Evening star., 1933-10-08
DEBT CHANGE BASIS
SEEN IN DECISION
Binding Quality of Oral State
ments May Have Caused
New U. S. Policy.
Bv the Associated Press.

BY the Associated Press.
A recent decision Of the World Court
that oral statements Of diplomats are
binding may solve the mystery OF why
President Roosevelt took the British
war debt parley away from the State
Department and assigned 1t to Dean
Acheson, Undersecretary of the Treas
ury.
Norway recently lost contest with
Denmark for a portion OF East Green.
land because a Norwegian minister OF
foreign affairs had orally promised a
Danish Minister that Norway would not
interfere with Danish aspirations in
Greenland.
The Permanent Court Of 1nterna-
tional Justice. which tried the case,
ruled the oral promise was binding on
Norway. despite that country's conten-
ton that its Minister had no authority
to make the promise.
Might Happen to L. S.
Something like that possibly might
happen to embarrass the United States
in the debt negotiations. in the opln-
ion of some international bankers, If
the State Department were acting for
this country. That departments state
mentS would be more likely to be re-
garded as representing official policy by
an international court than would those
of the Treasury.
Decisions of the World Court have a
vital effect on international law and
must be reckoned with, despite the fact
President Roosevelt has indicated he
will not press Congress to put the
United States into the court. The de-
cisions Of the court. which is creation
of the League of Nations, are advisory
/ nd h11t no m
support of League members.
Charges by Panama merchants that
American goods. sent duty-free to the
Canal Zone, are bootlegged extensively
into Panama territory, thereby hurting
their business, will be the subject of a
heart -to-heart' talk scheduled next
week between President Roosevelt and
President Harmodio Arias of Panama
cial treaty that will remove his coun-
trymen's complaints. Canal Zone COM
missaries are supposed to sell only to
employees of the canal and the Panama
Railway living in the zone.
Panama contends American control
Of the five-mile strip on each side of
the canal and the American cities of
Cristobal and Balboa at the ends o1
the waterway are strangling Panama S
commerce and depriving it Of needed
revenues.
The possibility that prohibition soon
may be repealed may bring new tariff
controversies into the open. France.
Spain, Italy. Portugal, Germany and
Great Britain are eagerly eyeing the
American market for wines and liquors
Several of these nations are charged
by American exporters with unwar-
ranted tariff discrimination against
American goods
1t is regarded as not unlikely that
this country may be forced to issue a
warning it will not endure such practices
without retaliation. Quotas and other
means of manipulating tariffs are be-
coming increasingly troublesome in
Europe despite the 40-power tariff truce
for which Secretary of State Hull
worked so hard at the London Economy
Conference.
Sweden has renounced this truce. al
though it is one of the five powers with
which the United States has elected to
! negotiate for bilateral tariff agreements.
Turkey and Greece, once arch
enemies, are doing some tariff trading
and flirting with the little entente for
extension of Balkan tariff agreements
into Central Europe.
Premier Venizelos of Greece and
King Alexander of Yugoslavia have just
visited Mustapha Kemal. Turkish die
tator to discuss the possibility of a
federation of states in that part of the
! world to improve their own economic
situation