Evening star., 1950-03-19
Bargain Buy for Defense
By WiIIiom II. Stonemon

By William
would have gone through a des-
perate crisis. The S8.5 billion of
Marshall aid which they have re-
ceived during the first two years
of the plan has prevented that
crisis.
Considering the seriousness of
the political risk and the GER
tainty of economic and social
chaos, it seems reasonable to con-
clude that our peaceful preven-
tive economic war against COM
munism. at a cost of $13 billion,
was necessary and altogether
justifable defense measure.
1t is certainly a lot more eff
cient than the violent war against
the Axis.
So the answer to the question:
HAS the Marshall Plan paid?"
should. in our opinion. be a re-
sounding Yes"
Now for question no. 2:
SIS the Marshall Plan being run
properly?"
Our personal impression of ECA
officials is that they are generally
competent and in many cases ex-
ceptional people devoted to their
work and trying to earn their
pay.
AS bureaucracies go, the ECA
setup is undoubtedly an efficient
organization.
The same can be said for its
European counterpart, the OEEC
Reorganization of the 18 countries
which benefit from Marshall aid.
Three Criticisms
We would venture three criti-
cismst
l. The ECA suffers from the
defects of all bureaucracies. 1t
has it's careerists and backstab-
bers and it is drowned in docu-
ments. Everybody is always "in
conference.
1t is probably overstaffed
There are 521 Americans and 468
non-Americans in European ECA
headquarters in Paris.
There are 805 Americans and
885 non-Americans in the 18 spe-
cial missions, one of which Is
stationed in each beneficiary
country . grand total of 1926
Americans and 1858 non-Ameri-
cans.
2. ECA personnel live too os-
tenstatiously. They are given tc
driving flashy American cars and
living in apartments and villas
which they rent for eXorbitant
prices, financed by generous rem
tai allowances.
3. Some top officials are ac-
cused by responsible Europeans
of being doctrinaire and pig
headed.
One thing deserves to be sale
Of the ECA organization.
We have never heard anybody
who knows anything about the
Marshall Plan even suggest that
there has been any dishonesty
or sharp practice in the distribu-
ton of it's funds.
If there have been mistakes
they have been honest mistakes
made by honorable and high
minded people - "the Marshal
Plan is being run properly"
'Integration' a Joke
The saddest joke in Western
Europe today is integration.
The economic integration oi
non Communist Europe has beer
preached like a crusade by Ameri-
can Marshall planners.
Paul Hoffman, Averell Harri-
man and Dean Acheson have all
backed this Goth century Utopia
as if it were a practical PROPOSE
ton.
Because economic integration
or anything approaching it is not
attainable without political unfit
cation and because every adult
European knows it. the American
campaign has failed-and worse
| BY asking for the politica'
equivalent of the moon made oil
cheese, the American ECA chief.
have failed to put across a lot o1
concrete demands which are per.
fectly reasonable and need to be
enforced.
They have failed to eliminate
dual pricing" they have moi
prevented Marshall funds from
being used for duplication oil
production facilities, and they
have not been able to secure
reasonable fiscal and social re.
forms out Of governme, $ wher