No Man's Collar

The people of Iran's Azerbaijan province, which under Soviet guidance has proclaimed itself independent of Teheran, were admonished last week on how a free people should dress. A new paper called Azerbaijan, published in Tabriz, denounced the wearing of secondhand clothes sent from the U.S.

It was not a matter of charity, for the offending apparel had been bought by Iranian merchants in the U.S. and shipped to colleagues at home for resale. But Azerbaijan, while praising Franklin Roosevelt and his Lend-Lease, saw, under Truman, an evil policy shift for a sinister motive. The new U.S. line, said Azerbaijan, was "restriction of world trade to American monopoly, thus giving the Americans an opportunity to sell their secondhand clothes."

Thundered Azerbaijan: "Having achieved their democratic freedom . . . our people not only refuse to wear such clothes, but also consider those who trade in them traitors who act against the interests of national industries. Everybody must try to use the homemade goods so that our nation can stand apart from the coming world crisis. We repeat that Azerbaijanis detest and despise the secondhand clothes of others."

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