From
a Canadian newspaper....
America:
The Good Neighbor
Widespread but only partial news coverage was given
recently to a remarkable editorial broadcast from Toronto
by Gordon Sinclair, a Canadian television commentator.
What follows is the full text of his trenchant remarks as
printed in the Congressional Record:
"This Canadian thinks it is time to speak up for the
Americans as the most generous and possibly the least
appreciated people on all the earth. Germany, Japan and,
to a lesser extent, Britain and Italy were lifted out of
the debris of war by the Americans who poured in billions
of dollars and forgave other billions in debts. None of
these countries is today paying even the interest on its
remaining debts to the United States.
"When France was in danger of collapsing in 1956, it
was the Americans who propped it up, and their reward was
to be insulted and swindled on the streets of Paris. I
was there. I saw it.
"When earthquakes hit distant cities, it is the
United States that hurries in to help. This spring, 59
American communities were flattened by tornadoes. Nobody
helped.
"The Marshall Plan and the Truman Policy pumped
billions of dollars into
discouraged countries. Now newspapers in those countries
are writing about the decadent, warmongering
Americans. I'd like to see just one of those
countries that is gloating over the erosion of the United
States dollar build its own airplane.
"Does
any other country in the world have a plane to equal the
Boeing Jumbo Jet, the Lockheed Tri-Star, or the Douglas
DC10? If so, why don't they fly them? Why do all the
International lines except Russia fly American Planes?
"Why does no other land on earth even consider
putting a man or woman on the moon? You talk about
Japanese technocracy, and you get radios. You talk
about German technocracy, and you get automobiles.
You talk about American technocracy, and you find men on
the moon - not once, but several times - and safely home
again.
"You talk about scandals, and the Americans put
theirs right in the store window for everybody to look
at. Even their draft-dodgers are not pursued and hounded.
They are here on our streets, and most of them, unless
they are breaking Canadian laws, are getting American
dollars from ma and pa at home to spend here.
"When the railways of France, Germany and India were
breaking down through age, it was the Americans who
rebuilt them. When the Pennsylvania Railroad and
the New York Central went broke, nobody loaned them an
old caboose. Both are still broke.
"I can name you 5000 times when the Americans raced
to the help of other people in trouble. Can you name me
even one time when someone else raced to the Americans in
trouble? I don't think there was outside help even during
the San Francisco earthquake.
"Our
neighbors have faced it alone, and I'm one Canadian who
is damned tired of hearing them get kicked around. They
will come out of this thing with their flag high. And
when they do, they are entitled to thumb their nose at
the lands that are gloating over their present troubles.
I hope Canada is not one of those.
"Stand proud, America!"
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