A Tribute to the United States
America: The Good Neighbor.
This comes from a Canadian newspaper.
Widespread but only partial news coverage
was given recently to a remarkable
editorial broadcast from Toronto. The
editorial was 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
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?
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.
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.
Return to Just Neat Stuff Index
Return to Main Index
Music playing is "The National Anthem".