EUROPE'S RECOVERY STIMULATED BY SUCCESS OF MARSHALL AID

Grey River Argus, 12 October 1948, Page 5

EUROPE'S RECOVERY STIMULATED BY SUCCESS OF MARSHALL AID

ADMINISTRATOR PRAISES PARTICIPANTS

(Rec. 10 p.m.) WASHINGTON, October 10. Europe’s drive for recovery, under the Marshall Plan, was succeeding admirably, despite Soviet resistance, said the Economic Co-operation Administrator, Mr Paul Hoffman, to-day. Russia exposed her position, with horrible clarity, when she and her satellites -withdrew from the recovery programme at its inception.

‘‘Russia wants no European recovery programme. She wants confusion and chaos as a basis’ for the advance of totalitarian dictatorships.” Mr Hoffman said that in the first six months of the Economic Co-operation Administration Programme, the sixteen Marshall Plan countries had increased their output of coal, steel, electricity, manufactured goods and fertilisers.

“Their crops are better, not on'ly because of the good weather, but because of the million tons of fertiliser beinq produced in Europe this year, compared with 750,000. tons before the

war. The participating nations will soon have a currency clearance programme operating. The barriers to the movement of goods, services and people, among the nations are gradually being reduced. Finally, for the first time in modern history, representatives of the Free Nations oi Europe sat around a conference table for months and came out with an overall Recovery Programme for all of West Europe. • , “This is further evidence tnat more progress has been made toward European unification since the programme of foreign assistance was proposed, than has been made in several centuries.”

Request for United Germany LONDON, Oct. 10. The British-Soviet Society carried a resolution at its, annual conference to-day, urging the Government to accept the policy of a united Germany, to extend trade with and to resume direct negotiations with the Soviet Government on Berlin dispute. The resolution snoke of the necessity for taking all possible steps to agree with Russia’s proposals for an immediate reduction in armaments and the abolition of the atomic bomb, together with the necessary international control and inspection.

Russians Take Notice (Rec. 9.0 L LONDON,. Oct. ID The Moscow Radio reported Mr Churchill’s Llandudno speech in one sentence, saying it was “full of malicious anti-Sobiet attacks.”