February 1, 1978

Monkey Business In India

I didn't mind too much when India spurned my 30 tons of schoolbooks, but now it has gone too far in cutting off our supply of monkeys.

President Carter doesn't know how big the problem really is.

A few years ago I met a prominent Indian educator who told me that the children of his country badly needed English language text books.  Though Indians speak several dialects, the language of education is English, a heritage of the British empire.

"In many of our rural villages there will be only one book for the entire class," he said.  "The pupils take turns studying, a few minutes each."

"The books sometimes are 20 or 30 years old and so worn the print is faded!"  "What a shame," I replied.  "In my state it is a law that school books must be replaced periodically, some every three years."  My friend's eyes widened in surprise.  "How wonderful.  Could you arrange to send your discarded textbooks to us?  I would personally see that they are distributed properly.  The need is great."

Such a simple request.  A sharing of knowledge.  International good will.  Bridges of friendship.  Peace through literacy.

It looked like a formidable task, but I tackled it with enthusiasm.  I expected that I could collect several hundred old school books in a year.

I explained the project to three school superintendents in northeast Ohio.  "Would you let me have any old books you might not want within the next year?"

Before the week was out I had 30 tons of books, about a tenth of what I could have over the next few months.  "When could I pick them up?"

In panic I called a friend who owned a moving firm in Canton.  "Help!"

In the spirit of, world understanding, my buddy picked up the textbooks and put them in his warehouse.

Jubilantly I wrote my friend in India.  "How shall I ship them?"

"By whatever method is most economical for you," he declared with a touch of gratitude.  "We are woefully short of funds.  Perhaps you can find a solution."

Back to the drawing board.

Do you have any idea what it costs to ship 30 tons of anything from Canton, Ohio, to Bombay, India?  $1,500.  It had been a cinch to round up discarded books, but no one discarded dollars so easily.

I tried the State Board of Education and several other Ohio departments of government.  A half dozen charitable foundations.  My congressman and senators.  The military services.  Two textbook publishers.  Even Uncle Louis who could buy and sell the whole family if he wanted to.  As a self-made man, however, he didn't believe in schools.  The year I had planned for the project was nearly complete, and my friend with the warehouse had taken to calling me weekly to clear his space for paying customers.

In desperation I turned to the Rotary clubs in my district.  Great service project.  Hands across the sea etc.  They bought it.

I called my friend in India by overseas telephone.

Success! We are packing the books in wooden crates with volunteer labor and material.  The textbooks should arrive in about a month.

"Wonderful," said my friend.  "Please wire at once the import duty, 20 percent of the value.  About a thousand U.S. dollars should cover it."

Everything imported by India, I learned, is taxed to the sender - even gifts.  A flurry of calls by the U.S. State department failed to obtain a waiver of the Indian import duty.  If we wished to give India 30 tons of textbooks we must also give it a thousand dollars for the privilege.

Enough is enough.

The next day my friends in Canton carted 30 tons of text books - nicely crated - to the city land fill.  As the boxes tumbled into a pit I allowed myself a sigh for the farm kids of India huddled over a single 20-year-old primer.

Thus, you can understand why I sympathize with the frustration President Carter must feel upon learning that India has ceased sending Rhesus monkeys to the United States.

You will remember that a few years ago we sent India some heavy water with which to build a nuclear reactor, with a written contract that it would be used only for peaceful purposes.  But India did build an atom bomb, and set it off, to join the growing circle of nuclear powers.

During President Carter's recent trip abroad he magnanimously assured the Indian parliament it could have some more heavy water, but no fooling this time.

He even growled into an open microphone that Secretary of State Cyrus Vance should emphasize the condition in a "cold, blunt note."

Last week the prime minister of India announced with a smile that he had received a "warm, personal letter" from President Carter.

And, oh yes, India - the principal source of small primates for experimental medical laboratories - was stopping shipments to the United States.

One U.S. laboratory had exposed some monkeys to nuclear radiation - a non-peaceful use of atomic fission.

No wonder they call us Uncle Sucker.

Author: Lindsey Williams