Evening star., 1945-04-27

Cd will extend ~
far longer than
that, Is gaining Sy|
strength here
for two very :
good reasons. Frank 4. Kent.
One Is because on economic anc
money matters Mr.. Baruch's equip.
ment Is recognized AZ distinctly first
class. The other Is because, as ont
writer recently put 1t, he has nevel
yet been caught talking through
his hat" on these things. On tn,
contrary, he has singularly i'm.
pressive record extending over 81
years Of having been uniformly
right in his judgments,
The report he made last Satur'
day to President Truman on th'
Job which Mr.. Roosevelt asked hin
to do in England. of course, wa!
personal and neither its content!
nor his recommendations are known
What is known, however, is thai
on the other side Mr.. Baruch wa.
far more optimistic about the eco.
nomic future of the world as 9
whole and the United States ir
particular than any one with whom
he came into contact; that he die
q great deal to dispel gloom about
their own economic future by the
clarity Of his analysis; that he
strongly dissented from the idea
that after the war We must feed
the peoples of Europe for an in
definite time and that there is no
chance the liberated countries will
regain their economic feet for
many years.
Help Must Be Extended.
Help, Of course, has got to be ex-
tended, but that there is any in
surmountable reason why Europe,
generally, should be industrially and
agriculturally prostrated and par
alysed for . long period Is also de-
MED by other thoughtful men who
fully face the realities.
For example, there is ample
ground for believing that France
can feed herself if she uses ordi-
nary economic common sense
There Is no reason not to expect
France again to bloom agricultu-
rally like garden. every reason to
believe that she will.
The main trouble with present.
day France is that she has a thor
oughly unsound monetary system
Until that has been adjusted and
reformed and the French currency
again stabilized at a correct figure,
the country's recovery will be very
greatly handicapped. Any country's
would be. Unless the farmers of
France know that their money is
good, they are not likely to pro-
duce more than they need for them
selves. Nor would the farmers of any
other land.
Lack Of confidence in the sound
ness Of their currency is the great
est encouragement to food produc-
tion In France. Once you settle the
monetary problems, the rest settles
itself. Frances greatest misfortune
at the moment is an insecure none
tary system About that we cannot
do very much. Both ourselves and
the British, of course, can help;
but, in the msin,. the French have
got to cure this disease themselves
Another theory that has been
widely promulgated and accepted
particularly by our professional
liberals-is that Germany is the
economic hub Of Europe and that
without prosperous Germany there
can be no economic prosperity fol-
any other European nation.
The reverse of this seems true tc
the deeper students Of the present
situation. With both Germany and
Japan removed as industrial COM
petitors, as for many years they
will be after the war, a great ex-
pansion Of business and, in conse-
quence prosperity, is assured all
other European nations and our.
selves.
So far as markets are concerned
the demand in all countries will SC
far exceed supplies that production
will lag behind consumption for 9
long time to come.
More Jobs Than Men. ..,
Also, there will be here and abroad
more jobs than there are men to Al
them. The rebuilding necessitie.
alone, in every nation save our own
are enough to insure enormous busi.
ness activity for years. In thi.
country for nearly four years mil
lions of people have been unable te
buy the things they want, but. have
in the savings banks billions with
which to buy whenever production
is resumed.
Prosperity cannot fail to follow
the war unless, by stupendous stu
pidity in making the peace or in the
effort, through an international col
lective security organization, to pre-
serve 1t. We should kick 1t away. That
this will not happen is the present
conviction Of the more clear headed
realists among the international
economists.
So logically and plausibly do they
argue that there has been-at least
IN washington - noticeable de-
crease In the hand wringers" and
the Crepe hangers" Undoubtedly
as the San Francisco Conference
opens there is more optimism than
there was q month ago. More people
believe civilization not only will sur
vive but progress. Fewer think the
world Is through.
80 far as our Government Is con-
eerned the first essential would seem
to be that the key positions be filled
by men who know what ought to be
done and how to do it. It is not q
secret that the men in this country
who know most about these inter-
national problems are not in the
Government but outside.
This Is question which President