Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1928-09-23

The new President and his Secretary
of State will have to deal with the
problem of securing further limitation
Of naval ornaments relating to ships
of the cruiser, destroyer and submarine
class In addition, the treaty of 1923
between the United States the British
Empire. France, Italy and Japan. limit
ing construction of battleships, is SUBJ
ject to revision after eight years. Article
XXI of that treaty makes it obligatory
for the United States, after consultation
with the other powers, to arrange a
conference to consider changes in the
treaty neceSsitated or made advisable
by scientific developments.
The problem Of military disarmament
in Europe itself is one in which we ar.
indirectly but none the less seriously
concerned. The armies and land arm
amentS OF Europe are little, if any. be-
low 1914 strength. In some cases there
has been an increase, and as a result.
the economic recovery of the nations of
Europe is hampered or made impossible
Our own prosperity, therefore, is af-
fected by the ability or inability of for
eign nations to pay governmental as we'll
as commercial loans. and by the influ-
ence of military budgets on foreign buy
| ing power.
| There still remains to be adjusted the
war debt of France to the Government
of the United States
Vast Sums Invested.
Hundreds of millions of dollars OF our
capital have been invested, through
commercial loans, in Germany. Poland
and other European countries. The
security of the investments as well as
| the creation Of additional buying power
| for American products are matters of
| concern to all our people Directly and
indirectly-and by necessity, not choice
America is affected by possible dis
putes over German reparation payments
and continued occupation of German
| territory.
In the Far East the strained relations
OF China and Japan are menace to our
own citizens and commercial interests.
We are still without diplomatic rela-
| tons with Soviet Russia. Practically
| every nation is vitality concerned in the
economic, political and military status
of Russia. That nation holds vast posi-
| bilitieS for benefit or injury, and the in
| tereStS of the United States in Russia
are not diSSimilar to those of other ma
| tions.
We have not yet ratified treaty with
Panama effectuating settlement of our
| rights Of sovereignty in the Canal Zone.
The question of treaty with Nicaragua,
relating to canal rights, will probably
| confront the new administration. The
| Lausanne treaty affecting our relations
with Turkey may not be disposed of
before the new administration takes
office.
Latin American Problems.
In Mexico and other so-called Latin
American countries we have serious
problems involving protection of our own
people, as we'll as maintenance of the
Monroe Doctrine to preserve the indie
pendence of the smaller nations to our
south.
immigration from Mexico is a prob
lem that will confront Hoover or Smith.
In fact, cur whole immigration policy is
| OF extreme Importance, not only be-
| cause Of the possibility of arousing an
| tagoniSmS abroad, but also because of
the chance of diSastrouslv affecting the
market for and wages of American labor
Discriminatory tariff barriers of for
| eign countries threaten the stability of
| our own industries. The creation and
| development of foreign cartels or COM
binations to control production and
marketing OF steel, electrical equipment
| rubber. coffee, chemicals, dyes and nu-
| merous other commodities which we
produce or consume result in problems
which Will have to be wisely dealt with
by the new administration.
Some people took alarm at the strong
resistance which Mr. Hoover put I'D to
the governmental formed combinations
to exploit prices of commodities such as
rubber. They felt it might be the cause
Of international friction; but because he
insisted IN ha
American consumer and what was the
sound economic position for the foreign
producer, he Stemmed the tide of those
combinations and prevented the growth
of thousand frictions for the future.
Today the press of the very countries
involved acknowledges that he was right
All these and many other problems of
similar nature involving our relation
ship to the world as whole call for
high order of knowledge, understanding,
ability and experience in the White
House during the four years beginning
March 4, 1929.
Must Be Equipped.
Under the circumstances it is a mat
ter of life-and-death as we'll as bread
and-butter Importance to the American
| people to have in charge of our foreign
relations an Executive with not only an
ardent desire to maintain peace among
| nations but with a thorough under
| standing Of our world relationships
The man at the White House must
know or quickly acquire knowledge of
| the diplomacy, the Statecraft and the
politics of the Old World. He must
know the economic conditions and pos
sibilities of foreign nations; the char
acter and public opinion of their people
But he must know American public
opinion also, end his foreign policy must
conform to American ideals. American
hopes and aspirations.
In dealing with the Senate on queS-
| tons of our foreign relations the PreSi-
dent must possess the confidence of men
| who may differ with him politically but
who are equally imbued with desire to
achieve world peace. Effective White
House leadership will call also for the
power to convince men who may be
quite unwilling to be convinced; to eX-
ercise initiative and determination in
the conduct of foreign affairs but with
out arousing personal antagonisms
Help must be given to American pro-
| ducerS possessing or seeking foreign
markets, without. however, breeding ma
tional hatreds. American interests must
be furthered without substantial injury
to vital foreign interests. and there must
always be due consideration of foreign
needs and rights.
Faces Trying Task.
To deal effectively and successfully
with men and nations, with diplomats
and Senators, with conflicting business
interests, American and foreign will be
the difficult task Of the man at the
White House.
Failure of leadership in domestic mat
tiers, such as prohibition and farm re-
lief. would be distressing and disastrous
But failure of leadership in the field of
our foreign relations during the next
four years can be nothing less than ca
lamitous to all our people. The United
States is today the greatest and most
tangible influence for lasting world
peace: That influence must be MAIN