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
"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, the United States 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.
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!
Wear it proudly!!