Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-05-05
CHAMBER PLEASED
/. BY HOOVER SPEECH
Challenging Address on Arms
I Struck Responsive Chord
7 at international Session.
BY JOHN F. SINCLAIR.

here yesterday was the most Cnalehs-
ing he has made against ornaments,
II struck a responsive chord through
out the gathering, especially within the
ranks of the delegates Of the 43 nations
assembled.
sentences:
Is now nearly $4,000, 000,0 yearly-an
increase of about 10 per cent over that
:, previous to the great war. we STAND
today with near $500 600 men actlVely
under arms and 100000 more IN re-
serves yet, we are all signatorles
ia the Kellogg BRAND pact, by which
ve have renounced was as an inStru-
, rnent of national policy and agreed to
= settle all controversies by pacific
means"
The President went on to say that
international confidence must be oullo-
/, ed upon good will and not upon lear;
that the whole history OF the world Is
filled with chapter after chapter o.
failure to secure peace through either
competitive arms or intimidation.
Next year the leading nations OF the
world are to hold a disarmament con-
ference on land forces. Several dele
gates here expressed themselves, after
ward, as believing that this statement
of the President was the beginning or
/. the entering wedge Of a movement TO
tie up war debts and disarmament.
As one delegate expressed It:
LET us suppose France, now the
heaviest armed force in Europe, de-
cided to attend the disarmament con-
ference and made the proposition that
she would reduce her ornaments 10
per cent If her war debts to the United
States and England were cut by the
same amount
"If that principle was adopted, 1t
q. would only be step from 10 per cent
To so or so per cent. As matter
Of fact. that's what I think is gong
to happen, It will happen not ONLY in
the case of France, but of every a. or
European country. In such a policy
they have nothing to lose and every
n thing to gain. l do not see how the
Presidents address can be interpreted
as anything but an effort to reduce
ornaments and possibly war debts at
the same time"
There is probably more truth than
Action in the observation.
George Theunis, retiring president OF
the chamber and for many years aIter
the war prime minister OF Belgium,
made q vast, exhaustive survey OF world
conditions in his 20,000-word report.
His address covered such subjects as
world economic conditions, public
finance, the monetary policy and the
gold question, capital and silver mar
kets. industrial production, information
al industrial concentration, the agri-
cultural situation, overproduction ana
tariff walls.
1T am personally convinced" said MI.
Theunis. that the commercial policy
and the customs tariff in force in most
of the countries of the world constitute
one of the fundamental causes OF our
actual economic troubles. A liberal
customs policy might be expected TO
lead to better business conditions.
Another subject upon which Mr..
Theunis especially dwelt was that which
resulted from the drop in silver. Ever
since the demonstration Of silver IN
1870 by Germany, and by other ma
tions who have adopted the gold stand
ard since the war, silver has been drop
ping in price. From 1871 to 1873, 10
ounces Of silver were worth OF gold;
from 1911 to 1919 1t was $500 OF 81.
yer to of gold. During the war IL
rose again. but afterward 1t declined,
until in February last the ratio was
75.S to /. Half the worlds population,
doing almost a quarter Of the worlds
trade, has been affected by this critical
drop in silver 1t Is a subject which
will be given much attention at this
convention.
ID Senior Don Carlos @. Davila, Ambas-
sador of Chile to the United States,
gave a rather discouraging picture OF
present conditions in Central and South
America. It looks like case of just
stumbling through, without any lead
ership or direction. THE hoping for
the best" business leaders seem to be in
the majority.
Latin America has three principal
crops. Coffee forms % per cent OF its
total exports. Sugar comes next with
about IS per cent. and copper Is third
with 10 per cent. What's ahead for
business in Latin America? The Am
bassador said he did not know, but he
was positive Of one thing: The final
solution rested with business groups
such as this, rather than with gov
ernments"
Latin America frankly is looking for
leadership.
Julius H Barnes, chairman of the
board Of the United States Chamber OF
Commerce, was encouraged over the re-
ports that have been coming in to him
In person from various delegates In
discussing conditions with the writer,
he attributed the drop in the commod-
ity prices of the past year as the big
gest factor in holding back business
recovery.
"A year ago we were within 7 per
cent Of normal when commodity prices
all over the world started their precip-
itous decline. Nothing could arrest that
movement once II got under way. !
think the price decline has pretty well
reached the bottom. That, to me, is a
source of great encouragement"
Norman Leonard, vice president of
the Stable Money Association, was in
clined TO criticize the management for
not giving the subject OF monetary sta
bilization a place on the printed pro-
gram.
Neither here nor at Atlantic City.
where the United States Chamber Of
Commerce met last week" he said, was
there any mention Of this very vital
subject Yet 10 me 1t is the most i'm
portant problem before the business
men Of the world
Only a month ago, over an interna-
tional radio hook-up. Lord D'Abernon
the British diplomat and financier, gave
this subject his entire time. He said
among other things:
Il hold that the present deplorable
conditions are due in the main, though
not entirely, to the fall in the price
of stable commodities. This fall has
been brought about by adequate means
Of payment not being available. There
has been a corner in gold and gold
currency. This position can be cor
rected by q combined action between
the central banks Of the leading gold
using countries. provided that these
central banks come TO an understand
ing on a joint policy and that they
take as their objective the restoration
Of stability to be the standard Of value
Probably the reason why no mention
Of this subject Is made on the program
is because IL is considered too involved