Kankakee Valley Post, Volume 3, Number 4, DeMotte, Jasper County, 8 June 1933 — News Review of Current Events the World Over [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

News Review of Current Events the World Over

American Delegation on Way to London Economic Con-ference--Brookhart Becomes “Agricultural Ambassador” to Russia--Morgan Inquiry Proceeds.

By EDWARD W. PICKARD

SIX delegates and nineteen experts are on their way to London to represent the United States in the international economic conference from which so much is expected in the

way of finding a path out of the world depression. Secretary of State Cordell Hull heads the delegation and his associates as announced by the White House are: James M. Cox, vice chairman, former governor and Democratic Presidential candidate in 1920; Senator Key Pittman of Nevada, Demo-

crat; Senator James Couzens of Michigan, Republican; Representative Samuel D. McReynolds of Tennessee, Democrat, and Ralph W. Morrison of Texas, retired banker. Chief of the experts are William C. Bullitt, executive officer; James P. Warburg, financial adviser; Fred K. Nielsen, legal adviser, and Herbert Feis, chief technical adviser, under whom will serve several members of the “brain trust.” Of all the delegates the one consistent conservative is Congressman McReynolds. He is chairman of the house committee on foreign relations and his influence is expected to be potent in the deliberations of the delegation. Senator Couzens, the one Republican member, has frequently lined up with the more radical Republicans and Democrats in congress. The administration, according to Assistant Secretary of State Raymond Moley, has considerably modified its expectations of what the conference will accomplish, and now realizes that the prospects are definitely limited and do not include a lowering of tariffs or an immediate permanent stabilization of currencies. Secretary Hull is said to be the only one of the administration leaders who still advances the urgent necessity of a drastic international agreement to lower tariffs and trade barriers. Mr. Moley included only the following among the solutions which probably would be obtained at the conference: An agreement on monetary policy through action of central banks supplemented by an agreement among governments to synchronize policies of internal public expenditure. An agreement on progressive removal of restrictions on exchange. The international wheat conference moved from Geneva to London and there the representatives of the United States, Argentina, Australia and Canada continued their discussions. If they agree upon any plan for curtailing wheat acreage it will be submitted to the economic conference for approval. GREAT BRITAIN, France, Italy and the other nations that owe war debts to the United States failed in their effort to have the debts included in the agenda for the economic conference, but their delegates enter the conference with the cancellation or drastic reduction of the debts their chief aim. The Roosevelt administration insists that the war debts, however important they may be, were not a major cause of the depression and are not a major remedy. Consequently the parleys in London are almost certain to develop into a great battle of diplomacy. President Roosevelt has flatly denied that he intends to negotiate new settlements of the war debts without recourse to congress. This was made necessary by dispatches from Washington published in London, saying Mr. Roosevelt had offered to accept from Britain $10,000,000 as part payment of the $75,900,000 due June 15. It seemed fairly certain that the British government would make this payment in full. This will be easier than before because of the devaluation of the dollar. Britain can either pay in paper dollars, which cost about 2 per cent less to buy than gold dollars, or in American securities, which can be bought with paper dollars at a discount and turned in at par. CHAMPIONS of the gold standard in both the house and the senate had little chance as the administration forces pushed through the Fletcher-Steagall resolution for the abrogation of the gold clause in all governmental and private contracts, both present and future. The measure, asked by the President to legalize action already taken, was first passed by the house by a vote of 283 to 57. Twenty-eight Republicans and all five of the Farmer-Laborites joined with the Democrats in favor of the resolution. Representative Luce of Massachusetts, who led the small minority, denounced the measure as a breach of faith on the part of the government; but Chairman Steagall of the banking committee said it was essential for the recovery of national prosperity. INVESTIGATION of the banking house of J. P. Morgan & Co. was resumed by the senate banking com-

mittee, and a new list of important persons who had received bargains in stocks was produced. Ferdinand Pecora, the committee’s counsel, was persistent in his probing, but was compelled to tell the senators, in executive session, what evidence he proposed to introduce and what he expected to prove by it, and to convince them of the propriety of his purpose. Senator Glass was still determined that Pecora should not bring out matter outside the committee’s jurisdiction or irrelevant to the inquiry. Mr. Glass said he had received a number of anonymous threats by mail and what he termed “blackguard telegrams” because of his stand. Though William H. Woodin’s name was on one of the Morgan lists of “preferred” customers before he became secretary of the treasury and hence demands for his resignation were made by various men in public life, Mr. Woodin declared he had not resigned. His statement left no doubt that he would be willing to quit his office if his presence there in any way hindered the return of prosperity, but it also was interpreted to mean that Mr. Roosevelt wished him to hold on, at least for the present. More serious, perhaps, is the case of Norman H. Davis, the very active “ambassador at large” in Europe, who also was on a Morgan list. Representative George H. Tinkham of Massachusetts has demanded a congressional investigation of the financial dealings Mr. Davis may have had with international banking and business interests. Asserting that Mr. Davis has spoken at Geneva in “repudiation of the traditional American foreign policy,” Mr. Tinkham said that a congressional committee should also investigate Mr. Davis’ connection with “disloyal and seditious American organizations and foundations in the United States.”

