Evening star., 1949-09-25
Foreign Aid
ClirnbSNear
IS Billions
Marshall Plan Only
= Part of American
Assistance
By Sierid Arne

When Congress approved the
Marshall Plan it was generally
understood that American help
would put Western Europe on its
feet by 1852. The overall cost
was to be about SIT, ,000, 900 900.
But the Marshall Plan has been
only part of American aid to the
world. There have been both gifts
and loans to rebuild the Philip
pines, help the Koreans. arm the
Greeks and Turks, stabilize Chi
nese currency, transfer ships and
surplus war property, help dis
placed persons and orphaned
children and help the new nation
of Israel.
All told, American aid to other
nations since the war ended
never mind American aid during
the war-is now approaching $35,-
000,000,000. This figure is de-
rived from a recent study done
by the Budget Bureau for Sena-
tor Byrd, Democrat, of Virginia.
The figure has never been made
public before.
The bureau says that by next
June the United States will have
put out s33.614.000.0 900 to its
friends around the world. The
total includes 81 ,643, 900 900 given
the Soviet Union and its satel-
lites before the State Department
decided that the shadow of the
hammer and sickle was nothing
to be subsidizing.
More for Arms Aid
The figure does not include the
billion or so which probably will
be voted to send arms to the Eu-
ropean nations which signed the
North Atlantic pact. That pact
binds the United States, Canada
and 10 European nations to help
each other if. any of them is at
tackled.
Right now the Marshall Plan
for Europe takes the biggest
chunk of money, but its success
has been questioned by Baron
Jean Snoy of Belgium and Robert
Marjolin of France. top officers in
the Office of European Economic
Cooperation, the Paris end of the
Marshall Plan.
Snoy and Marjolin turned out
q report in Paris on September l
which said that the $4,000, ,000,-
900 of American aid that has been
poured into Europe the past year
has not yet set the nations on
the road to recovery.
They said Europeans are living
better but are no closer to earn
ing the dollars they need to cover
the bill they are running up here
for food and raw materials.
Marshall Plan money was put
into Europe to stop communism.
Washington political experts ac-
knowledge now that if we are
faced in 1852 with a choice of
cutting off aid or seeing commu-
nism take over Europe many
Washington voices will be raised
in favor of keeping on with aid
to Europe.
Arms Figures Studied
So where does the American
foreign aid program lead and how
long will it last? That question
led the Senate into some rather
blunt arithmetic.
1t compared the populations
and national debts of the nations
which will be receiving arms aid
with United States population
and debt.
It found there are $4,000. 900
people in the nations wanting
arms and that they have a total
of $157, ,O00, 100000 in debt.
The United States has about
145. 5.000,0 900 people and a current
debt of $225, 900. 900 ,000-a higher
per capita debt than the nations
now looking here for arms.
The Senators went into what
the other North Atlantic pact ma
tions are spending on their mill
tary forces. Only the Neither
lands was spending as much as
the United States and the Dutch
are at war with the Indonesians.
distributed By the Associated PressJ