Laws apparently do not mean anything to officials administering President Truman’s Point Four Program.

The Mutual Security Act of 1951 stipulated that no assistance should be provided under that act to any nation unless it agreed to make its full contribution “to the development and maintenance of its own defensive strength and the defensive strength of the free world.”

The act further provided that no economic or technical assistance should be supplied to any nation which did not agree to join in promoting international understanding and good will, and “to take such action as might be mutually agreed upon to eliminate the causes of international tension.”

Premier Mohammed Mossadegh of Iran refused to accept either of these conditions for Point Four assistance. So our officials agreed to give him $23 million anyway if he would write a letter which merely affirmed Iran’s devotion to the principles of the United Nations without mentioning any of the pledges of co-operation contained in the Mutual Security Act. Premier Mossadegh accepted the proposal.

An ordinary citizen couldn’t openly flout a federal law in this manner and expect to get away with it. Apparently a federal official can.

The Mutual Security Act also declared one of its purposes to be provision of incentives for “a steadily increased participation of free private enterprise in developing the resources of foreign countries." Among the projects on the list for U.S. financing are some large government textile mills in Teheran.

But what’s a law between bureaucrats?