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Show EDITORIAL: Financial Stability Important SAN MARINO (CALIF.) TRIBUNE Notwithstanding authority of Presidential recommendations, as voiced by Mr. Truman in his war message to the joint session of Congress, the first measure to be directed toward preparedness prepared-ness and national security, is NOT the enactment of the so-called so-called "Marshall Plan" with its multiple billions of spending, or some other scheme of like purport, pur-port, and like cost to American taxpayers. The first move for preparedness, for meeting whatever what-ever eventuality may be in the offing, is for Congress to put this Nation on a sound financial and economic foundation by stopping at once the profligate spending and waste which are weakening our resources, financial finan-cial and material. The first move in that direction may well be reduction of the huge "Marshall Plan," ERP, what not, demand, to a figure commensurate with immediate European requirements. require-ments. To say that any such sum z as $5,000,000,000 is required all at once is wholly repugnant to financial common sense. It means simply that spendthrifting spendthrift-ing is proceeding unabated. Ever since our advent into Europe's Eu-rope's affairs, and concerns of nations practically world wide, and for a long time prior thereto, there-to, for that matter, government spending has gone on as though America's resources were absolutely abso-lutely unlimited and that all requirements re-quirements of financial supply were met by merely appropriating appropriat-ing billions. During two years the United' States has spent some $15,000,-000,000 $15,000,-000,000 in loans and grants abroad most of which has not only failed in its avowed purpose to stop the spread of communism, but some of which lias actually bolstered' forms of government in which America does not believe; be-lieve; and some of which has fallen fal-len into hands inimical to our stability and survival. Yet the presumption endures in Wash ington that American money bags will effectively dam the flow of communism if only we keep piling them on. President Truman has persisted persist-ed in maintaining a huge bureaucracy bur-eaucracy which, once having found its way into the street, in search of productive work, would release an enormous payroll pay-roll with which to meet much of European needs at this time. Mr. Truman, however, prefers to further burden American taxpayers tax-payers with sums which a few years since would have been deemed grotesque. Let it not be overlooked, furthermore, fur-thermore, that much of our material ma-terial substance sent abroad is just so much of our resources gone, never to return. ' The spendthrifting process cannot can-not go on and America at the same time remain prosperous to do what we might do for world recovery under a regime of financial fi-nancial sanity, free from politics and other influences not wholly identifiable at this time. Congress would do well not to overlook that one of the reasons rea-sons it is now in existence was and is to stop spendthrifting and the tossing of American substance sub-stance hither and yon. |