Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1956-10-23
Help for Poland?

American pOl1cy-makerS must now
ask themselves what the United States
can or ought to do to bolster the new
Gomulka regime in Warsaw. Through
its chief newspaper mouthpiece, that
regime has made a point of declaring
that we should not NEEDLE in any way
with internal Polish affairs. But it has
indicated at the same time that it would
welcome our economic aid with no po-
litical strings attached"
This raises for our Government eS-
Sentially the same questions as were
raised in 1948 when Marshal Tito of
YugoSlavia declared his independence of
Stalin'S Kremlin Our answer ever since
then has been to extend great deal of
help, including military equipment, to
the Belgrade government. We have done
this in keeping with the more or less
hardheaded theory that it would serve
the best interests of our own country and
the free world at large to support
nationaliStic Communist regime against
the threats and preSSures of a Soviet
dictatorship intent upon reducing all the
satellite lands to a role of complete sub
Servience and puppetry.
Certainly as far as the visible record
shows, this policy has paid off in terms
of our relations with YugoSlavia and of
YugoSlavia's relations with the Kremlin.
At any rate, as President Eisenhower has
stated in his recent report to Congress
on continuing aid to Belgrade, Marshal
Tito'S government, even though essen
TALLY Communist dictatorship, still
gives every evidence. of being its own
boss-an independent political entity not
subject to Moscow'S orders. More than
that, "TitoiSm" seems very definitely to
have had potent influence on the satel-
lite nations as a kind of benign contagion
that has infected those nations with an
ever-increasing urge to rid themselves of
Soviet domination.
Events in Poland-although they
must still be watched with a large meas
ure of reServe-indicate that this con-
tagion continues to be active And they
suggest, by the same token, that it might
be both prudent and wise for the United
States to respond aff1rmatively if Mr..
Gomulka and his apparently independ-
ence-bent Communist Setup in Warsaw
make clear and specific bid for aid from
us. The Polish economy, which is tied
in closely with that of the Soviet Union,
is in very bad way largely because it
has been subjected to Kremlin- directed
exploitation and abuses, and American
help in such circumstances could be of
utmost significance from the standpoint
of both the Poles and ourselves.
What remains to be seen, of course,
is whether Poland under Mr. Gomulka
will ask our country for economic assist
ance and whether it will do so in man.
ner warranting our cooperation. Mean
while, the question is one that is we'll
worth careful consideration. This is
matter that applies also to the captive
countries in general-notably Hungary,
where there seems to be a constantly
increasing pressure for independence.
Indeed, the whole world behind the
Iron Curtain in Europe appears to be in
ferment potentially deep and wide
spread enough to result eventually in the
breakup of the Soviet satellite empire.
And needless to say, if aid to Poland will
help to expedite such breakup, the aid
should be extended.