Evening star., 1932-05-01
Secretary Stimson's
Visit Is Significant
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to that effect, it is hinted. After the
French elections have come and gone
| Tardieu-or his SucceSsorS-may verify
the rumor.
The biggest ace in Mr. StimSon'S deck
was the money which European coun-
tries owe to the United States-and
to each other. Officially, and audibly,
it has never yet been stated definitely
that the extension of the moratorium.
cancellation or revision of political
debts would be made much easier If
European countries would use their
money in ways which would bring re-
turns and which would enable them to
create enough wealth to discharge, in
part at least. their obligations. Pri-
vately and on good authority European
statesmen have been told that one way
to thaw out American gold stores is
to make investments more attractive
by adding a bit of the much discussed
security" demanded as a prerequisite
to disarmament While completion of
the London naval treaty before the
November elections may be Mr.. Stim-
sons fondest dream, the rehabilitation
. of American loans abroad is the thing
closest to Norman Davis heart-and
OetNAo HCloudNCO N4A. OblAlloOA4 W AOlAAC
to Europe.
SOviet-U. S. Stands Compared.
Perhaps the most interesting bit of
diplomatic maneuvering that has been
witnessed in Geneva in many a moon
is the attitude of the Soviet and Amer
! ican delegations Disarmament made
/ strange bedfellowS in the day of the
/ Preparatory Disarmament Commission,
/ when Maxim Litvinoff and Anatole
/ Lounatscharsky twitted the Americans
/ for the stage fright which prevented
Washington's spokesmen from coming
to the support of their own thesis when
the Russians were so unthinking as to
/ espouse it. Now the Manchurian mud
die has again placed Moscow and WASH
! ington in the same boat or bed.
Before. it was the Russians predica-
ment. They wanted and had right
/ to expect support of the Americans,
but since Ambassador Gibson and For
eign CommiSSar Litvinoff had not been
introduced they were compelled to
/ speak in the third person across the
! conference table. Whether Stimson and
Litvinoff have formed a contact during
| the past two weeks may not be known
! for a long time. The Russians make
no secret of the fact they see eye to
eye with Washington in regard to the
predatory activities of Japan in Man
churia They have taken a leaf from
Mr.. StimSon's book and have issued
their own "Borah letter" in the form of
a declaration of policy published in
Isvestia, the Communist official news
| paper. Mr.. Stimson has been made
acquainted with the contents OF the
! declaration.
| The World Court issue is completely
out of the picture so far as press agent
ing has been concerned. But there has
been considerable ground work that Mr..
| Stimson could have done. In the Amer
ican delegation, it has been suggested
that the Secretary of State, in view OF
his about-face on the question Of Amer
lean adherence, found it more pleasant
! to be absent when the Senate debated
the Root formula. 1t is not generally
known that juridically even though the
| Senate approved American entry 1t
| could not become effective until dozen
or more members of the court them
selves have ratified the new protocol.
| To date one member-Abyssinia-
not even signed the Root protocol. Cuba,
| in almost indecent haste, withdrew
her reservation when it was believed
| Washington would favorably consider
! joining and when President Hoover had
announced that he was sending Mr..
| StlmSon to Geneva. But since then
none of the countries which are hold
| ing back have shown any indication to
! ask their ParliamentS to act until they
know what Washington is going to do.
! The hypothetical question of accepting
! American admission before the fact, so
/ to speak has been raised in the League
and Court circles
! Whether Washington is ready to be-
| come an irregular member" of the
| Court. pending veriflcation of her ad-
mission by tardy court members, is one
thing Mr.. Stimson will be called upon
to give information about.
Views Work of League.
1t may Jr may not be a coincidence,
but during his stay in Geneva the
American Secretary of State had
! chance to view at close range the
| operation of the organizations that
woodrow Wilson and Samuel Gompers
created-the League and Labor Office.
! The League Council has been in almost
continuous session; the Assembly has
held its extraordinary meeting open and
its Assembly Committee of Nineteen has
been handling the most delicate problem
the League has ever been called upon
| ~ NS-t "ACAA LII 40 IL yCoAo VA N@AAobS4lON.
The Disarmament Conference is the
largest and one of the most typical side
issues sponsored by the League, and
| While Mr.. Stimson did not sit as a
delegate, to use his own words he did
on several occasions gain entrance to
I the show by carrying Mr.. Gibson's
brief case" Not unlike the boy who
carried water to the elephant at the
circus. On the margin Of the Assembly
and Disarmament Conference have been
meetings Of the Leagues Financial
| Committee, Of which Norman Davis is
member; of the Opium Committee, to
which Kenneth Caldwell and M. Fuller
OF the State Department are accredited;
the Committee for Protection of Women
and Children, which is largely sup
ported by American money donated by
the New York Bureau Of Social Hygiene,
and whose inquiry into the traff1c in
women and children In the Far East
was headed by Bascom johnson Of New
York. The Child Welfare Committee,
Of which Julia Lathrop and Grace Alb
bott are members, also has been in
| session.
Regardless Of what the actual results
Of Secretary Stimson's visit to Geneva
were. it Is already considered here as
of the greatest significance in that it
marks turning point in American
foreign policy.
L A.