AMERICAN ASSISTANCE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26478, 4 June 1947, Page 5

AMERICAN ASSISTANCE

RESTORATION OF ITALY STATE SECRETARY’S PROMISE Sec. 7 pm. WASHINGTON, June 2. ' The united States " naturally wishes every success” for the new Government in Italy, said the Secretary of State, Mr George Marshall, to-day He added: “We shall continue to give aid to the Italian people, who have demonstrated their sincere and abiding faith in democratic processes for r,h e preservation of their individual liberties and basic human rights. There is no desire in the United States to minimise Italy's problems, but the Italians have already overcome many of their most immediate post-war difficulties, and I feel that they may have recently. been under-estimating their own capacity for reconstruction. “Everyone who comes back from Italy,” added Mr Mar- • shall, “ remarks on the vitality of the people, their will to work and their very real attachment for democracy. The world has watched . with admiration, and even surprise, the progress the Italians have made so far in making up their lives again as free people. I have every confidence that they will continue that progress and, with the help we shall give them, rebuild Italy as a peaceful and prosperous nation.” Reuter’s Washington correspondent says that Mr Marshall’s promise of continuing aid to Italy led to the belief there that the 100.000,000-dollar Export and Import Bank credit already earmarked for Italy may soon be made fully available. It also foreshadowed success for the financial talks now in progress in Washington with- ,an Italian delegation with a view to unfreezing about 60.000.000 dollars’ worth of Italian assets in the United States.