Evening star., 1948-05-17

Mr.. Bro,nn has just returned from Europe
iohere he serped as a member OF the An,eri-
can delegation to the International Confer
ence on Freedom OF Information in Genera.
Before and after the conference, he had an
opportunity for a quick look at Western
Europe three years after We day. In the
toHo,osng article. he records his impressions.
Nothing Is 50 striking about the European
scene three years after We day as the wide
divergence in circumstances between various
countries due both to past war destruction
and to present government policy.
Britain fights for recovery the hard way
which her Labor Socialist governors OF the
day consider the just way. Thus. Labor gov
ernment policy greatly emphasizes the even
distribution OF practically all the material
things of life. and foregoes the incentive to
effort which the opportunities for individual
gain under freer enterprise would provide.
France and Italy, following the lead Of Bel
GUM, have gone in the direction of freeing
enterprise as q means to increase production,
and have risked the social and political strains
which that policy involves. England, conse-
quently, has little or no communism, while
France and italy still have a Communist
strength Of about 80 per cent. But the conti-
mental countries appear to be regaining pro-
ductiveness faster than England
England Seems Still to Lag
At least perhaps from the superficial point
OF view, there appears to be more drive, more
nervous energy and, for those who can AFFORD
It, more to buy in the continental countries
than in England. England seems, indeed, not
only drab, but austere. The hxed price Of
restaurant meals 10 adhered to- and certainly
the fare offered is not what 1t IL in q great
many French restaurants, only partly because
the French have greater culinary SKILL but
also because the black market thrives In France
As 1t cannot in England.
Which has chosen the better road? That is
. debate for economists and sociolosists. I
attempt only to give personal Impressions
quickly absorbed.
There are shortages of course, in. France.
The people on the streets ere not gay. Tho
French countryside was never more lovely
than in this spring OF favorable weather But
the struggle for balance and for progress IL
evident everywhere. The visitor is always con-
scious OF the meaning OF the franc at 800 to
the dollar from Monte Carlo, where roulette
play carries on with 15-cent bets, to Paris,
where lunch with young working newspaper
people, earning perhaps SIS 4 week, shows
you how hard the very high costs Of meals
and other things In France are upon the aver
age worker.
In the midst of this sits Switzerland, with
hard money francs, with prices only a shade
different from those in the United States and
with whatever you want to buy at those prices
in practically all the shops or restaurants Of
any Swiss city, except that the Swiss are TAX
ing moderate measures to prevent visitors
from spending too much In their restaurants
and shops lest such purchases drive prices too
high for the Swiss people.
And north of Switzerland is the French and
then the American zone of Germany with
bombed cities in 4 state Of shocking de-
struction and rubble. The bombed areas in
England have been cleaned up and fenced
about, though devastated areas and small noun
tains OF rubble show clearly enough what was
the extent Of the damage. But in Germany,