Rockefeller Urges More Soviet Trade

David Rockefeller '36, president of the Chase Manhattan Bank, said yesterday that the Soviet leaders are "convinced that they can win the battle for men's minds without nuclear war."

In a five o'clock talk before a large audience in Holmes Hall, Rockefeller reported that during an interview with Premier Khrushchev in Moscow last summer, "Khrushchev made it clear that communism would one day sweep the world." The Soviet leader pointed to Nova G. Rockefeller '66, who was accompanying her father, and said "One day she will think as I do."

In his speech on trade with the Communists, Rockefeller advocated increasing U.S. economic ties with Russia, providing that Russia pays her $7 to $9 million Lend Lease debt to the United States, that she provides adequate patent protection or copyright laws, and that the international climate improves.

In addition to improving our relations with our European allies, Rockefeller stated, increased trade with the cooperative satellites will deepen the fissures in the Communist bloc and result in better relations between the citizens of the countries involved.

He added that the American aim should be to "take any steps that we can to encourage the Communists toward economic spending and internal well-being as opposed to nationalist expansion. A fat Russian is a safe Russian," he explained.

Although he cautioned against an overly optimistic attitude toward the recent softening of Soviet tactics, he rejected the conclusion that Russia never changes. He cited the new government's agricultural programs that move away from collectivization and include economic incentives, as an example.

In the question period, David M. Kotz '65, president of the Students for a Democratic Society, alluded to Rockefeller's discussion of U.S. trade which bolsters the economics of other countries. He asked if the Chase Manhattan's large investments in South Africa do not serve that purpose in "a racist country." Rockefeller answered that the bank maintains three branches in South Africa, as they do in Nigeria, Liberia, Lebanon and elsewhere.

It is our government's responsibility to decide with whom an American firm may do business, he said, and added "I'd like to think that the Chase Manhattan Bank is important enough to make or break a country."