Evening star., 1949-06-06

The teri OF talk oipen BY
Gen. George c. Marshall last
night at a dinner oipen in his
honor by the Ambdssadors of
the f6 Marshall Plan countries:
I am highly honored this eve
ming by the presence Of the Presi-
dent Of the United States, by the
generous expressions of Mr.. Hofi-
man, the leading figure Of the re-
covery program. in introducing me,
and especially by you gentlemen
the ambassadorial representatives
Of the l6 nations engaged In the
greatest cooperative effort In his
tory to make the world safe again,
prosperous and peaceful.
To be your guest tonight. having
in mind all that you represent in
the history OF civilization and In
the struggle for freedom today Is q
very special honor that makes me
feel both humble and grateful be-
yond mere words to expressed.
In thinking over what I might
say tonight the thought occurred
to me that you would probably be
interested in a first-hand account
of the events and conditions which
finally led to the statement made
by me at Harvard two years ago
today, which initiated the present
recovery program and ali that 1t
invnIyed
Statement Recalled.
I took over the ofiice Of Secretary
Of State in late January. 1947, with
date already set for a meeting
of the Council OF Foreign Ministers
in Moscow In the following March.
The Senate of the United States was
about to ratify the treaties for the
satellite countries which had been
finally agreed to by the Council Of
Foreign Ministers in December Of
1916. The next step, so far as we
could see, was the completion of the
Austrian treaty then being drafted
by the deputies of the council, and
to reach the basic agreements neces-
sary for a unified German economy
and for the conclusion Of Ger
man peace treaty.
I went to Moscow with q very
sincere purpose Of finding agree
ment with my three associate
foreign ministers, II 1t was at all
possible to do so. to bring about
feeling of security for the future
along with a reasonable hope of re-
stored prosperity and individual
freedom.
After weeks of futile and frus-
trating negotiations 1t was apparent
that we would not, at least for the
time being, be able to organize all
OF Germany into sound economic
union. Something therefore was i'm
mediately necessary to meet the
desperate situation in Germany and
the increasing cost of governing a
portion only of the country. A new
level of industry was indicated
which would be necessary If we were
to operate without the participation
of the Soviet-controlled zone.
And this meant new schedule for
DidI1J IeHlOFdlS VII lCPdi dUioAA ~
counts, since more plants would be
needed to support the country con-
trolled by us, and, therefore, a new
and higher level of industry than
had been previously agreed upon BY
the four allies on the basis OF a
unified Germany. However 1t was
late in May of 1947 before this new
level could be accurately determined
and agreed upon. By that time it
was increasingly apparent that our
immediate problem was a far wider
one than the problem of Germany
alone, that q serious situation was
rapidly growing up throughout
Western Europe in general and that
much more drastic action was TO be
necessary If a serious dissolution OF
stable government in that portion
of Europe was to be prevented.
Special Funds Needed.
To those of us in this country di-
rectly concerned in this matter 1t