You may have seen this before, but what better time to remind the world.
This comes from a Canadian
newspaper. America: The Good Neighbor.
Widespread but only partial news coverage was given to this
remarkable editorial broadcast from Toronto by Gordon Sinclair, a Canadian television commentator. What
follows is the full text of his Trechant remarks as printed in the Congressional Record.
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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 billons in debts. None of these countries is today paying even the interest on its remaining debts
to the United States.
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When the franc 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
the 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.
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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 10? If so, why don't they fly them?
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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, you get radios.
You talk about German technocracy, you get automobiles. You talk about American technocracy, you find
men on the moon -- not once, but several times -- and safely home again.
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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 dolalrs 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.
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I can name you 5,000 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.
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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, Americans!
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