Evening star., 1932-06-19
BY PAUL SCOTT MOWRER.

BY PAUL SCOTT MOWRER.
7 AUSANNE.-The Lausanne Rep
arations Conference, now in
full swing. is essentially British
IL in both inspiration and organi-
zation. 1t signifies the re-
entry of Great Britain as leader in
the world arena after a year of re-
tirement amid domestic difficulties.
The British delegation contains sew
ersl cabinet ministers and is excep-
tionally strong. but, of course, Prime
Minister Ramsay Macdonald is the
center of the picture.
! Edouard Herriot, French premier;
Lieut.. Col. Franz Won Papen, German
chancellor; Dino Grandi, Italian foreign
minister, and other statesmen here,
while they certainly intend to defend
their various national interests, seem
quite content to let Macdonald lead.
What Macdonald feels and thinks is
therefore fundamental here.
He feels that this is the most i'm
portant conference ever held. He fears
that If the Lausanne meeting fails
there Is little immediate hope for the
world. He thinks that all countries
and all major questions are clearly
interdependent and he hopes to make
Lausanne, for four to six weeks, a sort
Avoiding the pitfalls of an elaborate
program and entanglements of long
technical discussions, he wants, by
means Of personal talks among the
heads Of states, to take the worlds
Ills by sudden bold assault, change
the general dependency to general
confidence, assert the spirit Of leader
ship and thus abruptly turn the tide
Of the depression.
FavOrs Quick Action.
Despair" he declared, lis a fortress
which must be carried by storm and
cannot be conquered by long siege"
II only the statesmen here assembled
have the courage and foresight to make
swift and drastic decisions, he believes,
the whole world, including the United
states, will heave a sign Of approving
relef and Will hasten to cooperate in
working out the details.
Whether he will succeed in this am
bilious aim is still uncertain. The gen.
eral atmosphere however is one of
energetic endeavor. Great Britain
France, Germany and Italy all seem in
better mood for negotiation on a basis
OF mutual compromise than they have
been for many months.
Inc greatest drawback Is the absence
OF the United States, for every one here
Is convinced that no really lasting solu-
tons can be reached without American
cooperation. They are equally con-
vlnced that it is useless to discuss the
worlds ills without dealing with war
debts and reparations.
Yet in any discussion Of war debts
and reparations, it is said to be practi-
cally impossible for the United States
to participate just now for reasons of
interior politics. AS far as is known.
there is not even an American observer
here.
There probably had been Anglo
American conversations in advance in
both London and Washington, and
through diplomatic channels the Ameri-
can Government. with only slight delay,
will be kept fully informed Of every
thing that happens here. The fact re-
mains that in the task Of diagnosis and
cure of the worlds ills, which is the
ostensiole aim Of this conference. the
American experts will take no part until
some later time. say October when the
main lines Of the Lausanne solutions
will already, it is thought, have been
laid down.
British Politics Felt.
1t would have been the natural thing
for contact of the conference with the
United States to be eSta ablished through
the American disarmament delegation
at Geneva. But, on the one hand, poll
tics makes it possible for any members
of that delegation to appear here even
informally, while. on the other hand,
Macdonald obviously is eager for the