CANADA: Arms for the Men

In 1941, before the U.S. entered World War II, President Franklin Roosevelt and Prime Minister Mackenzie King met at Hyde Park and worked out a pact. As a result of their Hyde Park Agreement, the Canadian and U.S. economies were geared together so that the two countries worked almost as one in the production of war supplies.

Last week representatives of Canada and the U.S. met in Ottawa for what was, in effect, a renewal of the Hyde Park conference. The Roosevelt-King pact was a ready model for the 1950 planners. It took less than five hours to draw up a new agreement. Its basic terms:

¶ The "Buy-American" act (which prohibits U.S. Government purchase of foreign materials that can be produced at home) will be waived so that the U.S. can buy Canadian-made arms.

¶Canada and the U.S. will coordinate controls of scarce materials and channel them into industries, whether U.S. or Canadian, where they can best be used.

¶ All tariffs will be removed on defense shipments between the two countries.

There was little doubt in Washington or Ottawa that the agreement would be approved. Said a top Canadian official: "Canada [will be] a 49th state as far as war production is concerned."