Will U.S. resources stand the strain of rebuilding Europe under the Marshall Plan? This week, Interior Secretary Julius ("Cap") Krug, who had been designated by the President to find out, answered with a qualified but resounding Yes.
It would not be an easy job. Secretary Krug took "national resources" to mean manpower, technology and factories, as well as land, forests and minerals. Rich and bountiful as it is, the U.S. cornucopia is not limitless. Though annual exports on the projected scale of the Marshall Plan would amount to only 2% of the national capacity, they would be piled onto a...