Evening star., 1947-09-23

~S~ WIN NSs WYE
Four-Yeor Commitment '
By Majority Vote Barred
Under Constitution
By David Laurence
The 16 European governments
asking for help under the Marshall
plan will be lucky If Congress ap-
propriates so per cent of the sums
requested.
Likewise, it is unrealistic to as
sumo that Congress is going. to
adopt any four-year plan. Under
the American constitutional system,
Congress Is in session for no longer
than two years and no Congress can
bind o successor Congress.
This means that nobody can
make such commitment byta ma
jority vote of both Houses. Even
if the Marshall Plan is embodied
in the form of a treaty, requiring
two-thirds vote of the Senate for
ratification, it would require ma
jority vote Of both Houses to ap-
propriate any money for this pur-
pose and, again, no Congress can
make a four-year commitment.
The fact that President Truman
and Secretary Marshall promise
American aid for four years might
weigh considerably with succeeding
officials but If circumstances change
and it appears that the European
countries are not fulfilling their
part of the program, the decision
with respect to continuance of ap-
preparations would rest with each
session Of Congress.
Trend Of U. S. Opinion.
The trend of American opinion,
Of course, is towards granting aid
to Europe for rehabilitation and
relief. There is a substantial ma
jority Of Republicans and Democrats
in Congress who favor the principle
Of. American aid to Europe. No
Issue Of "isolationism" has ap-
peared as yet and is not likely to
color the debate in any important
aspect.
But on the basis of information
available thus far, the Marshall
program will have hard shedding.
The days of "lease-lend" and blank
checks" when all that Europe had
to do was ask and the Administra-
ton handed out billions of dollars,
would appear to be over. Such
laxity was considered justified in
wartime. It is not so readily justi-
ned in peacetime-at least not to
the satisfaction of a Congress. which
wants to see facts and figures.
Many members of Congress are
In Europe investigating the situa-
ton. They will have much to do
with influencing the decision of
their colleagues. Judging from the
rumblings heard in Washington in
recent weeks, there Is much skep-
ticism about the extent of the aid
to be forthcoming.
1t Is not doubted that the Euro
pean countries could use up to
: so ,000, ,e00, 900 and even more, but
1t Is doubted whether this amount
Is necessary and whether more of
the total sum cannot be furnished
in the way Of production of goods
by the Europeans themselves.
The hysteria and cries of alarm
which have been set up in dispatches
from abroad have been harmful to
the Marshall plan. Those who think
they can high-pressure the Ameri-
can Congress into appropriating bill
lions just on the say-so of a round
table conference in Paris or any,
where else will be disillusioned when
the debate starts.
Won't Speed Action.
The fears repeatedly expressed in
series of alarms that America must
hurry or aid will be "too late" will
not accelerate action here. It may
stampede the State Department,
which shows an inclination to rush
the plan through by creating
wartime emergency atmosphere, but
1t will not stampede Congress.
President Truman will call spe-
eial session Of Congress for De-
cember l at the latest, but it is
highly probable that the debate will
last at least two or three months
anyway. There may be stop-gap aid
IN the form of food relief, but when
1t comes to direct loans for rehabili-
tation on anything like the scale of
the preliminary report received
from the conference at Paris, it Is
q safe bet that Congress isn't going
to be hurried in discussing the re-
port or in taking comprehensive
testimony on the subject.
The big obstacle to the adoption
Of the Marshall plan may be the
inability Of Europe to furnish as
surances as to what will be done
with the money. 1t will be charged
that this Is violation of sovereignty
and 50 on, but the banker who lends
money without knowing what the
borrower will do with it, or without
some method of checking on it's
subsequent use, Is not very careful
Of his depositors' money. There are
some members Of Congress-strange
as it may seem to the spenderS in
our midst-Who feel about the tax
payers money degree of trust quite
similar to that which the banker
feels about the deposits in his bank.
So the European countries might
better not start spending the Mar
shall plan billions just yet.
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