Out of Hand

The "Marshall approach," which a few scant months ago had seemed like the hope of the world, ran into trouble.

The 16 nations which comprise the European Economic Conference had been meeting in Paris since July 12. Presumably they were working out, in concert, a plan whereby Europe, with U.S. money and goods, could help itself back to economic health. But last week, dispatches from Paris told a different story.

The 16 nations were, in effect, drawing up 16 separate shopping lists to present to the U.S., and the total amount of the lists ran to about $30 billion for the next four years. This was some $10 to $15 billion more than Washington had counted on. Moreover, the European nations could not foresee, even after $30 billion worth of help, how they could become wholly selfsupporting.

To Washington, it looked as if Europe had decided to go on U.S. relief forever. The State Department well knew that it would have a hard time getting even a $15 billion aid program through Congress --even with the most ironclad provisos that the money would be used for self-rehabilitation.

Hastily, the State Department dispatched George F. Kennan, chief of its policy planning division and the man who originally conceived the "Marshall approach," to Paris. His delicate mission was to remind Europeans of the original intent of the "Marshall approach" and to explain the facts of U.S. political life.

At home, the job of setting the record straight fell to Acting Secretary of State Robert A. Lovett. He told a press conference that the U.S. would support any program that could be described as "reasonable, but realistic." He added: "If we are going to go on giving aid, we must clearly look forward to the day when either the aid works or--if it is not going to do the job . . . we'd better know now rather than later." Bob Lovett's tone was soft, but no European diplomat missed the note of warning. This week, with George Kennan looking over their shoulders, the conferees started to do some trimming.

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