Evening star., 1947-11-09
PRINCIPLES

Committee on Foreign Atd fot-
IoDs.:
I. PRINCIPLES.
The Presidents Committee on
foreign aid was asked to determine
the limits within which the United
States could safely and wisely ex-
tend aid to Western Europe. 1t has
approached this assignment in a
spirit Of realism.
We believe that the future Of
Western Europe lies very much In
its own hands No amount of out
side aid, however generous, can by
itself restore to health the econo-
mics Of the Is nations which met
at Paris in July. Except in Western
Germany. where the United States
has direct governmental response
bility, the success of any aid pro-
gram depends ultimately on hard
work and straight thinking by the
people and the governments of the
European nations themselves.
The Is nations. and Western
Germany, comprise over 275,0000oO
men and women. They possess
great agricultural and industrial re-
sources. Even at its present de-
pressed state, the production OF this
area Is vastly greater than any aid
which this country can provide.
Such aid must be viewed not as a
means Of supporting Europe, but as
a spark which can fire the engine.
q. 8. Faces Burden.
The committee is also aware that
the volume of aid required from
the United States Is of such pro-
portions that 1t will place a sub
stantial burden on the people of the
United States. For all its resources,
the United States Is no limitless
cornucopia. The population of this
country represents something less
than 7 per cent of the population
Of the world. This country has
heavy responsibilities at home as
well as in Europe, in Asia, and in
BUR own hemisphere. The aid which
we give represents, to be sure, only
q small fraction of our total pro-
duction. But at the present time,
there is no slack in the American
economy and every shipment
abroad Of scarce goods-especially
food which Europe must have-adds
10 the inflationary pressure at home.
The committee regards as nom
sense the idea which prevails to a
considerable degree in this country
and abroad that we need to export
our good and services as free gifts,
to insure our own prosperity. On
the contrary, we are convinced that
the immediate economic danger to
the United States is inf1at tion, which
means, among other things. a short
age of goods in relation to demand
We believe that our goal should be
to bring about a condition where ex-
ports from this country are more
nearly balanced by a return flow
from abroad of services and mate
rtals essential to our own economy
We also believe that the European
nations desire to achieve such equi-
librium in the interests of their self
respect and prosperity. To make
this equilibrium possible should be
a major objective Of any program
Of aid.
Conflicting IdeoIogies Cited.
The interest Of the United States
IN Europe, however, cannot be meas
ured simply In economic terms. II
Is also strategic and political. We
all know that we are faced in the
world today with two conflicting
ideologies. One Is system In which
individual rights and liberties are
maintained. The opposing system is
one where iron discipline by the
state ruthlessiy stamps out indivld-
ual liberties and obliterates all op-
position.
Our position in the world has been
based for at least a century on the
existence In Europe Of a number OF
strong states committed by tradition
and inclination to the democratic
concept. The formulation of the
Paris report is the most recent dem
onstration that these nations desire
to maintain this concept.
But desire is not enough. The
democratic system must provide the
bare necessities of life now and
quickly rekindle the hope that by
hard work a higher standard OF
living is attainable. If these coun.
tries by democratic means do not
attain an improvement In their af-
fairs they may be driven to turn II,
the opposite direction. Therein lies
the strength Of the Communist tao
tic: It wins by default when misery
and chaos are great enough. There
fore the countries of Western Ell
rope must be restored to a position
where they may retain full faith 1r
the validity Of their traditional ap-
proaches to world affairs and again
exert their full influence and au-
thority In international life.
II. POLICIES.
The success of any program fol
aid which may be adopted will be-
pend on the policies which this
country and the European nations
pursue. Tt should be made con-
dition Of continued assistance under
such a plan that the participating
countries take all practicable steps
to achieve the production ar1o
monetary goals which they have sci
for themselves in the Paris report
Failure to make genuine efforts te
accomplish these result would cal
for cessation of further assistance
However, aid from this country
should not be conditioned on the
methods used to reach these goals
80 long as they are consistent with
basic democratic principles. Con-
tinued adherence to such principles
Is an essential condition to con-
tinued aid but this condition shoule
not require adherence to any form
of economic organization or the
abandonment of plans adopted II
and carried out in free and demo
cratic way. While this committee
firmly believes that the American
system Of free enterprise is the bes'
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