The Washington times., 1932-08-16


| GILBERT sELDEs hyphen in "world-wide"
| Truth In 1t
1t is as if we wouldn't take the trouble to turn the
electric fan because the hot spell worldwide;
if the Great War any better because it, like the
present catastrophe worldwide In the present in
stance the is nearly accurate the depression has
hit the tourist trade in Bali and the herring trade in
Scotland and the hat trade in Colombia, and stamp col
lectors are forced to economze less than diamond
merchants. Yet holding on to a frayng rope,
and the moment may when the rope will break
because the depression may cease to be Worldwide
| will in fact, anyone combines enough
power courage and intelligence to put end to it in
one State city, nation.
It is the suspicion that something like this may be
already occurring that worries me. A few weeks ago
I was talking to a young Englishman about Noel
Cowards sentimental patriotic pageant called "Calval
cade." The Englishman spoke of Coward's amazing
showmanShp and added: Wasn't it clever of him to
produce Calvalcade exactly at the right moment
when the depression had just reached its worst point
The implication that about year ago England had
passed the crisis struck me, but it seemed the most
obvious thing in the world to the Englishman. He
wasn't economist; he couldn't give me facts fig
But psychologically for him and for hundreds
of thousands of Others the peak of depression Eng
/ land had passed.
| In English paper, too, found dispatch about
rich American woman who had given up her house
nfcant about the item itself; but the paper said
that this of the hundreds of similar stories
coming from Americans if America, and
America alone, continued to suffer-
In Sweden got the impression of economic tightness
of country quite seriously convinced that carry
provided nothing dangerous and desperate hap
, pens esewhere-in America. In France I got the i'm
preston of hardshlps of low period in prosperity but
of crisis Everywhere felt that the depression
! considered something "made in America" And
something which should be left to America At the end
of trip the vast financial project of converting
the British loan; do not know whether the enter
prise succeeded but France and England both took the
mere announcement of the plan as sign of great
stability.
Company Hates Misery
1t will be sour day for us when we can no longer
hug to bosoms the thought that are only sharing
in universal cataclysm. Misery such under
going dearly loves company and when company not lov
ing misery, goes home, we'll be lonely and little sore
Then will console ourselves with the thought that
suffered longer because had been richer-as our
riches in themselves had been virtue and God would
! look down on us and reward us for being happy.
Another attitude toward America found in the criti-
clsm of certain Swedes who did defend IvOr Kreuger
but who thought that the American financers who
backed him might have been little suspicious and
little more crcumspect Qn fairness to these men,
should that their criticism applied to the French
and British money men wel) Their simple feeling
that the great masters of the worlds finance owe
duty to the world at large, and that duty demanded in
the OF kreuger the utmost the closest scrutiny
of accounts.
1t sounds little topsy-turvy to US, because after ALL
Kreuger let us in for bad tme-not him. Yet be-
hind lies feeling which is understandable We the
great nation create and support and destroy indus
tries and explorations finance is Cor was) in hands
kreger was an amateur among professionals, and the
professionals should have protected themselves by doing
which they would have saved Kreuger from disaster
Swedish psvchoanalvst is working on a study of
Kreuger which will he published this autumn The only
iudrment he has made public that Kreuger was
fundamentally good man-not bad one He was not,
according to who worked for him for several years.
me"aomani"": he did not think of himself as a
Napoleon of Finance But he did think that new
financial order could be creatodan order genuinely in
terna+ion"-ord he +houoh thet he the to lay
out the plans for this structure and to start the
foundations. He ardent free-trader and pre-
dcted disaster from the raising of American tariff bar
riers in his business he much a Swede
q Eurorean and toward the end, Euro American. He
believed that he had from time to time. saved small