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Narrator 11,000 miles from San Francisco, 8000 miles from new york, there lies a primeval desert, a mass of drifting sand and sunbaked earth, one third the size of the United States, a place of ancient glories, long ago a center of thriving trade where came the merchants from india and china to barter their wares for spices, and fell into eclipse and remained until very recent years remote, unknown and isolated. Most of its people were the bedouin camel herders and shepherds who roamed the area, hostile wastes from one oasis to another in the wake of scattered rains that produced shortlived patches of vegetation. Monotony and poverty were the common lot. But in their abiding faith, they found solace, for religion is not worn like a cloak in the arab land. It is a vital part of every good moslems life. Mohammed united the arabs, purified their customs, bound them into one people and filled them with a great faith. Five times a day, even the humblest arab stops his work, faces mecca, and intones the sacred words of the koran. [speaking arabic] there is no god but allah, and mohammed is his prophet. Wherever the limited water supply permitted, wheat was grown, and the arab, essentially goodhumored in spite of his hard life, would make a little dance and song as he threshed the grain. He winnowed out the wheat by letting the wind blow the chaff away, but crops judged by modern standards were pitifully small, and for townspeople and bedouin alike, life was an endless struggle. None of them knew that this desert, barren of Natural Resources to the outward eye, had been blessed by nature beyond the wildest dreams of those who raided and smuggled the crossed its windswept land. And then in this land of great religion, there is always a powerful leader who unified his 5. 5 Million People and set out to achieve a renaissance. His majesty, Abdul Aziz Ibn saud, king of saudi arabia. He had faith that somewhere within these farreaching sands was a key to the richer life for the saudi arabs who for so long had known scarcity and want. Perhaps this country, so unproductive on the surface, might contain minerals below the surface, including oil. But vast sums would be needed for search and development. There was no quick way. In the 1930s an American Oil Company obtained a concession on Bahrain Island 25 miles out in the persian gulf. The venture was successful and occasionally there was speculation as to whether there was even greater opportunities across the green waters of the gulf, in saudi arabia. And sociologists talked about the possibilities so geologists talked about the possibilities and they saw the low rise along the coast that could mean oil, or could mean nothing at all. They debated and debated, and finally recommended that the risk be taken. But whether these unknown sands would justify the outlay of millions of dollars was still a decision that had to be made by Company Directors in San Francisco, 11,000 miles away. They knew it would mean sinking into the desert the money of thousands of stockholders in a project that might well in complete loss. Such decisions are not made lightly, and many an hour of study and debate had occupied many men before the company sent the late lloyd hamilton, one of the great figures of middle eastern oil, as emissary to arabia. On may 29, 1933, after weeks of discussion, there was a meeting at chasm palace on the outskirts of jetta. It was their saudi government officials representing his majesty signed a concession covering roughly 320,000 square miles. This was the starting point of a new American Business venture abroad. But ahead, there was a long , Long Distance to travel, a huge investment, years of effort, and no end of patience and perseverance. Most of all, the job would men, hardyarty men, determined men who were willing to leave families and friends and journey halfway around the world on a quest that might end in failure. Men who could face hardship and monotony and still take it, men like paul strong. Paul strong had never heard of saudi arabia when he was asked back in 1938 if he would like to go there. That answer was easy for him. He would not like to go. For his money, give him the peace and quiet and comfort of the small american town where he had lived since he finished college just a few years before. The company sought out other men, sought them where men are always found when the chance of pioneering is offered, across the breadth and depth of america, on farms, in small towns, in great cities, and each man had his own problems to way, each his own decision to make, for they were being asked to make a life career of oil in saudi arabia. They waited and decided and gradually began to arrive. Carpenters, machinists, riggers, technicians, drillers, executives too eager to extend a hand to the new arrival. Who is that over there . Why sure enough, paul strong. Paul had forgotten back in the states that he had that traditional american characteristic, a hunger for adventure and challenge. He and the others had come to learn of the middle east, and they found the going was tough. Few outsiders had ever before been beyond the treaty fort of jetta, and the arabs were suspicious of these strange newcomers. Many of them were frankly hostile and quite ready to show their feelings. Even the extended hand of friendship was accepted grudgingly in the early days. On top of all this, it was hot, 120 in the shade on many a day and summer, sometimes soaring to 140 in the sun, and with high humidity to make it even worse. There were flies and dysentery, the housing was makeshift. There was little to do except work, and life seemed rugged indeed. Here in such a setting, they prepared to search for oil. The geological crews combed the blistering desert month after month, searching for places most likely to yield petroleum. Instruments and calculations indicated the best prospects, but the geologists new knew what many lame and dont, that the only way to know whether oil exists in any place is to drill for it. Finally, they drilled the first well. They found oil, but not in commercial quantities. It was not encouraging. They drilled again. No luck. And again. Still failure. These were dismal days, and here and there, a voice would say, we are licked, lets admit it. But there were stubborn men, in the field and in the San Francisco office, who did not have enough sense to quit, the kind of senseless men who all through history have done such foolhardy things as believing a that steam could run an engine or the crops would grow on the deserts of california, or that a voice could