Evening star., 1953-08-19
Foreign Aid and the Future

DeSplCe some rather WlSnful thoughts to
the contrary, the President has made clear to
Congress that he and his key advisers are
convinced that the best interests of the United
States rule out the possibility of an abrupt or
early end to large American outlays on foreign
military and economic aid.
In both the House and the Senate, more
than few influential voices have been raised
in favor of doing away with such aid in the
relatively near future. But the President, in
transmitting to Congress a formal report on
the mutual security program for the six months
ended last June 80, has left no room for doubt
that that program-even if on a less lavish
scale-Will have to continue for period of
indefinite duration, perhaps for several years
to come
Thus, in his letter of transmittal, which
amounts to full Endorsement of the report, the
President has been at pains to declare that our
American safety is "inextricably tied in with
the security and well-being of other free ma
tionS." And the report itSelf-drafted by the
Foreign Operations Administration, which has
replaced the Mutual Security Agency-has put
special emphasis in the following point: 1.-The
United States continues to be seriously threat
ened by Soviet military and political expan-
sioniSm. There is no real evidence that this
threat has diminished or will diminish within
the foreseeable future. The Soviet Union re-
tainS the capacity for aggression, and it has
demonstrated aggressive intentions on numer-
Gus occasions in the recent past"
In other words, despite it's dovelike noises
and olive-branch gestures, the post-Stalin
Kremlin still constitutes a threat of the first
magnitude to the free world, including the
United States. Accordingly, in the Presidents
View-as set forth in the foreign-aid report
our own country and all allied or hke-minded
nations must continue to build up their common
strength, politically, economically and mill
tarily. For it can hardly be doubted that as
long as there is no appreciable lessening of the
danger as long as peaceful Soviet words are
belied by menacing Soviet deeds, this kind of
cooperative preparedness for mutual defense
will remain one of the great imperatives of our
time-an imperative requiring, for some years,
a continuation of what the FOA has described
as "SubStantial' American assistance overseas.
But this assistance of course, cannot be
one-way operation. AS the President has en-
phasized through the FOA report, American aid
"alone cannot do the whole job," but must be
accompanied by a greater effort on the part
of the recipient countries to do more than they
have been doing to promote collective security
and economic and political stability in both
Europe and Asia. Apart from rearmament
these measures include steps t. encourage the
investment of private capital in developmental
projects, action to increase trade through a
lowering of tariff barriers, and promotion of
unifcation with enterprises like the Schuman
Plan and the European Defense Community.
Considering the current internal difficulties
of countries like France and Italy, the self-help
views expressed by the President and the FOA
may seem to add up to voice crying in the
wilderness. Yet, despite such discouragements
our mutual interalled effort has already ac-
complished enough to make sense of defeatism
unjustifed. 1t is an effort that must be con-
tinued. Otherwise, if we falter in it, or if our
allies fail to contribute their full share, the
Kremlin will benefit in way that could be
disastrous for all of us.