Evening star., 1933-10-25

II the doctors OF high finance are
confused perplexed and up in the air
over President Roosevelt's new none
tary policy, how is Mr.. Average Man
to be expected to know what it's all
about? It's the first time F. D. r. has
taken the country into his confidence
on a major proposition without clari-
flying 1t to the complete satisfaction Of
all concerned. So far bewilderment Is
the emotion widely aroused by the gold
purchasing and commodity dollar sys-
tenn which is to be set up. The country
during the past seven months has un-
dergone popular education in econom-
ics beyond anything of the sort ever
experienced. But. to Judge by national
press comment and the divergence OF
view encountered In Washington itself,
there Is no unanimity Of opinion either
as to what the administrations pro-
gram exactly means or whether and
how it is going to reach its stated goal.
On no point are people more divided
and doubtful than on the question
whether the Presidents action is or is
not inflationary. He himself speaks Of
a managed currency" which is to re-
main q sound" currency, yet the arch
priest Of the imitation cult, Senator
Thomas Of Oklahoma acclaims the pro-
gram as a satisfactory step in the
greenbackers' direction, and Senator
Borah sees in it controlled imitation" !"
Having chronicled that many people
are bewildered over Just what the
President does mean, it remains to be
said that even in quarters which con-
fess they are puzzled there's still q
solid bedrock of confidence in the
President and in his capacity to grapple
with the emergency. What many men
and women are saying runs like this:
This is mostly Greek to us, but as
Mr. Roosevelt is for it, it must be all
right, and we're with him. He says
the right direction. That's good
enough for us"
Nearly everybody seems to think the
new monetary program Is defeat for
the conservative wing of the Presidents S
financial advisers, especially those who
inhabit the Treasury Department. The
commodity dollar" program reflects in
its essentials the views of Profs. Warren
of Cornell and Rogers of Yale, who
are later additions to the brain trust
which accompanied Mr.. Roosevelt into
the arguments they poured into the
presidential ear which induced the chief
executive to spring his gold plan upon
the country. Men long close to Mr..
Roosevelt in an advisory capacity say
his habit on important occasions Is to
receive counsel of all kinds; to weigh
it judicially. and then promptly to make
his own decisions. Insiders are sure
that's exactly what happened in con-
nection with the monetary policy"
Just promulgated.
Secretary Hull is following long
line of American official precedents IN
|. itals on the eve Of the Pan-American
Conference in Uruguay. In their re-
spectiye times, Secretaries Of State
Knox, Root, Colby and Hughes paid
their respects to various Latin lands.
Before becoming Secretary Of State,
Mr.. Kellogg was delegate to the
Pan-American conference in Chile.
President Coolidge opened the Pan
American Conference at Havana in
1923 and president-elect Hoover made
Q pre.lnaugural tour Of Central and
South American capitals. The Latins
lay much stress on such personal cour-
tesles and Judge Hull's intention 10
tour South America Is highly acclaimed
personality Is designed to make q IA
vorable impression upon all with whom
he comes In contact In the regions to
the south Of us. Not the least signifl-
cant aspect of his plans is their indi-
cation that the administration is not
looking for any blow-up in Cuba In the
immediate future; otherwise 1t is un-
likely the Secretary Of State would