Two Steps Forward

Mohammed Mossadegh, just about the last man standing between his country and the Reds, last week tried to take his country two steps away from Communism. The first was a little step. The unpredictable Premier called in British Charge d'Affaires George Middleton to discuss once more the possibility of a settlement with the British. Then, while Mossadegh waited for London's response (certain to be hedged with suspicious reservations), he decreed one of the most far-reaching rural reforms ever proclaimed by any government. It was more thoroughly spelled out than Egypt's (see above)--if less certain to be carried out.

Under his new dictatorial powers, Mossadegh, himself a wealthy landlord, abolished centuries-old feudal dues and services, and ordered landlords to turn over one-fifth of their rents to the impoverished peasantry. Half of this sum will go to the sharecroppers on each tract. The other half is to be deposited to the credit of local, peasant-run cooperatives which are to be set up in each village to provide low-interest loans, tools, irrigation facilities and drinking water for the peasants. Point Four men on the scene applauded the scheme.

Aware that what he decreed in Teheran might (and probably will) be ignored in the countryside, Mossadegh announced that resisting landlords will be jailed for two months and fined double the value of their first evasion. Second offenders will be fined quadruple the amount ordered.

Iran's wealthy landlords, who own 70% of the nation's cultivated land and 40.000 of its 41.000 villages, growled angrily. So did the Reds, who screamed at seeing their thunder stolen.

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