Evening star., 1948-10-12
Travellers View of Europe


To the Editor Of The Star:
Just three weeks ago was standing In the
middle Of Europe in the middle Of tiny and
beautiful Switzerland. It was rather curious
feeling to look out from this mountain island
Of milk and chocolate and know that move
ment in any direction, north, east, south
or west. meant movement toward despair and
destruction Here was land of plenty, eyed
enviously by hundreds of millions OF less for
tunate or less industrious peoples.
A week previously was still north of the
Bodensee, in destroyed and desperate Ger
many, where doSter, lawyer, farmer and factory
worker alike are struggling merely to exist
amid mountains Of rubble, and where noun
tains Of milk and chocolate" are but as in
dream. It has been years since millions of
Germans have had sufficient bread, so that
the mere mention of Switzerland brings forth
smiles and sighs Of paradise. However, regard
less Of how hard working or hungry the Ger
mans may be they know that present occupa-
tion policies complete with continued dis
mantling Of factories can mean only less than
maximum production and less than sufhcient
bread. Not only is the fate of 80,000,00 Ger
mans In the balance, but the position of
America in Europe and the world is being
undermined-the Germans now are so des-
perate and SO hungry that instead of voting
for democracy, socialism or communism the
people are voting for bread regardless of its
origin. When are We practical Americans going
to be practical enough to realize that an ounce
Of American bread now is worth a pound Of
American flesh later?
Before my trip across the Swiss border I
had many wrong impressions of the land, its
people and their ideas. This resulted chiefly
from my trip through France, where it is not
uncommon to speak Of Switzerland with q
sneer. The main French objections to the
Swiss are that the latter work too hard work
too long, are too clean and do not know how
to enjoy life" II took much travelling and
many weeks Of observation to really under
stand what Frenchman means when he states
that he, in contrast to the Swiss, knows "how
to enjoy life" However, it all seems to boil
down 70 the fact that the French do like to
play, but do not like to work. If one inquiries
as to who is to do the low and menial tasks,
one Is being 'uncultured." The answer to the
inquiry is best seen and not heard.
When the colonies refused to work while the
French played, the latter became rather alarmed
But 1t was not long before new sources of
play money were uncovered. After the French
Army had won the Battle Of Europe" play
money was extracted to the limit from the
French occupation zone of Germany This,
together with disproportionately large slices
Of Marshall Plan American dollars, enables
a Frenchman to sip his cognac, remain firmly
implanted in his government job and let
George (alias Uncle Sam) do the work. When
is America going to be "uncultured" enough to
stop the movement Of German machine tools
to rusty graves in France while American
taxes keep pouring dollars into bureaucratic
tangle Of red tape and shaky, short-lved gov
ernments? When the basic unit of nation,
the individual, has an unhealthy attitude
toward work, chaos alone can be the final
result.
Germany wants to work. and we dismantle
her factories. France refuses to work and we
send her machinery-and yet we hope for
greater combined production! Wake up Amer
lea, it's getting late! CHARLES M MAYER.