National Affairs: The Reluctant Spenders

In the heyday of Marshall Plan spending, ECAdministrator Paul Hoffman had one persistent warning for the governments of Europe: after the Marshall Plan expires in 1952, the U.S. Congress will be reluctant to vote any more funds for economic aid. Last week a reluctant House of Representatives made good Hoffman's prediction, voted to slash some $1.7 billion—most of it in economic aid and Point Four funds—out of the Administration's $7.9 billion Mutual Security bill.

The big cuts came in two days of runaway voting which the Democratic leadership was powerless to head off. Toward the end of the first day of debate,...