| Show congress tackles labyrinthine job jol marshall plan complexities involve vast field of work by news analyst and commentator washington there never was a better example of the difficulties encountered in a democratic government than those which are being faced as the specially called short session of the congress carries on its debate today I 1 doubt if any parliamentary body in the world or any despotic ruler tor for that matter ever faced a problem more complicated in detail wider in its scope or more important in its potential results than the marshall for aiding europe since the idea ot of the marshall plan was first broached I 1 have had opportunity to 7 gain a few short but very intimate glimpses into the machinery which contributed to its completion some of at us tor for example recently were given a very condensed and revealing personal account of the last long earnest sessions in washington where the representatives P Bauh baukhage hage senta tivis tives ot of the 16 european countries sat gat down in the state department to carry on thair daily and sometimes nightly sein seminars inars with the representatives of at our government these discussions went through three phases the first phase was a careful expansion ot of details lacking in the formal report drawn up by the paris conference you would be surprised at the number and scope of those details many of which had to await special memoranda from technical experts in the countries involved for instance we can imagine a conversation something like this just a moment one of the american officials says with his pencil poised over the pad in front of him you say that it will be impossible to increase the output of the mines in country X without additional mining minine machinery you yon gave us the figures for the total equipment estimated but I 1 wish you would describe specifically the types and the quantity you yon need if the foreign expert had the statistics with him they were checked and the discussion of that particular item ended it if not the next point was taken up awaiting the detailed figures which had bad to be cabled from country X however that phase was concluded without any serious casualties in tact fact I 1 understand it bradu I 1 ally blended into the third phase which was a two sided discussion bringing out exactly how the paris report was formulated whether lor for instance it was a synthetic combination of various separate viewpoints and separate plans or whether the parts part were fitted together with due relation to each other so that they could be taken apart and put together again the americans took it apart and we were told it went together all right As I 1 say this was a two sided discussion cus sion and I 1 understand that it devel developed ped a common appraisal of the plan in other words when it was completed either american criticism had been satisfied or the european viewpoint had been sufficiently altered to achieve harmonious agreement in setting forth their views certain main factors were emphasized by the europeans in the first place in normal times western europe traditionally imported more goods from the western hemisphere than they exported to us however this imbalance was compensated for by the trade between the far east and western europe this trade furnished western europe with sufficient dollars to make up part of the difference secondly in normal times particularly ticul arly in the case of great britain there was wa the factor ot of invisible income this thi invisible income was made up in part of investments held by individual britons and the british government of the income in commissions commission and other fees which the british and other nations earned as a clearinghouse of merchandise through the use of shipping facilities and many other services which it was convenient and practical for european nations to provide for the world but this invisible income has ha largely disappeared now we asked one of the european En ropen representatives what had happened to it the partial answer of course was obvious with world trade at a standstill many of the services no longer are being provided and as a to the personal holdings one european representative said before the war I 1 owned shares of and ZO 20 shares of general motors but bot they hey had to go co long lone before the war was over the interruption of ry my earning power hab taxes and to so on oa still another important factor to ii the consideration of the normal trade which formerly existed be tween eastern and western europe ittai interesting to note at this point that considerable optimism was expressed by the europeans Europe aoi over the possibility of a resumption of Us this eastern western trade in the course or this meeting and several others we have had a chance to learn many more details of this complicated plan and its evolution that possibly can be report reported e d here and yet these meetings co could uld reveal only tiny fragments of the tremendous amount of research analysis study and discussion which was reduced to a few salient points and presented to committees of congress in secretary of state marshalls marchalls Mar final report secretary marshall himself had to go through a long period of briefing in his last news con conference conferee feren ce before he met with congressional committeemen mitte emen he had as he be put it immense ground to cover marshall target of press critics I 1 mentioned secretary of state marshall and his last news conference before meeting with t the he an congressional committees there has been growing criticism of mr marshall here in washington it took form after the conference and has appeared la in editorials one washington editorialist complained that marshall wont talk that the newsmen at the conference drew a blank because marshall was uncommunicative nica tive the question came up for example marshall would say nothing he added not petulantly but in a tone that hat forbade further questioning furthermore I 1 dont feel obliged to report on every conversation I 1 have with the president period that was quite true he and any secretary of state who did feel obliged to import all information exchanged with the chief would not long hold his job but in a democracy if you are an official you have to live in a goldfish bowl the editorialist quoted the late clinton gilbert on secretary of state later chief jus marshall and the press tice charles evans hughes hughei gilbert speaking of hughes said he talks talk to toi the country daily he takes the people into hla his confidence telling all that can be told and as soon as it can be told he makes no step without carrying the country with him that is i democratic control of foreign relations well that is not state secretary marshalls marchalls Mar way many of the traits that make a man a splendid leader of armies a strategist likewise make it impossible for him to cater to a public which reacts only to emotions not as armor plate reacts to shell shelldrea you cannot land a million men on a foreign beachhead nor teed feed and clothe and care for them so they en ean carry out their gigantic mission with a glib tongue a charming smile or a keen sense of publicity that gets your campaign on the first pages secretary of state marshall Is a great planner and an excellent executor of plans it Is up to someone else to sell those plans |
