CEYLON: Rubber & Rice

"If we try to get close to Russia," said Ceylon's late, respected Premier Don Stephen Senanayake, "we would be embracing danger, we would be embracing the bear."

Last week Ceylon (whose Prime Minister is Don Stephen's son Dudley) was hugging Russia's partner in crime, Red China. Occasion for the dangerous embrace: a chance to do some trading in rubber and rice.

Tiny, scenic Ceylon (pop. 7,500,000), a free member of the British Commonwealth since 1948, is heavily dependent on rubber exports. When the Korean war broke out in 1950, the price of natural rubber zoomed from a sickly 18ยข a pound...

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