THIS IS WHAT THEY SAID
Cj S
economic position. The picture is yet more definite
in view of the irremediable loss the Netherlands
had suffered as a result of the war. As described
recently by Emma Doran in the Journal of Com
merce, these included "wartime devastation, loss of
the greater part of her colonial empire, her limited
natural resources and her large imbalance in trade
with the United States."
Repair and Rebuild
Just before the flood hit the Netherlands, the
administration at The Hague was beginning to re
lax restrictions on house building and public works
projects. But, on February 11, Premier Willem
Drees was compelled to declare that because of re
construction expenditures brought about by the
flood, the government must temporarily reduce its
industrial investment program and cancel projected
tax cuts. The task at hand now is to repair and to
rebuild. But the pattern is familiar; it is: to face
a crisis, to deal with it, and go on to something
else.
Can the Netherlands overcome the terrific set
back which it has suffered as a result of the flood?
Right now the Dutch act as if such a question did
not exist at all. They are dealing with first things
first. They have definite armament commitments
under the European Army Program. There has
been no suggestion from The Hague that this pro
gram will be slowed down. The Dutch, rebuilding
their flood-devastated countryside, can fall back on
wartime experiences. During World War Two, the
flooding of Walcheren Island opened 38,000 acres
to the onrushing sea. The moment the armistice
was signed on May 8, 1945, Dutch engineers began
their work of rebuilding. At that time, cautious
experts said it might take up to nine years before
crops would grow again on the salty soil.
The new Walcheren Island dikes were actually
ready by January 1, 1946. And at the end of 1948,
nearly all the Walcheren land was again producing
crops. The flood of February, 1953, represents a
greater and more difficult job. Nature has been
even more devastating than man in wartime. The
job is enormous, and it will draw energy, man
power, and resources away from the splendidly re
habilitated Dutch economy.
When all is said and done, the Dutch are not
miracle men. They represent, in the world of ram
bunctious talk and destructive hostilities, a rather
old-fashioned picture of common sense and hard
work. Premier Drees, ten days after the flood dis
asters, reassured the world: "Our national life is
going on, our harbors are open, our transport is
working, our industry is ready to fulfill orders."
The Dutch, once again, were on the job.
Americans mobilized relief for the flood-stricken
Netherlands literally within hours of the disaster
news from Holland. Those wishing to do so may
send their donations directly to: Holland Flood
Relief, Box 300, New York 5, New York.
Huge, Inverted Pyramids
If we do not halt this steady process of building
commissions and regulatory bodies and special
legislation like huge inverted pyramids on every
one of the simple Constitutional provisions, we
shall soon be spending many billions of dollars
more.
franklin delano Roosevelt, Radio Speech,
March 2, 1930
Slightly Misquoted
Arthur Krock {Times) says in effect: Sen. Taft
didn't mean what he thought he wrote he meant
when he wrote that it was "incredible" that Ike
appointed Mr. Durkin Labor Secretary as it would
have been if Ike had appointed Mr. Acheson or
Senators McCarran, Jenner, or McCarthy.
dexter teed, (The Press in the Nation),
New York Post, Jan. 15, 1953
Stalin's Concessions
I don't agree that Stalin at Yalta was ruthless.
Stalin gave away a great many things; indeed one
of the most moving things about the Yalta Con
ference was that, at the height of Russian
military power, a height that has never been
equalled in the history of the world, Stalin went
into a conference dedicating himself and his coun
try to use that power for the establishment of in
ternational peace.
raymond swing, Town Meeting of the Air,
February 15, 1945
Tough on the Nerves
In retrospect it is manifest that we have not gone
backward but are slowly and jerkily inching for
ward. This period was bound to be full of shock
to many Americans at the moment far removed in
spirit from the deep inner torments seizing man
kind. For what we have been witnessing from afar
is the carpentry of a new world, "where a revolu
tion is being completed," as Jan Masaryk said the
other day, "which began a hundred years ago in
France" [i.e., in 1848]. It is going to last a long
time yet and for the American people it is bound
to be tough on the nerves.
edgar snow, in Stalin Must Have Peace,
1948
Senatorial Poetics
Consistency, thou fascinating jewel of sophisticated
humbuggery, loquacity, and confusion, cease, oh
cease to lead illustrious and irrepressible wind
bags astray by the blinding and bewildering light
of thy "alluring ray."
hon. matthew M. neely, in the Congres
sional Record, Nov. 14, 1951
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THE FREEMAN
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