the French people themselves. But the same applies to
Great Britain and the Soviet Union, Poland, Czechoslovakia,
and every other European country.
That is how the matter is understood in the Soviet
Union, which more than once has repelled attempts at for-
eign interference in its affairs. It was considered perfectly
obvious that internal economic matters are the sovereign
affair of the peoples themselves, and that other countries
must not interfere in these internal affairs. It is only on
this basis that the normal development of relations among
countries is possible. Attempts at outside interference in
the economic life of various countries have not yielded
favourable results, nor can they yield them.
If this is true, then an attempt to compel the confer-
ence to engage in drawing up a comprehensive economic
program for the European countries, which will inevitably
entail interference on the part of some states in the affairs of
other states, cannot be accepted as a basis for cooperation
among the European countries. There is such a tendency
just now on the part of some Powers, but it is doomed
to failure and will only damage their international prestige.
The conference is faced with the task of ascertaining
the needs  of the European   countries for   American  eco-
nomic aid, by receiving appropriate applications from the
countries concerned and subjecting them to a joint exam-
ination. Moreover one must suppose that the task of the
conference is to establish cooperation among the European
countries in formulating their applications for the Ameri-
can economic add they need, to ascertain the possibility of
obtaining such economic aid from the United States and to
assist the European   countries in obtaining this  aid. This
is no easy task and will require considerable effort. But
if the conference copes with it successfully, an important
step will have been made in developing cooperation among
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