Evening star., 1948-01-12

largely business operation.
Both Senate and House commit
tees are holding hearings on the
proposed program preliminary to
votes on whether to recommend
that Congress approve it.
Generally, sentiment appears to
favor a program of some nature.
But there are sharp differences Of
opinion over the amount of aid
and how it should be handled.
While the committees were meet
ing, Representative Mason, Repub-
lican, of Illinois, questioned in a
House speech whether "a few more
billions of dollars scattered around
the fringes of Europe will save
those countries from communism. !"
Sees U. s. Rationing Return.
If the United States continues to
help Europe at the present rate, Mr..
Mason said, I'VE shall within a
short time have a return of ration
ing in the United States and prob
ably many new drastic controls of
industry and prices"
One idea getting attention in the
House Committee is to put the pro-
gram under a special eight-member
board. Those backing 1t say it
would mean a business like" ad-
ministration. 1t is that point which
Gen. Marshall opposed.
In the statement he prepared for
the House Committee Secretary
Marshall omitted his declaration to
q Senate Foreign Relations Com
mittee last week that Congress
should either undertake to meet the
requirements of tie situation, or
not undertake it at all. When he
had finished reading his new state
ment, however, he asked permission
to include in the. House record the
text of what he originally told the
Senate committee.
F. George Objected to Alternatives.
|, Senator George, Democrat, of
Georgia, chided the State Depart
ment last week for putting up to
Congress what he called absolute
alternatives" and cited the Secre-
tary's reference to not undertaking
the program at all as an example.
In his new statement today,
Secretary Marshall said:
obviously, an adequate program
must be within American capacity
to support, or 1t would be dangerous
both to ourselves and to the free
world. For that reason the Harri-
man, Krug and Nourse committees
and all the related departments of
the executive branch have studied
the impact of proposed foreign aid
upon the American economy. They
have concluded that a program OF
this magnitude can be safely and
wisely undertaken"
State Department officials as
sured the Senate Committee Fri
day that Mr.. Marshall in his original
testimony had no intention of con-
veying the thought that it should
be $500, 100000 for the first Is
months or nothing. They said he
was stressing that 1t be adequate.
Thinks That Figure Adequate.
Before the House Committee to-
day he put it this way:
I'm my judgment, the proposed
program, beginning with $780,
600, 900 and carried through in de-
creasing amounts for each Of the
following three years, should make
possible sustained economic re-
covery in Western Europe. This
figure results from complex calcu-
lations. It takes into account the
anticipated production, exports,
and imports of the participating
countries in their relation to all
parts of the world and the avail
ability of supplies both in the
United States and elsewhere.
AS he took the stand, however,
some House Republican leaders were
reported considering slashing the
first instalment to $4,000, ,00o, 900.
Turning from the amount in the
program to its organization and
operation, the Secretary para
phrased an utterance of Chairman
Vandenberg of the Senate Foreign
Relations Committee when he said:
1T is equally important that the
program be administered in busi-
ness-like way that commands the
confidence of the American people
and the peoples and governments of
Europe"
Mr.. Marshall agreed that 1T must
be primarily a business, technical
and engineering job" These func-
tions of business management, he
said. I'VE propose be assigned to an
Economic Cooperation Administra-
ton. In exercising these functions
we should expect the ECA to con-
suit with other agencies Of Gov