America, the Good Neighbor This 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 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? > > 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 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 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 >