March 5, 1960
AVEROFF ON POVERTY: According to a telegram from London, British magazine The Spectator has published a report from Athens that quotes Foreign Minister Evangelos Averoff as saying that a million Greeks are living in bestial conditions. The report says that 125,000 Greeks are unemployed and the average weekly income is 160 drachmas. «I tell every foreigner that 1 or 2 million Greeks in mountain areas and on small islands have very low living standards and that the Greek government is making every effort to improve their lives. I consider it my duty to explain, particularly to foreigners, that, because of the nature of the terrain, it is very difficult to develop the economy among that segment of the population and that before we can talk about aid to the developing nations of the world, we have to help these poorer Europeans.» AGADIR: Yesterday in Agadir, Morocco, the situation was dramatic. In the middle of a heat wave, a group of survivors of the earthquake were trying to bury the dead retrieved from the ruins. There are bodies everywhere. So far, 3,000 have been buried. One wonders whether the DDT and other disinfectants sprayed on the rubble is enough to prevent an epidemic. The idea has been raised to burn the bodies, but no decision has as yet been taken.
