"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."