Kankakee Valley Post, Volume 11, Number 3, DeMotte, Jasper County, 5 December 1940 — Washington Digest Wallace, Capitol Spanish Club, Improve Pan-American Relations [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Washington Digest Wallace, Capitol Spanish Club, Improve Pan-American Relations

Work to Remove Language Barrier Between Countries; Continued Aid to England May Soon Require Large U. S. War Loans.

By BAUKHAGE

(Released by Western Newspaper Union.) WASHINGTON.—It was midday in the Department of Agriculture building. The goldfish in the marble basin in the patio were wiggling hopeful tails in the prospect of a few crumbs that might be dropped by clerks hurrying back to their desks from the cafeteria. At a table in a little lunchroom jjpstairs a man with touseled hair, a somewhat self-con-scious smile on his face, pulled some manuscript from his pocket and began to read: j“Me es sumamente grato y honordso . . . ” It was not a visiting Spanish dignitary saying in his native tongue, “it is indeed a great honor; to be asked to make introductory remarks on the occasion of this distinguished gathering.” It was the then secretary of agriculture, Henry Wallace, rehearsing before his fellow ‘executives, the speech in Spanish that he was to deliver before the Pan Amer-

ican Scientific congress last May. And he knew what he was saiying and so did his audience. That informal Spanish club was only a little over two years old then but it is symbolic of a movement which has had a powerful influence in Washington—a movement the result of which is considered in Latin America as one of the real, practical steps toward Western hemisphere solidarity. The story of that luncheon group and the man who started it is r one of the fascinating stories of American diplomacy that doesn’t get into the text books. It is largely the story of Secretary Wallace himfeelf, and the story of a side of him that few people know. Except for the scholarly interest which a man who is an inveterate reader might have, Henry Wallace knew little more about South America than you or I when he came to Washington.. Today his name is (one of the best known of all of our officials to the Latin American newspaper reader. And they know it as the name of a man who understands ■them and their problems as few North Americans do. Wallace Symbolized A Friendship With Mexico When Vice President-elect Wallace shook hands with the President-elect of Mexico before the recent inauguration in Mexico City, he did so as a person who was far more than (he' mere official representative of the President of the United States—he came as a symbol of practical friendship between this country and the republics to the south. To grasp the reasons back of this' achievement you have to watch Henry Wallace at work. J Wallace wasn’t satisfied to read about South America, he wanted !to read what South Americans said in their own tongue; he wasn’t satisfied with talking-about South Americans, he had to talk to them. So he learned the language and immediately the bars went down. For language is a barrier. That is typical of his methods.” Out of those luncheon meetings grew a Department of Agriculture Committee on Latin America. Armed with the data furnished by this committee and supported by his own array of factual information, Mr. Wallace went to Undersecretary Welles in the state department and to the President. The result was the formation of the Interdepartmental Committee on Co-operation With the

American Republics, which studied the financial needs for activity in cultivating relations with South America. ° Now- money makes the mare go and this interdepartment committee's efforts helped secure the appropriation which put the teeth into the secretary’s own * practical efforts. Last July he saw one practical achievement of a step which he had been fighting for for years. It will make possible actual experimentation in the development of rubber in South America which may some day make us independent of the foreign rubber markets and bolster one of the greatest defense needs. I mention rubber because it is typical of the practical work which Mr Wallace has done. This step has won the gratitude of Latin America. But what is more important to the American farmer is that it stimulates growth of a product which complements but does not compete with his product. Valuable Products Grown In Latin America There are many other similar fields in which his efforts are bearing fruit. The department of agriculture, through study, through experimentation, through co-operation of representatives of the department attached to our diplomatic missions in Colombia and Argentina and our traveling -representatives in South America, has made valuable studies which will aid the production of products the United States needs from South America which we can’t raise here. Here are some of them: First, rubber, which I mentioned; secofid, hemp; third, insecticidal roots (rotenone) so valuable to farmers who grow products like vegetables, for while this poison kills the bugs it is non-poisonous to man. Then there are the various hard woods wo can’t grow in our latitudes. A soil book, the- result of Puerto Rican experiments, printed in Spanish has proved a gold mine to the folks of the Caribbean. That rotenone is a story in itself. The secretary had read about how certain South American natives used these roots to kill fish. He followed it up. Had the department investigate it. Found how it could be processed in South America. Today seven million pounds are imported into the United States, and when you realize that for use the solution is diluted five to one, you can 1 see what a quantity our market can absorb. • And for every dollar of these complementary products sold here, the Latin American has just that.many more dollars to spend in this country. Britain’s Resources Dwindling Rapidly Washington is beginning to feel the weight of pressure groups which are demanding short cuts in our efforts to aid Britain. There are a number of committees like the one headed by William Allen White to defend America by aiding the allies—formed when France was still an ally—which keep hammering on the White House door. . They have various specific aim's but the general purpose is help for Great Britain, with which most people agree heartily in principle. The administration has taken no official recognition of these various propaganda movements. Of some it approves. Of others it disapproves-. But it is becoming clear that some leaders in congress will not oppose certain specific demands when they become more pressing.

One is an amendment to the Johnson act which prohibits loans to foreign nations which haven’t paid their war debts. ’There is no official confirmation of this step but it is taken for granted by those who are supposed to know, that adminis- • tration support will not be lacking if and when such an amendment is proposed as it probably will be by the time the new congress has set-* tied down early in the new year. Earlier it was said that Britain had enough gold and securities in this country to cover her purchase of war supplies here for some time but latest figures indicate that she has placed orders for four and a half billion dollars worth of supplies already. This leaves only a billion and a half on credits, according to the estimates of experts, and it is believed that will soon be exhausted at the present rate of purchasing in this country. * * m United States navy medical experts are working out tests to discover whether a man is cool-headed. The purpose is to determine whether a person will keep his presence of mind in the face of danger. This is important in time of war. Some men, no braver than the average, go right on d<)ing what they are supposed to do in the presence of great danger whether they are frightened or not. Some become petrified. The navy wants to find out which are which and assign the men’s duties accordingly.

HENRY A. WALLACE