MARSHALL PLAN ENDS TO-DAY

Press, Volume LXXXVII, Issue 26617, 31 December 1951, Page 4

MARSHALL PLAN ENDS TO-DAY

Aid To Europe Since 1948 (Rec. 8 p.m.) WASHINGTON, Dec. 29. The Marshall Plan will come to an end at midnight on Monday. The Economic Co-operation Administration, which has directed the spending of 12,500,000,000 dollars under the plan since April 3, 1948, Will die with the old year. It will be supplanted by the new Mutual Security Agency

established primarily to assist Western European nations in their rearmament. The Marshall Plan was designed originally to last until June 30, 1952. It was estimated that by then the objective of putting Europe on its feet economically would have been accomplished. The Western Powers’ decision to rearm to meet the Communist menace, after the outbreak of the Korean war, changed that timetable. Now the United States Congress has decided that the emphasis must be on giving Western Europe military rather than purely economic assistance. Heading the Mutual Security Agency will be Mr Averell Harriman. He will supervise the spending of about 7,300,000,000 dollars in the financial year ending on June 30. All that, with the exception of 1,022,000.000 dollars will go towards providing weapons and military supplies. It is believed that the Marshall Plan would have achieved its economic objective of putting Europe on its feet if it had not been for the Korean War. Even now the Economic Co-operation Administration is able to point to several statistics on European production to show that aid granted by the United States went a long way towards accomplishing the general objectives. These are some of them.— Industrial production 64 per cent, above 1947 and 41 per cent, above prewar.

Steel production now nearly 60,000,000 tons. compared with 31.000.000 in 1947. This is nearly double the capacity of the Soviet Union and her supporters. Food production 24 per cent, higher than the 1947 level and 9 per cent, higher than pre-war. Motor vehicles production increased to 145.000 vehicles in 1951, compared with 54.000 in 1947.

Agricultural production about 9 per cent, higher than pre-war and about 24 ner cent, above 1947.

Crude oil refinery capacity has now risen to 4 680.000 tons annually, nearly four times the pre-war rate. Over all, Europe’s gross national output has increased by 25 per cent, during the life of the Marshall Plan.