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Show Released by Western Newspaper Union. Can We Afford to Save Europe: O ESPONSIBLE policy making of ficials of our state departmem tell us it will take no less than 26 Dillion of our dollars to get ' ttye world operating again as a going concern. No government depart-.nent depart-.nent ever underestimates costs, and that 26 billion will be more rather than less. It may be America's Amer-ica's job, but can we do it without 'serious danger to our own economy? econ-omy? Can the people of the world afford a break in -our economic standards that today represent world hopes for the future? If America must provide food, clothing and other commodities to reequip a world broken by the war, to the extent of a value of 26 billion dollars, what will this drain do to America? The commodities such a program calls for must be - produced by Americans in America. These are commodities for which our own people peo-ple are now clamoring. With plenty of money around but few goods on store shelves, a condition develops that can easily become that threatened threat-ened inflation. It would mean all going out, but little or nothing coming com-ing in to help maintain our American Ameri-can standards. Without our help at rehabilitation, rehabili-tation, both Europe and Asia may, and probably will, go communistic. The civilization and ideologies Europe has known may be replaced by the Russian type. If we suffer uncontrolled un-controlled inflation in this country, coun-try, with a reduction in living standards, we probably will travel the same road. Before undertaking such a job it would be well for us to carefully consider the future for our own benefit and the benefit of those seeking seek-ing our help. That consideration should be a job, not for amateurs, but for the best qualified economists in the country. We Will Give 5 Billions Away. Through various channels we now are committed to an expenditure of more than five billions during the next year. That is not five billions in paper dollars. It is five billions to be paid in food and manufactured products, in exchange for which we will get no compensating products through which to maintain our standards; no products for Americans Ameri-cans to buy with the dollars they are being paid as wages, dividends or profits. The products we send to other nations do not decrease in value, but the American dollars paid to American workers for producing those products will decrease in purchasing power when we do not have enough commodities to absorb them at present values. The American people will go the limit of the nation's ability to save Europe and Asia from the threat of the Russian communistic Bear, but the worst catastrophe that could happen to the suffering nations of the world would be to have America fall a victim to that same Bear. It would mean an end to the kind of civilization we have known. Now is the time to find out how far we can safely go, and it takes wise heads to answer such a prob- lem. - Pattern for Politicians IT IS my belief that the man the majority of the American people would wish to choose for White House occupancy, beginning in January Jan-uary of 1949, would represent neither nei-ther the ultra, stand-pat conservatism conserva-tism of the Republican Harding administration, ad-ministration, or the New Deal revolutionary revo-lutionary efforts of the Franklin Roosevelt Democratic era. They would wish a man who knows the difference between revolution and evolution, who would not have ua stand still, nor run off On a revolutionary revolu-tionary tangent. They want a man who believes in advancement in keeping with changing conditions, but not in change merely for the sake of change. They want a man who will think more of effective government, and the people, than oJ politics; who will not cater to anj minority for the purpose of winning votes, or other reasons. The people will not be choosey as to what label tha candidate may run under, bul they will be choosey as to the qualifications qual-ifications of the candidate, and whal he stands for. NOW we propose to spend a million or two for writing a history his-tory of the Nuernberg trials of dead Nazis. A million dollars should produce a lot of words, and who will read them? Despite all evidence to the contrary, con-trary, it is evident many politicians have not yet learned the labor vote is not controlled by a limited number num-ber of vociferous mobsters who can make a lot of noise, but deliver few votes. There is no virtue in giving that which we do not want. President Truman's vetoes of the X and labor bills established th political issues for the 1948 elections. |