carry over a wire. It was men like these who said, we will drill deeper. Who drilled, failed once more, and saw their careers and their reputations burning away beneath the desert sun. And then it happened. Oil in commercial quantities had been brought in after three long, discouraging years. This was the goal toward which they had striven. This was the victory faith and sweat had bought. A long road has been traveled since those early years. There have been changes and great expansion. The original concession has been enlarged and now embraces an area of 440,000 square miles, equal to the states of california and texas combined. Since that first paying well established this area as a Major Oil Field in saudi arabia as an oil country, other fields have been discovered. Production has risen until in 1947 it reached close to 19 million barrels, from less than 4 million in 1939. In this prolific field, production by the end of 1947 was averaging 200,000 barrels a day. Oil from this area is sent by pipeline to another city about 40 miles away. From there, more than 100 thousand barrels daily flow through one of the Worlds Largest underwater pipelines to the Bahrain Petroleum companys refinery on Bahrain Island. The rest is moved by pipeline for shipment abroad, or for processing in the companys refinery at on the mainland. This modern plant was planned to help meet the enormous wartime demands for military petroleum products. The project was approved by the joint chiefs of staff in 1943. It was rushed to completion in 1945 at a cost of approximately 50 million, all of which was put up by the company. In this work, about 1000 americans and 5000 saudi arabs were employed for one and a half years. Its rated capacity was 50,000 barrels daily, but it has been actually turning out 115,000 barrels a day. 230 of its original rating capacity. Supplying this refinery required drilling of additional wells and the building of pipelines to deliver crude oil from the fields. Other pipelines carry the finished products from the verb the refinery to the terminal and loading wharf. The companys Marine Terminal can handle four tankers at once, loading them at a rate of from 10,000 barrels to 12,000 barrels per hour. The average tanker can be loaded and on her way again in about 12 hours. Much of the companys present refinery output is going to the u. S. Navy for use in the far east. By 1950, production of crude oil is expected to be double what it was in 1947, or even higher. To handle this huge volume, greatly expanded transportation facilities will be needed. Materials have been arriving in the persian gulf for the Worlds Largest pipeline, a project of the transArabian Pipeline Company, an affiliate. The first leg has been completed. The transarabian Pipeline Route lies across 1075 miles of desert ins,nes and desert, pla and coastal ranges to the mediterranean. When completed, it will carry about 300,000 barrels daily. Total Saudi Arabian crude oil and products available at sea terminals will amount to seven 700,000 barrels daily by 1951. By that time the investment of the company on the transit Trends Company on the transit Arabian Pipeline Company will have exceeded 400 million. The expanding Program Requires an increase of permanent personnel to a total of more than 2500 americans and 15,000 arabs. Such is the story of the oil itself. But there is another story, the story of people. For all the time the oil job was being done, there was the problem of making life more livable. For in spite of heat, flies, hardship and monotony, these men had come, and they had vowed they would stay and they set about to make good their vow. Halfway around the world, the company had brought everything, from food and housing to drilling equipment. It brought in American Technology and skilled craftsmanship. Men planned and worked and cleared and dug, and slowly, painfully, they reared a modern community on the desert beside the persian gulf. Here in bahrain, irrigation has wrought its magic, tapping the desert and bringing forth trees, and grass, and flowers. These houses and the offices are completely equipped and airconditioned. Hot though saudi arabia may be in the summer, it is a healthy climate and children thrive on it. They go to school as they would in america. Just about as they would back in their hometowns, paul strong and his friends visit in the cool comfort of their modern homes in bahrain. Unmarried girls who have come to arabia as secretaries, stenographers and clerks, find recreation in the club rooms and dormitories. Always popular with the employees is the freshwater swimming pool, where they can cool off after a round of golf or a set of tennis. In the best tradition of medicine is this modern american hospital, providing free medical and Surgical Care to all employees. The Company Retains skilled American Physicians and surgeons. Desert heat is no problem to workers in this new Airconditioned Office building. There is an airport only about 40 hours by air from new york, by company plane or commercial airline. 40 miles up the arabian coast is a refinery located on a beautiful stretch of gleaming white sand. Here is another american colony, complete with airconditioned houses, two hospitals and an outdoor movie theater. Out of every 2 invested in the concession, 1 goes into housing and other Service Facilities necessary to take care of employees, americans and saudi arabs. The company has never forgotten that it is a guest in the land of the saudi arabs, and that the best interests of its hosts must at all times be served. Today more than 12,000 arab workers are employed by the company, and their number is increasing steadily. They worship in their mosques, such as this one in bahrain built by the government. Until quite recently, the arabs had little or no opportunity for recreation and sports. Now they delight in learning new games. In the producing fields, arab workers have become skilled craftsmen and work sidebyside with american drillers. In fact, the companys operations have become one of the Great Centers for vocational and industrial training in the middle east. In the refinery too, saudi arabs who a few years ago knew only the life of the deserts now skillfully operate refining equipment. American engineers have trained their arab coworkers well, and the arabs have been good pupils. Workers with aptitude are quickly trained to handle laboratory routine. Every shipment of product or crude is tested. It must meet rigid specifications. The quality is controlled as carefully as in refineries in the United States. More than 200 arabs have been with the company 10 years