< TRIBUTE TO THE UNITED STATES > This, from a Canadian newspaper, is worth sharing. > 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 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 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 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 UnitedStates > 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? 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,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." > Stand proud, Americans
