Evening star., 1950-02-05
VituI to Western Europe

For the better part of year now, With
mounting emphasis, Economic Co-opera-
ton Administrator Paul G. Hoffman has
been hammering away at one basic idea
namely, that if Western Europe is to
achieve an enduring recovery the coun-
tries participating in the MARSHALL Plan
must take bold and positive steps toward
the integration of their separate and
claShing economies.
To that end, warning that the Kremlin
will be the long-run gamer otherwise, Mr..
Hoffman has been repeatedly appealing to
the governments involved to lose no time
in taking concrete action to thin out, or
eliminate altogether, what he has described
as their "chokeWeeds of high tariffs, car
tells and import and exchange controls"
Stated another way, what he has asked for
most of all are two things: % That they
work together toward establishing cur
rency union to make their money mutually
convertible, thus facilitating their ability
to finance their commercial dealings with
each other, and (2) that they liberalize
trade among themselves by lowering or
removing the barriers now blocking any
real advance toward their economic inte-
gration-an integration whose ultimate
effect would be to enrich and strengthen
the whole of Western Europe.
Unfortunately, however, owing in no
small measure. to British objections Mr..
Hoffman'S appeals have not yet succeeded
in bringing on the kind of action that is
needed. At the moment, the best he can
say of the situation is that the ECA coun-
tries have made disappointing" progress
toward currency union and liberalization
of trade among themselves. Last October
he told them that Congress, before appro-
priating new funds for the Marshall Plan,
would demand dramatic evidence" of an
earnest effort on their part to move toward
economic integration, but up to now that
evidence has been lacking-a fact which
incidentally serves to illustrate the imprac-
ticality of current proposals not merely for
a merger of Western Europe's economies,
but for an immediate all-out political
federation as we'll.
But Mr.. Hoffman, despite his disappoint-
ment, still entertains high hope" that
important integrating moves, especially as
ASo~Aeo SoAaSa may NC IdhGu WlGllln CQe
next sixty days. In any event, with the
Marshall Plan at crucial midway point,
he has made clear that the United States
cannot fail to finance the remaining two
years of the program without risking an
extremely grave setback in the short
range recovery of our friends abroad.
Accordingly, even though there has as yet
been no dramatic evidence" of progress
toward long-range integration, he has
emphatically stated that Congress should
finance the ECA's third year of operations
by appropriating the $3,10O,O0O 900 re-
quested by the administration. Failure to
do so, in his judgment could be tanta-
mount to losing the cold war to Russia in
Europe.
MIR. Hoffman speaks with special author
ity on this subject, and his warnings ought
therefore to be taken to heart. Moreover
fact that needs to be remembered is that
the Western Europeans have already
staged remarkable comeback with the
help of the Marshall Plan, and the chances
are-given two more years of that help
that they will not merely consolidate their
gains but also take substantial steps in
the direction advocated by Mr.. Hoffman.
Certainly, at this particular stage, anv
drastic slash in ECA funds could have the
most tragic consequences