or longer. The wages paid by the oil Company Provide new purchasing power for workers and their families, and a new prosperity for the region. They are paid in riyals, the currency of saudi arabia. These riyals are bought by the company from the saudi Arab Government, and this in turn makes available supplies of dollar exchange. In cooperation with the saudi Arab Government, the Company Provides schools for employees. Arab youngsters have expressed great appreciation of the Educational Opportunities given them and their classmates. Water was the number one problem when the arabs had to depend on their ageold means of transportation, the camel. In contrast with this ancient caravan, a modern motor cavalcade moves out into the desert to drill new water wells along the route of the pipeline, using trails that formerly could not be traversed in summer. Much of the desert is impassible to ordinary tires, so this special type of oversized, heat resistant tire was developed. It defies the soft and treacherous sands. These mammoth trucks, veritable locomotives of the desert, were built especially for oilfield transportation in saudi arabia. They will handle hitherto unheard of loads. As rapidly as possible, the company is getting rid of this type of temporary housing, hastily built for the arabs in the early stages of development, and replacing it with modern, wellbuilt quarters like these. Among the more important undertakings for the benefit of the saudi arabs, wholly unconnected with Oil Operations is the fullscale agricultural experiment that is underway at alkar. This Irrigation Canal in which the oil company helped the saudi Arab Government to build his bringing water to nearly 3000 acres now under intensive cultivation. Arab farmers, assisted by american agriculture experts, have been taught to use modern scientific irrigation methods. They are raising alfalfa, melons, dates, tomatoes, onions and many other farm products. American technical skill and arab industry combine to produce worthwhile crops. New Agricultural Centers are planned by the saudi Arab Government, so that the benefits of modern methods may be spread to other localities. The king sees the Oil Development as the greatest single means to modernize his country and improve the Living Standards of his people. The navy has said that Saudi Arabian oil is one of its most important strategic sources of supply. The men who are working for the economic recovery of europe see middle eastern oil helping them in their labor day in and day out, because on the one hand, it is keyed perfectly to the goal of selfsupport for the nations of the world, and on the other, it is making available the vast volumes of petroleum needed to fuel the job of rebuilding the warscarred eastern hemisphere. To the american citizen in boston or jacksonville, sioux city or seattle, all of this has real importance in his day to day life, because at present, large volumes of oil are moving from the western hemisphere, mostly south america, to fill the growing needs of europe, while other south american oil goes to the United States. Shipments to europe from the middle east have increased since the war ended, but are still only a small part of what can come from there. Shipping oil to europe from the western hemisphere is not only uneconomic but puts a drain on resources we may need over here. However, this situation is changing. As soon as eastern hemisphere facilities are ready, any heavy shipments from western hemisphere reserves can be stopped. The middle east can easily supply all of europes requirements. The oil of south america can be used for the job of industrializing our neighboring lands to the south and to supplement the supplies here in the United States. Now that the risks have been taken, now that the pioneering has been done, the way is open for other American Companies to come into the middle east and join in developing its great resources for the benefit of its people and of the world. A guiding principle in aramcos venture has been the belief that foreign capital cannot justify its presence in any land unless it operates in the interest of that land. Fully vindicating that principle has been the mutual trust and goodwill that have grown up between the american oilmen and the saudi Arab Government. Thus, american Venture Capital is developing new standards of life in an ancient realm, who where a people with a glorious past are now building a glowing future with their partners from the other side of the world. East and west are united in pioneering a new frontier of progress, serving the interests and serving the interests of the United States and demonstrating the vitality of the american system of free enterprise, a system which, from this new frontier, is pumping into the trade of the world oil. One of the materials that is making a truly great contribution to our modern civilization. [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2019] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] announcer 1 you can watch archival films on Public Affairs in their entirety on our weekly series reel america, saturday at 10 00 p. M. And sunday at 4 00 p. M. Eastern here on American History tv. Announcer 2 on American History tv at 6 00 eastern, we will preview the votes for women exhibit at the Smithsonians National portrait gallery. Victoria was well ahead of her time. She started her is this as a wall street banker. She advocated for free love which meant sex outside of marriage. Announcer 2 at 6 30, Sophia Rosenfeld discusses her book democracy and truth. No onene person, institution or sector or king, priest, Natural Research body, caste would get to call all of the shots. Announcer 2 explore our nations past weekend on cspan3. Next on American History tv, from the economic history Associations Annual meeting, outgoing president price fishback presents an illustrated talk titled social insurance and public assistance in the 20th century. Professor fishback traces the history of spending on social insurance programs, from their early 20th century beginnings at the local and state level to the 1930s new deal programs to more recent trends in policy spending and outcomes. Prof. Wallis hello, everyone. It is a real honor and pleasure to be here today to celebrate prices president cy of the American History association. Wherever hugh is. The first eha meeting price and i went to was 1980 in boston. My wife and i, we were at a third year the end of graduate school. We didnt have much money. My wife and i shared a room with price. [laughter] prof. Wallis i said thn

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