democrat Ralph Harding. "They might contract lung cancer." In the Senate, Kentucky Republican John Sherman Cooper declared, "I dislike seeing the United States, great nation that it is, chasing off in a grubby manner after Russian gold." In Coronado, Calif., Goldwater reversed his field, charged that the wheat sale, coming on top of the proposed joint moon venture, is fresh proof that the Kennedys are running "a Soviet-American mutual aid society."

Sweetening a Sale. Despite the grumbling, overall sentiment for the deal was strong, particularly in view of the fact that Canada, Australia, West Germany and France are already selling wheat and flour to the Russians. Senate Minority Leader Everett Dirksen said he would go along with it, though he urged the Administration to seek "sweeteners" in the form of political concessions. Wheat growers approved overwhelmingly, with or without sweeteners. Agriculture Secretary Orville Freeman pointed out that the deal would yield a handsome propaganda dividend by showing the world "which country has the agriculture that works." Fact is, both the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. are suffering from farm scandals--the U.S.'s a glut of subsidized agricultural products, the U.S.S.R.'s a shortage brought on by Communist dogmas.

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