Madison County Democrat. (London, Ohio) 19??-1958, 1951-07-31
The World Today
Things Ger Complicated


ing money pulled out of his pocket
and pumped around the world in
foreign aid.
This particular kind of unhap-
piness seized upon Senator Tom
Connally yesterday and he made
it known.
The tail Texas Democrat, whose
BY James NARROW
white hair bangles over his collar
like an actors, is usually genial
but at times can be short-temper-
ed.
Yesterday was one of those
times and before he had his say
on foreign aid something else hap
pened which probably didn't inn
prove his temper.
He's chairman of the Senate's
powerful Foreign Relations Com
mittee, where membership and
Craftsmanship carry Importance
and prestige.
His committee was holding
hearings on president Truman's
request for SIS, 500, 900, 900 for arms
and economic aid for other coun-
tries.
1t sometimes happens that inn
portant senate committees squab-
BILE over the right to hold hearings
on particular problem.
It's hard to analyze the reasons
for such squabble in any given
case. The members of the COM
mittee may feel the others are.
trespassing on their property or
maybe even pride and prestige
get mixed up in their feelings.
At any rate, the Senate's power
full Armed Services Committee de-
manded the right to have equal
voice in the hearings on foreign
aid, since most of the money
asked for will be spent on arms.
Conally wanted no part of this
but was finally forced to consent
He said he gave in because he was
having rocks thrown" at his
head and he accused other senat-
ors of holding gun at his
head.
1t was after this unpleasant ex-
perience that Conally and his COM
mittee sat down to listen to Will
liam c. Foster, head of the Mar
shall Plan part of the for ei gn
aid program, say why the $780,
100000 is needed.
OF that total $6,300,000,000
would 60 for arms for OF h c r
countries and S2,200.000,000 would
be in economic help. Only 1913
100000 of the latter sum would
be in economic help for south
eastern Asia. This country has
already put more than $109,000,-
600 into such help for that area
since 194S).
Conally came to boil while
Foster was testifying. Turning
angrily to the ECA Chief, he de-
clared: You want to take til e
money that is squeezed out of tn e
taxpayers and go over there
(Asia) and support some of these
wobbly countries. xxx
You fellows who spend all of
your time spending the govern
ment's money never think where
the revenue comes from, you are
chasing problem out there when
our main problem is in Europe"
This explosion caused a buzz
in the capitol since Conally as
a fellow-Democrat of Mr.. Truman
and chairman of the committee
ordinarily would be expected to
help push the Presidents program
through.
And Conally's opposition to aid
for southeast Asia further COM
plicates our foreign policy prob
lens where the water gets just
a little muddier every time some
one else jumps in and starts slosh-
ing around.
Only last week Gen. Douglas
Macarthur, stern critic of the
administration, accused it of hav-
ing no foreign policy at all. a
view expressed many times by Mr..
Truman's Republican critics in
Congress.
But on one subject not over
looking Asia when help was being
handed out Macarthur N d
the Republicans, or some of them,
seem to go along, at least a little
bit, with the Truman administra-
tion:-
In his speech to Congress April
19 Macarthur said: The issues
are global and so interlocked
that to consider the problems of
one sector obliyious to til ose of
another is to court disaster for
the whole"
In his message to Congress urg-
ing help for southeast Asia Mr..
Truman told Congress that area
is in danger of being overrun by
communism and needs help unless
we want to face the loss of its
manpower and vital natural re-
sources.