Widespread but only partial news coverage was
given recently to a remarkable editorial broadcast from Toronto by Gordon Sinclair, a
Canadian television commentator. What follows is the full text of his trenchant remarks as
printed in the Congressional Record:
"This Canadian thinks it is time to speak
up for the Americans as the most generous and possibly the least appreciated people on all
the earth.
Germany, Japan and, to a lesser extent, Britain
and Italy were lifted out of the debris of war by the Americans who poured in billions of
dollars and forgave other billions in debts. None of these countries is today paying even
the interest on its remaining debts to the United States.
When France was in danger of collapsing in
1956, it was the Americans who propped it up, and their reward was to be insulted and
swindled on the streets of Paris. I was there. I saw it.
When earthquakes hit distant cities, it is the
United States that hurries in to help. This spring, 59 American communities were flattened
by tornadoes. Nobody helped.
The Marshall Plan and the Truman Policy pumped
billions of dollars into discouraged countries. Now newspapers in those countries are
writing about the decadent, warmongering Americans.
I'd like to see just one of those countries
that is gloating over the erosion of the United States dollar build its own airplane. Does
any other country in the world have a plane to equal the Boeing Jumbo Jet, the Lockheed
Tri-Star, or the Douglas DC10? If so, why don't they fly them? Why do all the
International lines except Russia fly American Planes?
Why does no other land on earth even consider
putting a man or woman on the moon? You talk about Japanese technocracy, and you get
radios. You talk about German technocracy, and you get automobiles.
You talk about American technocracy, and you
find men on the moon - not once, but several times - and safely home again.
You talk about scandals, and the Americans put
theirs right in the store window for everybody to look at. Even their draft-dodgers are
not pursued and hounded. They are here on our streets, and most of them, unless they are
breaking Canadian laws, are getting American dollars from ma and pa at home to spend here.
When the railways of France, Germany and India
were breaking down through age, it was the Americans who rebuilt them. When the
Pennsylvania Railroad and the New York Central went broke, nobody loaned them an old
caboose. Both are still broke.
I can name you 5000 times when the Americans
raced to the help of other people in trouble. Can you name me even one time when someone
else raced to the Americans in trouble? I don't think there was outside help even during
the San Francisco earthquake.
Our neighbors have faced it alone, and I'm one
Canadian who is damned tired of hearing them get kicked around. They will come out of this
thing with their flag high. And when they do, they are entitled to thumb their nose at the
lands that are gloating over their present troubles. I hope Canada is not one of
those."
Stand proud, America!
~by Gordon Sinclair~