SMITH WILDMAN BROOKHART, former senator from Iowa, has a new job. Secretary of Agriculture Wallace has appointed him “agricul-

tural ambassador” to Soviet Russia, and has instructed him to explore the opportunities for disposing of American surpluses of cotton and live stock in that country. In effect, this means the opening of trade negotiations with a government that is not recognized by Washington, but Brookhart says his

work has no connection with the question of diplomatic relations, though he hopes recognition will result from his efforts to effect a thriving trade between the two countries. The Iowan has been given the title of “special adviser to the agricultural administration” and serves under Administrator George N. Peek. “I’ve done a lot of work already,” he said. “I have gone into the matter with people here, including the Soviet representative, Boris Skvirsky. He’s a pretty fine fellow and I’ve had several talks with him.” Mr. Skvirsky is not a trade representative of the Soviet, nor has he connection with the Amtorg corporation, organized by the Soviets to transact business in America. Mr. Skvirsky said that he is a representative of the Soviet foreign office. GERMANY has refused to accept an unfavorable report of the League of Nations on her treatment of the Jews and virtually told the league that the affair is none of its business. The league council, however, referred juridical aspects of the issue to a committee of jurists with the understanding that the matter will have a complete airing.

WHEN President Roosevelt the other day selected Arthur E. Morgan, president of Antioch college at Yellow Springs, Ohio, as director of

the vast Tennessee valley conservation project, there were many derogatory remarks about the appointing of just another professor for a big job. But the skeptical ones did not know about Morgan. Since 1902, when he was just out of high school, he has been active in engineering work and has planned

and supervised construction of about seventy-five water control projects. These include the important reclamation work in St. Francis valley in Arkansas and the Miami conservation project at Dayton, Ohio. He was chief engineer in the Pueblo (Colo.) conservancy district; he drafted the revised drainage codes for Minnesota, Arkansas, Ohio, Mississippi, Colorado and New Mexico, and has been consulting engineer on drainage and flood control projects all over the nation. He is entirely familiar with conditions in the Tennessee valley.

REVERTING to the matter of the gold standard, dispatches from Vienna tell of how, in the seventieth congress of the International Chamber of Commerce, the United States was bitterly denounced by Charles Boissevain of Holland for what he called its “immoral” monetary course. He condemned the behavior of those nations which abandon the gold standard “although unquestionably in a position to maintain it.” He condemned also what he described as the “repudiation” of the gold clause in contracts by the United States. In the transportation section, Ira Campbell of New York defended United States shipping against what he termed an international attempt to rule it off the seas. American merchant marine cannot exist without subsidy, he said, and an international agreement to abolish subsidies would mean the abolition of American ships. W. L. Runciman of Great Britain objected to his argument that the American marine is needed for national defense, asserting such argument is out of place in a commercial congress. War debts also came up for discussion, W. H. Coates, British delegate, asserting that they must be settled before it would be possible to improve world economic conditions.

MILITARY representatives of Japan and China signed a formal armistice in the warfare in north China at Tangku, where the negotia-

tions took place under the guns of Japanese naval craft. The truce provides for demilitarization of the area bounded by the great wall on the north, the Peiping-Mukden railway on the east and the Peiping-Suiyuan railway on the west; for dissolution of the Chinese volunteer corps in this area and for resumption of rail

traffic between Peiping and Shanhaikwan. Just before the signing of the truce the banner of revolt against the Chinese Nationalist government was raised by Gen. Feng Yu-hsiang, usually alluded to as the “Christian general.” Feng denounced Gen. Chiang Kai-shek, the dictator, as a traitor and announced himself as commander-in-chief of the “people’s anti-Japanese army.” He had been recruiting a large force at Kalgan and it was believed he was acting in close co-operation with the army of Canton, which was reported to be moving to the northward. In Tientsin it was thought that Feng must have been receiving large supplies of arms and ammunition from the Russians of Mongolia by the old caravan route from Urga. The National government issued a declaration that the Tangku truce is entirely local and of a temporary nature. “It is not incompatible with the declared policy of continuing a sustained resistance and efforts for the recovery of lost territories,” the statement said. “It is absolutely impossible for the National government to agree to an ignominious surrender since the Manchurian issue is entirely outside the sphere of the local military truce with Peiping.”

LANSING state penitentiary near Leavenworth, Kan., was the scene of a sensational escape of 11 convicts who were led by Wilbur Underhill, a lifer and one of the most desperate outlaws of the Southwest. During a baseball game Warden Prather and two guards were seized, used as shields and forced to accompany the fleeing convicts over the wall. Other guards were disarmed and the men got away in the car of the prison farm superintendent, keeping their prisoners with them as hostages until hours later, when they were released in Oklahoma. In their flight they commandeered two other cars and captured three women, who were set free Pleasanton, Kans. SIX bandits held up the State Exchange bank of Culver, Ind., and fled in an automobile with $16,000. But the men of the town had been trained as vigilantes and, receiving word of the crime, they mobilized immediately under command of Captain Obenauf of the Culver Military academy and went into action. Result: All six bandits were captured, one of them being fatally wounded, and the loot was recovered.

ONE hundred thousand spectators saw Louis Meyer of California win the 500-mile automobile race at the Indianapolis speedway in recordbreaking time. They also saw a series of fatal accidents that sadly marred the great spectacle. Three men were killed and three others were badly injured. Mark Billman of Indianapolis was crushed to death when he lost control of his car and it crashed into the retaining wall, and Elmer Lombard, his mechanic, was hurt. Later the car driven by Malcomb Fox of New Jersey lost a wheel and skidded into the middle of the track where it was smashed by the car of Lester Spangler of Los Angeles. Spangler and G. L. Jordan, his mechanic, lost their lives, and Bert Cook, Fox’s mechanic, was injured. In a test run tire day before the big race William Denver and Robert Hurst lost their lives. Meyer completed the run in 4 hours and 48 minutes, his average speed being 104.162 miles an hour. He won $12,000 first prize money and $1,150 in lap prizes. ©, 1933, Western Newspaper Union.

Rep. S. D. McReynolds

S. W. Brookhart

Arthur E. Morgan

Gen. Feng Yu-hsiang