STOP-GAP AID

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26626, 24 November 1947, Page 5

STOP-GAP AID

SPEEDY ACTION URGED SENATE COMMITTEE’S REPORT \ WASHINGTON. Rec. 11.50 p.m. Nov. 22. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee, in making public its report or. the measures authorising 597.000,000 dollars’ stop-gap aid to France, Italy and Austria, called for “ speedy action to defeat the twin spectres of cold and hunger, accompanied by political chaos.” The committee, which unanimously approved of the Bill, reported, first, that aid was essential if these nations are to be able to purchase fuel, food and other commodities necessary “ for the survival of their peoples and economies this wintersecondly, that the amount was not excessive; and thirdly, that the impact on domestic economy would be relatively light.

The report said: “ Riots in France and Italy demonstrate that there are forces actively at work which are using hunger and cold as a means of creating political disturbances. If the Governments 'of these countries can assure their people that they can supply food and shelter, such assurance will go a long way towards stabilising the economic and political systems of the Western European States.”

Lord Mountbatten, who before leaving Britain for India, said he would go to South Africa immediately after India’s internal troubles had quietened in the hope of reconciling Indians and South Africans and achieving a firmer understanding between the two countries. London cablegram.