It has been a terrifying and moving week. What happened on Tuesday has affected
the entire world. It has certainly affected us in Canada. We have been good
neighbours for a long time, and the best of neighbours for most of it. I wasn't
sure how to offer support other than by way of prayer until I found this, and
wanted to share it with you as an expression of the feelings of more than one
Canadian. I hope our moderator will permit this one diversion from the list's
central purpose.
A TRIBUTE TO THE UNITED STATES - editorial from a Canadian news paper
America: The Good Neighbor.
"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!"
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