Evening star., 1951-04-02

President AurlOl OF france
Senate. Seated behind him o.
Speaker Rayburn.
shall be any doubt or waiting or
surmise, but that whenever
France or any free people is
threatened, the whole world will
be ready to vindicate its lib
erty. :"
Because they did not estab-
Ilish this union in time, because
they did not organize soon enough
and at the most vulnerable points
a collective defense prepared for
instant action, the democratic ma
Itions with their decisions delayed
by the interplay of their institu-
Itions or by the scruples and in
discipline of freedom were once
more thrown into the most de-
structive of wars. One after the
other, nations fell which would
have been saved had they joined
their forces. And France herself
who entered the fight faithful to
her word, was wounded on the
ramparts, imprisoned for four
years and almost destroyed.
Alternative To Resistance.
If our people had given up, If
for single moment they had
hesitated between resistance and
collaboration with the enemy, if
they had not been willing to SUBJ
Iject themselves to an implacable
oppression, had not chosen to
destroy, often with their own
hand their properties and their
tools, rather than work for the
enemy; if they had permitted him
at times when the fortunes of war
were in the balance to have free
disposition of their remaining re-
sources and forces in metropolitan
France and in her overseas terri
tories, what would Europe and the
world be today?
After such common fights and
sacrifices, the achievement of the
final victory must not make us
forget the perils to which we were
led by an unco-ordinated diplo-
macy and strategy. 1t is the very
lold story of the Horatii and the
fCuriatti. For the goal to be
reached is not to liberate a Europe
which may once more be occu-
pied, enslaved, exploited and
ravaged and whose name, you
may be sure, would only recall
the final ruin of a civilization
but rather, by shielding her
against aggression, to protect the
whole community of the free ma
tions and in this way to save
peace.
/ In putting into practice an ef-
Ifective union, in which risks as
well as efforts must be shared
France has a clear understanding
Iof her duties and of her rights.
Her contribution to the defense
of freedom and of peace is frs
of all her own recovery.
} Undoubtedly, gentlemen, oul
people are sometimes disparaged
and they are sometimes guilty ol
self -diSparagement. But those OF
you whom we have had the Joy
of welcoming in our country have
been able to see the road covered
since the liberation.
Conditions After War.
In 1914, the country was bleo
white, the state disrupted, 80 pc,
cent of our departments were In
/ ruins, our lands were laid fallow
|; our industrial equipment was pill
. laged or obsolete, our ports, our
. means of communication were ir
.Ishambles. more than two million
houses were destroyed or dam.
aged. our economy and our finan-
} ces were ruined. =.
: In 1851, there is an increased
population, republican institutions
are re-established, our production
has been raised. to the level e1
1873 as compared with a 100 ir
1888, our commercial balance Is
in equilibrium and our currency
Stabilized before the rise in prices
/, Iof raw materials could compro.
mise the equilibrium thus gradu-
ally attained, our homes have
been built again and the Spectel
of social troubles and of despair
has been pushed aside.
Gentlemen, it is with pride tina
II speak of the accomplishment!
Iof our workers, of our engineers
of our leaders of enterprise, of oul
farmers, of our administrators, O.
all Frenchmen and of their repre-.
sentatives. The generous aid tina
you have given us through th'
Marshall Plan, for which 7 an
happy to thank you today publicly
has not been extended to us il
{ vain. In giving a decisive impulse
to our paralyzed economy, it ha
again opened for us the way t,
work and to hope, and by driving
away the threat of unemployment
and misery, it has preserved u
! from those social upheavals whicl
are the breeding ground for ad
venture and tyranny.
Though great deal remains II
be done, this first balance sheet O
: our recovery program testifies +,