Evening star., 1949-01-30

have been more serious than was
anticipated. Politics has been some
thing new, particularly to the INTEL
iigentsia, which constituted q
minority in each Of these territories.
Political activity is now being used
to some extent to provide special
advantages to the few who have
benefited from Western education.
China and Greece Examples
AS a consequence there is con-
tinIous turmoil in those areas and
it cannot be suppressed for some
time yet simply by sending min
ing, agricultural and other economic
experts. Russian agents. who are
far more skillful than Western
representatives. are under orders
to prevent any racif1cation and
20 keep the pot boiling as long as
possible.
These direct actions cannot be
answered with peaceful economic
developments. Greece and China
can be taken as typical examples.
The Greek population has hum
gered for peace after years Of war
and Nazi-Fascist occupation. The
Greeks would have been glad to
bury all their political hatchets and
get down to the solid work of re-
construction. Yet, thanks to the
Moscow-lnspired Communist guer-
rilla warfare. which broke out soon
after world peace" was restored in
1945, Greece today is in complete
turmoil. The farmers cannot work
their fields because of the continued
threat of incursions by the Com
munist gue.rilias The young rlen,
instead of oeyoting their time to
constructive work, must remain in
definitely in the armed forces.
Kremlin Hopes We Run Dry
In China. had it not been for
the devastating effects of the Conn
munists who were aided and spon.
sored by Moscow, the corrupt Kuo-
mintang government could have
been induced to start some kind
of reconstruction work. The riches
Of China and her need for manu-
Efactured goods would have made
this possible. But no country. no
matter how advanced, can apply
itself to peaceful reconstruction so
long as domestic strife continues.
And the U. S. S. r. has not missed a
single opportunity to create cha
totic situations in far-away coun-
tries in order to prevent the orderly
revival of q peaceful world.
There Is a strong suspicion in
many Washington quarters that
Moscow and her satellites are op-
posing the Marshall Plan tooth and
nail, not because they fear its bene-
ficial effects in the non-Commu.
mist countries, but because they real.
ize that so long as they keep things
stirred up no tangible results are
possible.
And the more they oppose ERP
the more determined will the Amer.
ican Government be to spend bill.
lions on the project. Soviet econ-
omists feel certain that we cannot
indefinitely export cur raw and
manufactured goods without Great
ing an economic crisis In this coun.
try. And this Is the chief hope Of
the Kremlin in its effort to deal
adequately" with the only remain-
ing barrier to its plans for world
conquest-the United States.
There is, however, one item Of
which there is still q surplus In
this country, exportable capital.
Flag Doesn't Follow Dollar
President Truman mentioned
clearly in his inaugural speech that
American private capital will be
used to help certain countries
which possess the potentiality for
raising their standard Of living, but
which cannot do so because they
do not have the necessary means.
A guarantee by the Federal Gov
ernment to such private capital Is
not likely to be accepted as the
ideal solution, and it is doubtful
that American capitalists will re-
quire it. The day Of the flag fol-
lowing the dollar, as it did in Latin
America in the middle 1920s, is
dead.
In the year which followed World
War II there were biologists in
the State Department who inter-
fered with what should have been
the natural development of Amer
ican capital-investment abroad at
its own risk.
Because of wartime regulations,
American banks, which are the
principal channels for foreign in
vestment, have become accustomed
to look to the State Department
for the green light before transact
ing any foreign business. This was
natural, for In wartime all Of the
country's resources are mobilized
and must follow q pattern set by
the Government on the basis Of the
needs Of the state.
Once the war ended there was
no valid reason why this situation
should have continued. Yet, in the
case Of Spain, the willingness Of
important banking firms to grant
credits to that country was stymied
by advice" from certain officials
of the State Department. The odd
thing is that President Truman and
former Secretary of State Marshall
were strongly in favor, in the last
18 months, Of resuming normal eco-
nomic relations with that country.
In spite of the dramatic change
in our relations with the U. s. S. r.,