"Bastion of democracy" which must be maintained. As a matter of fact, Franco's bankers are at this moment here to negotiate a loan from private banks, a loan that has received State Department sanction. It is generally understood that from here it is just one short step to the inclusion of Franco's Fascist Spain into the Plan itself.
There is another ingredient which most economists agree is necessary to European recovery. That is trade between Eastern and Western Europe. Under the Marshall Plan, that trade is formally banned. While the countries of Western Europe are forced to buy non-essentials from us, they are forbidden to buy essentials from their neighbors to the east. We refuse all credits to those countries in Eastern Europe who sacrificed most in the war. We refuse to release gold belonging to the Yugoslav government, which could be used to make purchases in this country.
And what are these nations of Eastern Europe on whom we have set our economic boycott? How have they fared beyond the pale of the ERP? How do they compare with Western Europe under the plan? The weak industries of France and Italy, subjected to competition with American monopoly and American dictation, decline. Before the ERP was proposed, all Europe experienced a production drive. That drive has slowed down now. Not because of Communist campaigns, for the Communists in Britain and elsewhere openly advocated ever greater production. In France, it was not the Communists who sabotaged production, nor the other workers who legitimately struck against intolerable conditions. On the contrary, the finger of guilt was pointed by The New York Times itself, when on January 31 of this year, its correspondent wrote:
"A deliberately induced business slump is the present aim of the French government, it may be said on high authority. It is hoped that such a slump may be maintained for a large part of the period between now and June, when the Marshall Plan is expected."
On the other hand, there are the nations of Europe against whom the Plan is directed. They were ravaged by the war, occupied by the fiercest invaders of history, starved, and tortured. They have received no real aid from us. But if we're serious about helping those who help themselves, we ought to take a closer look. According to official UN statistics, this is how production stood in Europe last September. Using the 1937 figure as 100, Belgium stood at 94, France at 97, the American zone of Germany at 48, the British zone at 37, the Netherlands at 96. But Poland went over the top to 133.
Take steel production. Last October, Belgium was producing just 35 percent of what it did in 1937; France, 14 percent; and Italy only 12 percent. But Czechoslovakia topped its 1937 output by 10 percent and Hungary by more than one percent.
While real wages in France dropped sharply in 1946 and 1947, Poland's wage earners enjoyed a 35 percent raise. In France, Italy, and England, the people have...
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