Los Banos Rotary Club History
Mattos Tells Of European Travels

Anthony Mattos, former Los Banosan who has been traveling about South America and Europe the past ten years as field engineer for the United Geophysical Co. Tuesday noon gave members of the local Rotary Club a firsthand economic and political picture in southern Europe, where he has been stationed for the past two years. Mattos returned to the states two weeks ago and is visiting here with his parents, Mr. and Mrs. John V. Mattos.
Mattos told of the troubled oil industry in Iran, where the Iranian government took over the country's oil industry from the British and is now facing economic collapse. The Iranian difficulty, he said, was interests, and their refusal to increase the royalty to somewhat near the 50-50 rate established by the United States and other interests elsewhere in that general area.

Mattos praised the Iranian people generally as intelligent and willing workers, but said they have had little opportunity for education or advancement, due to the general lack of industry or agriculture in the country, most of which is desert wasteland.

In a question and answer forum following his talk, Mattos said the people south of the Iron Curtain countries are naturally anti-Communistic, but that they are easily influenced and listen closely to Radio Moscow, which pounds out Communistic propaganda on a 24-hour basis. Many of the people, he said, destitute and ofter hungry, feel that anything could be better than their present condition.

U. S. economic aid has been of tremendous help, Mattos said, in creating good will toward this country, and American radio broadcasts, though on a restricted scale, are listened to avidly by the people.

Mattos said he plans to leave soon for Brazil, where his company is doing oil exploration work. That country, he said, is advancing by leaps and bounds as United States and other capital become interested in development of its vast natural resources.

In a brief business session preceding Mattos' talk, Rotary president Wm. Woo conducted the annual election of directors. There were three nominees, W. N. Galloway, Frank Peluso and Otto R. Zentner, for the three positions on the board, and they were unanimously elected by acclamation.

February 15, 1952

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