Evening star., 1950-07-31
Preparedness and the ECA

It will be unfortunate if Congress makes any
deep additional cuts in funds for the third year
of the Marshall Plan. Though primarily an enter
prise designed to restore the economic health
and political stability of Western Europe, the
plan has an indirect military role OF great i'm
portance, and its continuance on diminishing
but adequate scale-until its scheduled end in
1952-is significantly linked with the overall
effort to build up defenses against the Soviet
menace and tip the balance of power strongly in
favor of the free world.
The gravity of the current international
crisis should not be allowed to obscure what has
already been achieved by the Marshall Plan as
carried out by the Economic Cooperation Ad-
ministration. Little more than two years ago,
just before the ECA began to function, the
economies of most of the participating countries
were on the brink of complete collapse AS re-
suit of the Second World War, their industrial
and agricultural productivity was at danger
ously low level and their monetary position was
disintegrating under the hammer blows of inf1a-
tion The situation was one that played directly
into the hands of their native Communists-so
much so, in fact, that France and Italy seemed
for time to be very close to being overwhelmed
by their internal Red tide.
Within the past two years, however, this
bleak picture has undergone a remarkable
change for the better. Where once they were
nearly fiat on their backs the ECA countries
now have imitation well in hand have effectively
countered the internal Communist threat, have
made substantial progress toward political
stability, have begun to move forward to
economic integration, and have surpassed most
of their previous highs in industrial and agricul-
tural production. For example their combined
output of steel (roughly equivalent to half of
ours) today totals about 50OO00 900 tons year, or
some 20,000,000 more than the total being turned
out by Russia and its SatelliteS-a figure that
serves to illustrate the indirect military Signi-
fcance of the Marshall Plan.
Taking these and similar factors into con-
Sideration, 1t seems clear that funds for the ECAS
third year ought not to be cut any more than
they have been already. But this presupposes,
of course, that the participating countries-in
view of the dangerous new tensions in the world
will utilize those funds In way that will enable
them to build up their armed strength with the
utmost speed In the past, like the United States,
they have used nearly all their production for
civilian goods but from this point on they must
divert much larger percentage of it to rearma-
ment. Such diversion, together with increases
in their military budgets proportionate to ours,
has become essential not merely to safeguard the
gains they have already made under the Marshall
Plan but also to preserve the freedom of the
West as whole.
Assuming that all the participating countries
will take prompt action along these lines, then
the ECA, adequately financed in its third year,
can do much to promote the common security of
ourselves and our friends abroad. In that sense,
it may be said to be an integral part of the gen.
eral preparedness program that embraces our
armaments aid and the joint defensive planning
now being carried out by the twelve nations of
the Atlantic Pact. Conceivaby, given enough
time to develop fully, this effort can eventually
build up the free world to point of power too
formidable for the Kremlin to challenge-in
which case long-term East-West settlement
might be possible without resort to catastrophe
war.