Evening star., 1933-06-22
The Political Mill
BY G.. Could Lincoln.

A.oy ihoio Moicy, ASSlStanL secretary
of State, is in London. There have
oeen numerous suggestions that Mr.
Moley Is going to Europe to supersede
the Secretary OF State, Cordell Hull. as
head Of the American delegation to the
London Economic Conference: that
even If Mr.. Hull should remain the
nominal head of the delegation the
real leader will be the professor. The
suggestion has been put forward art
fully. 1t has been seized upon BY the
foreign press. Perhaps the foreign
press hopes to break down the solidarity
OF the American delegation through
the stimulation Of that green jade
Jealousy, in its ranks. So far the
American delegation at the London
conference has not been performing
to the taste of the British, the French
and several of the other foreign ma.
tlons. There has been evidence tha,
the foreigners were not able to obtain
what they desired, and that was q
permanent advantage over the United
States in the matter Of currency in.
fation. That being the case, they
seem to be ready to turn on the ,ner-
lean delegation. ridicule it as far a:
possible, and to place the blame fol
failure on the Americans, II there 1.
W. ~ ~"AAAS az Vic SOIiltIeuCc.
1t Is just as well for the Europeans
and also Americans to remember thai
the real head of the American deleea. +.
ton in London Is Franklin D. Roose.
velt, although he remains in the Unitec
States. 1t does not seem in charac cte1
for the President to send to London hi.
Secretary of State and then to thrust
Mr.. Moley. Mr.. Hull's assistant. intt
the picture as Mr.. Hull's superior ON.
Ger. Nor could that kind Of thing bt
done successfully to Mr.. Hull without
serious break in the present makeup Of
the cabinet. Mr.. Moley has not in hi.
pre-voyage statements indicated that
he is to be anything beyond the liaisor
officer between the President and the
delegation. If he undertakes to be.
come the chief negotiator with tn,
representatives Of the foreign govern.
ments when he arrives in London thai
Will be horse of another color.
What America needs on the othe1
side OF the ocean today is solidarity O
action. and anything that is done b,
Mr.. Moley or any one else to break I'D
solid front is not calculated to be IL
the interests of the United States. Ths
conference Is Of great Importance. i
Is an effort to revise the internationa
rules OF the great game Of commerce 81
that there may be revival Of trade il
each nation and among all the nations
Secretary Hull has been q foremos
advocate Of the breaking down of trad
barriers in order to permit a real f1ov
OF world commerce. He has been al
enthusiast about the London Conferenc,
and what may be done there. Not many
weeks ago Prof. Moley astounded tl,t
American public when he delivered ar
address in which he said that he die
not think much would be accomplished
at the London Conference. 1t looket
as though the professor was throwins
cold water on the pet project Of hi
chief, Mr.. Hull.
Prof Moley Is under contract with {
number Of newspapers to write a weekly
letter about problems of the day, ant
it has been advertised that after h,
reaches London he will write 9Th,
inside" of the conference Should Mr.
Moley become In fact the head of thi
American delegation and later be ele.
waited to the head of the State Depart.
ment, as some of the observers fav,
insisted he will be, will he continue Il
write a regular series OF articles fol
the newspapers? It would be an ex.
traordinary thing II he did. He ii
cashing in on his official position as il
is. There is no law against 1t, although
it may come as somewhat Of a surprise
Perhaps it will be a good thing Il
have the inside" of public affairs re.
vealed. But there is always the danger
that the matter may be colored ant
only one side given, even Of the inside.
II the Assistant Secretary CT State In.
dulges in this kind of thing there is M
particular reason why the Assistan
Secretaries-or, perhaps, the Secretariel
themselves-of other departments may
not join the writing squad and thu
newspapers and magazines of the coun.
try be swamped with this kind of officia
discussion of all kinds of issues. Publ,
officials have given their views Of public
questions continually In the past They
nave done 1t IN addresses here anc
there and everywhere throughout th<
country. Their remarks have been pub.
lished in the newspapers and magazines
Seemingly the only difference in thos,
discussions of public questions and thS
regular written discussions of Mr.. MoleJ
Is found In the fact that Mr.. Moley i.
being paid for his work Mr.. Moley viii
put forward the best foot of the admin.
istration with which he is connected
just as the officials of former admins.
trations undertook to "selP' those ad-
ministrations to the public. Perhap.
when the newspapers wake up to the
fact that they are paying for that kline
OF propaganda they may have a change
Of heart. Other propagandists have
been glad to get into the newspapers ir
the past without being paid for it.
X X X
The European nations are reported
to be much incenSed and even ready to
break up the London Conference be-
cause the American delegation has
been unwilling to agree to Stabilize
the American dollar at figure that
was satisfactory to the foreigners. The
refusal of the Americans is said to be
due to the fact they did not wish to
freeze" the dollar when commodity
prices are on the way up in this
country. An increase In prices of COM
modities has been held essential to re-
covery and to readjustment of values
in this country as well as throughout
the world. That readjustment already
has been made in some degree in Eu-
ropean nations through deflation OF
currency. Through their deprecated
currencies the foreigners have had an
advantage over the United States In
the matter Of foreign trade.
X X
Judging from statements published IN
the British press, the foreigners do not
intend to give up this advantage with
out struggle. For example, when 1t
was announced in April that the United
States was going off the gold standard
and that there would be no further
shipments of gold out of this country,
the London Daily Express said in an
article: The pound is now managed
currency and easily within the power
of the chancellor of the exchequer.
He should exercise that power to main
tain the pound constantly at a ratio
below the dollar equal to that prevailing
when the United States was still on the
gold standard" In another article the
same newspaper said: Therefore it Is
the duty of the British government to
see that the disparity between the dollar
and the pound is maintained. BY this