The Key West citizen. [volume] (Key West, Fla.) 1879-current, 1950-04-01
MARSHALL PLAN WILL BE
TWO YEARS OLD MONDAY
PeI1illd Tie
World News
BY WALTER BREEDE. JR..
Associated Press Writer


The Marshall Plan-which has
been called both cheap insur-
anee against war and fool
hardy expense, will be two years
old on Monday.
The event will be celebrated at
a birthday party in the modernis-
tic 12-Story building in Wash
inston that serves the Economic
Cooperation Administration as
headquarters and home base.
There will be a birthday speech
by the father of the recovery
plan, former Secretary of State
George Marshall
1t was General Marshall who
first -uggested the plan in that
famous Harvard speech in June,
l947 II was not until April, 1913,
that the multi-millien dollar
project was signed into law and
the resources and wealth of the
United States were formally COM
mitted to it,
The Marshall Plan Is a major
cold war weapon. 1t didn't start
oft that wav. of course. In the
beginning, General Marshall in
vited all the nations to come on
in. Let's all get together, he said
and cooperate with one another
in q gigantic program of mutual
recovery from the economic ruin
and dislocation Of the war.
America stands behind you with
its industrial know-how and
great wealth. All we ask is that
yon cooperate. and pull together
Western Europe jumped at the
chance. Russia and her satellites
viewed the offer with deep sus-
picion. It's a Wall Street plot
they cried-a scheme to make us,
az slaves IF Western Imperialism.
So the Russians and their satel-
lites stayed out. In France, Italy,
and the other Marshall Plan
states, local Communists did
their best to hamstring the re-
coVery program. But aid from
the United States kept pourine
in at tts rate of billions of dol
lars a year. while the power and
prestige of the Communists
faded.
Fierce as it was. the European
fight over the Marshall Plan hae
been nothing compared to the
noisy battle right here at homo
in our own country. It's battle
that's still going strong right
now, in the furious Marshall
Plan debate in Congress.
There are two schools Of
thought There are those who
agree with Marshall Plan Ad-
ministrator Paul G. Hoffman
that the recovery program has
kept Western Europe from going
RID Marshall Plan supporter
point with pride to the new pros
perity that has come over Eu-
rope. Factory production in r.,
Marshall Plan countries = nigh
or today even thc.4 before the
1var-I5 to 30 per cent higher
The people have enough to eat
The once powerful Communist
parties in France and Italy have
lost heavily. with thousand
leaving their ranks. And there Is
no real unemployment.
Hoffman says the very fact
that Russia is against the Mar
shall Plan IS evidence that the
recovery program is succeeding
bevcnd all expectation. For, says
Hoffman, the Marshall Program
has put an end to unemployment
misery, hunger and want-con
ditions favorable to d Russian
inspired revolution.
On the other side we have the
doubling Thomases who remain
unconvinced. AS they see it, the
Marshall Plan is bleeding Amer
lea white. In their view. we are
pouring our dollars and OuT
goods ana our resources down q
rat hole that has no bottom. The
Europeans are grabbing all they
can while the grabbing is good
and making no effort to help
themselves out of their economic
difficulties. The Marshall Plan
critics tell US that Europe will 60
Communist anyway, and we will
be that much poorer and weaker
when the showdown finally
comes. Let's give the taxpayer
break, they shout. and put stop
to this nonsensical foreign spend
ing.
Then there are those who fear
competition from the revived in
dustries of Europe, industries that
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