Evening star., 1947-02-23
A Matter of SeIf-Interest


A Matter of SeIf-Interest
In requesting Congress to appro-
pirate $350,000, 900 for relief abroad,
President Truman has rightly en-
phasized that affirmative action is
called for not only on humanitarian
grounds but "in the light of our own
self-interest as we'll" UNRRA is in
the last stages of liquidation, and
unless the United States takes the
lead among other nations able to
help, several countries in Europe and
Asia will be in desperate straits later
this year. In the Presidents words,
IF we fail to do our part, millions
of human beings will be denied the
elemental necessities of life," and
that in turn will undermine the spir-
itual, political and economic stability
essential to building a good peace.
Although other countries besides
our own must be expected to lend
hand, the United States occupies
a special position in relation to the
problem. AS by far the richest and
largest contributor to UNRRA, it has
exercised decisive voice in putting
an end to that emergency agency
and in placing relief on nation-to-
nation basis. When we called for
this change at the end of last year,
we made clear that the needy would
not be let down, and the appropria-
ton asked for by the President is
meant to guarantee that they will
not be let down. 1t Is meant to
provide only such basic essentials as
medical supplies, food and items to
aid in the production of foodstuffs.
Moreover, it would be administered
directly by us under our own control
rather than through an interna-
tional organization, and it would be
subject to strict conditions guarding
against misuse.
The last point is important. In
his message to Congress, the Presi-
dent has not specified what coun-
tries will be on the urgently needy
list A sum of $30O,OOO,OOO already
has been budgeted to the War De-
partment for relief purposes in Ger
many, Austria, Japan and Korea.
The appropriation now sought by
the President presumably would be
for the liberated, unoccupied lands
requiring post-UNRRA help. Apart
from China and other points in Asia,
these are expected to be Italy,
Greece, Hungary, Yugoslavia and
Poland. The last three are in the
so-called Soviet orbit and, owing to
our past trouble with them-particu-
larly with the Polish and Yugoslav
governments-there is natural dis
position in Congress not to do any,
thing for them. Yet we are on rec
ord against using food as political
weapon or penalizing hungry peoples
for the actions of their ruling re-
gimes. Further than that, the aid
contemplated by the President, if
requested by Warsaw or Belgrade,
would be extended only with the
understanding that it would be dis
tributed with complete impartiality
and under such guarantees as would
permit full observation by American
officials and representatives of our
press and radio.
At the moment Congress is en-
gagged in an earnest effort to econ
omize. In the field of foreign relief,
however, indiscriminate cuts cannot
be made without wrecking the hopes
of sorely distressed peoples and hurt
ing our own long-term interests.
Secretary of State Marshall has
called this the most urgent interna-
tional problem awaiting favorable
congressional action. The Presi-
dents message confirms that view.
Considering the safeguards that
would surround its use, the requested
appropriation ought not to meet
serious resistance. Without it, a
large section of the world would be
doomed to the kind of suffering that
breeds anarchy. Humanitarianism
to one side, there are any number
of hardheaded reasons why America
should do all it reasonably can to
restore stability to the needy lands