The Indianapolis times., 1928-11-09
The World and Herbert Hoover

The World and Herbert Hoover
With the single exception of woodrow Wilson, no
American President has been the center OF such
Worldwide interest as Herbert Hoover will be from
the moment he enters the White House.
On Wilson humanity pinned very definite hope.
Broken, bleeding and tramped upon by war, it
looked to him and his international peace program
to save it from anything like that ever happening
to it again.
Today the eyes of all nations on Hoover.
Clothed with greater power than any potentate, and
head of what has become the richest and mghtlest
Of all countries people everywhere are eagerly and
sometimes anxcusy. waiting to see what use he will
make of his power.
te The battle for world trade is on, with all the
troube-breeding possibilities which that mean.
Nayies and merchant marines have become problems
SIS vital as the same problems when Britain and
Germany bickered over them prior to 1914.
War outlawry cooperation and conciliaton be-
tween nations war debts and reparations the struggle
for control of indispensable raw materials and the
open door for commerce. these and other questions
are to be answered or interpreted by Herbert Hoover
SO his attitude necessarily will mean much not only
to the prosperity but to the peace, of the world
Great Britain naturally enough, manifests a
special interest in the American Presdent-eect Sane
thinkers both Britain and America hold that the
salvation of white civilization depends largely on
Ango-American relations Nevertheless, there are
those even in high places, who predict almost GER
tain war between the two countries over foreign
trade
Hoover distinctly does not belong to the latter
category SAYS the Paris Temps: "He works with
figures, so there will be no disagreeable surprises
with him in Office" In other. words, he is too prac
tical statesman to follow policy which will lead
to destructive, international friction.
What is even more important, the world, to
Hoover is made up of people rather than countries
In this may be found the key to his whole foreign
policy He reduces all things to the simple humane
equation
To him markets are people, not places, and for
eign trade expansion is to be had by improving the
standards of living and purchasing power of the
people rather than by war for the domination Of
either countries or trade routes.
Consider China Cooperation to put China
her feet and improve the Chinese standard of living
would net both Britain and America not only bill
lions of dollars profit annually, but China herself and
the rest of the world would be infinitely better off in
the bargain.
Last year. for instance, we sold to China's 400,-
100000 citizens only $1O9oOO0OO worth of goods We
sold Just as much to Mexico with only 100000 inv
habitants On Mexican basis the Chinese would
have bought more than $4,000 100000 worth of our
stuff
Viewed in his humanitarian way, there is no
limit to trade expansion for all, and without clash.
BY boosting Chinese standards still further, UNTIL say
they approxinated the Canadian level, our annual
sales to China would reach the brain -wrenching to-
tai of $35O0O00O00O a year, or more than seven
times as much as sell to the entire world.
Improve the world and improve ourselves.
That is Hooversm. Hoover works with facts and
figures and thinks in terms of people, as the European
press keenly has observed. Which means that he is
less concerned with abstract principles, the French
journal Des Debats puts it, than he is with practical
results to everyday folks.
because Hoover thinks along these lines, in our
opinion the signs better today for constructive,
international cooperation with America taking the
lead, than they have been in eight years.
Though by somewhat different route, the Wilson
dream of world peace under American leadership or
initiative yet may come true, to the everlasting
benefit of mankind.