Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1960-11-26
LETTERS TO THE STAR
Did We Bite Off More Than We Can Chew?

Lieu INC lIldllh you 1Or puQ-
fishing on November is the
article by Sylvia Porter en-
titled, Kennedy Will Be
Cautious" advising that the
President-elect will act cou-
rageously and quickly to pro-
tect the soundness of the
dollar" because "he must do
So" The writer's explanation
Of reasons why "he must do
SO" is impressive in its truth
fitness and, we hope. accurate
in its prophecy.
But what of the implica-
tions of this article, and what
differences are to be drawn?
Do they not suggest the sad
dening truth that after a
dozen years or more we are
coming to a time of "agoniz-
ing reappraisal" of some
facets Of American foreign
policy?
Why is 1t that. as Sylvia
Porter says. "the dollar is
under attack and it's rank
as the mightiest currency in
the world is being questioned
openly?" The lady does not
tell us. We may only infer
the truth, which Is that the
United States has become
financially dehilitated by &C
lions taken pursuant to three
erroneous beliefs, (a) that
American dollars distributed
abroad can defend us against
the pressures of international
communism. (b) that Ameri-
can wealth is adequate to
sustain such dollar distribu-
ton, and (c) that American
inflationary high production
costs can withstand pressures
of competition based upon low
production costs in countries
receiving our distributed dol
lars.
At long last it is now dis
closed that these beliefs are
not working out to success;
that our expenditures for the
resuscitation of the rest of
the world are actually beyond
our capacity to bear; that
they have not relieved the
persisting pressures Of inter-
national communism: and
that they have revived COM
petitive economies to such a
degree that our own imitation
ridden high-cost prosperity"
is jeopardized. Wherefore the
American dollar is under
attack" and our alarm is so
serious that President Eisen-
hover is not only sending
emissarieS abroad to seek
European assistance, but is
also retrenching in a highly
sensitive area by calling home
dependents of American mill
tary forces stationed abroad.
There is irony in the fact.
as Sylvia Porter says, that
the President-elect must "act
courageously and quickly" in
this matter. For it was his
political party which first
formulated and promoted the
conception of American Ca
pacity to save the rest of the
world by dollar distribution.
a conception which the Re-
publican Party--to its shame
did not disavow. It was his
political party which gave
first encouragement to the
inf1ationary condition which
is responsible for our current
high production costs: an
encouragement which the Re-
publican Party-to its shame
did not adequately combat.
And it was his political party
which adopted at Los Angeles
a platform Of frightening
inflationary inclination which
if carried to execution will
further increase American
costs and thereby diminish
our ability to compete with
the very countries we have
so considerably helped.
It is to be doubted that
at any time in the past there
has subsisted such a totally
e m b arrassing situation
chargeable. as it Isl to mis-
taken appraisals by leaders
of both political parties, by
economists, bankers, editors
and other moulders OF public
opinion. But it is gratifying
that at long last we. are
coming to the denouement-
an acknowledgment that our
global do-gooders have loaded
upon us projects of grandiose
futility which will have to be
abandoned in order to save
from destruction the one
great fortress of freedom, a
sound and competent Ameri-
can economy.
1.-THE American dollar is
under attack" the lady says
What she means is that Uncle