4th of July in Moscow: U.S. Envoy Back on TV

The American ambassador to the Soviet Union resumed his traditional Fourth of July talk to the Soviet people Thursday after having been barred from government television in 1984.

In his message, Ambassador Arthur A. Hartman said that U.S. scientists are leading the way to technological advances that have brought prosperity and longer life spans to the people of the United States.

Hartman’s speech, delivered in English and translated into Russian on the main evening television news program, contained no references to any cause of U.S.-Soviet controversy, such as the Soviet involvement in Afghanistan.

Recorded on Monday

It also did not refer to the planned November summit meeting between President Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev. An aide said that Hartman recorded the address Monday, before the summit announcement was made.

Last year, Soviet officials wanted to censor part of Hartman’s scheduled talk against the ambassador’s wishes, and he was not allowed to present a so-called “national day” address on the Soviet television network, as other ambassadors usually do on their national days.

Hartman’s message Thursday included an allusion to President Reagan’s Strategic Defense Initiative--the so-called “Star Wars” program of space-based defense research--without mentioning it by name.

“In opening our eyes to inventions previously unimagined, science has forced us to re-examine such basic questions as how we can best assure the security of a world which, unfortunately, remains divided,” he said.

“We believe that challenges spawned by technological advancement are challenges which transcend social systems, and we believe that both our countries can benefit from a frank and sincere exchange of views on means of dealing with them,” he said.

Best Wishes from Reagan

“We are more than ready for such a dialogue,” he declared, and then extended “very best wishes” from Reagan and the American people to his Soviet viewing audience.

Hartman also entertained many middle-level Soviet officials at Spaso House, the home of the U.S. ambassador in Moscow, at a 4th of July party that provided hamburgers, hot dogs and pizza for guests.

The turnout indicated a relaxation of tensions since the Independence Day party a year ago, when only a handful of Soviet officials appeared at the American celebration.

In his address, Hartman mentioned the spread of computer networks in the United States that he said now link thousands of research centers.

“Businesses--and private citizens--have instant access to vast quantities of the information on which the process of innovation thrives,” he said, in obvious contrast to Soviet secrecy and control over access to computers.

“The new technology has been a touchstone of prosperity in America,” he added.