Evening star., 1933-04-16
Unemployment Declines by
337, 900, Due to Seasonal
Business Increase,
BRITAIN IS PREPARING
FOR TARIFF ADJUSTMENT
Tone of Trade Is Good in France
With Spring Improvement
Shown in Pay Rolls.
Special Dispatch to The Star.

Special Dispatch to The Star.
NEW YORK, April 15-Cables and
wireless dispatches to the Business
Week give the following survey of busi-
ness abroad for the week ending today:
Berlin.-Germany has been compara-
lively calm this week, and the Hitler
government has made some progress in
consolidating its position
Outstanding development was the de-
cree establishing a governor general
over each Of the states, removable only
py the President. Politically, the states
can no longer oppose the government
effectively. Hitler's concentration of
power over all parts Of the government
is now complete.
Unemployment declined $4,000 dur
ing the second half Of March, but the
Improvement was due largely to sea-
Sonal pickup. Hitler broke through
the trade union monopoly, heretofore
exclusively reserved to unions repre-
senttng the old political parties, to give
franchise to Nazi unions. The gov
ernment is still divided on its trade
union policy the more moderate mem
bers wishing to move cautiously, so as
to keep the confidence of the workers
adopt Mussolini's corporate" system at
once.
Signs Of Improvement.
There are spotty signs of improve
ment, due mostly to better domestic de-
mand. Industry is still feeling the ef-
fects of the foreign boycott Recent
radical farm relief measures are re-
Sponsible for the heavier sales of agri-
cultural machines and fertilizer.
Public works projects are beginning to
materialize, and industry is profiting
from the materials orders. Steel, es-
pecially, has been more active this week.
The new Hitler law exempting new au-
tomobiles (regardless of size) from taxes
so long as they are in the possession Of
the Original owner is hailed by the au-
tomobile industry, though dealers ap-
prehend wider depreciation on their
stocks of used cars.
London. The approaching Easter
holiday and the imminence of budget
settlement has slowed trade but the
business tone is good, with rising hopes
for good results from the Roosevelt
talks. Britain's only difficulty in the
| tariff negotiations are the Ottawa agree
ments and most-favored-nation clauses
in At existing treaties, but it is official
opinion that these, under RocseVelt's
ledQ. can DC 6tlIQllldC6O.
The steel industry has produced its
first memorandum on the long-promised
reorganization under pressure Of the
Tariff Commission and is proposing the
creation Of q central British iron and
steel corporation to undertake the work
of supervising the coordination and
control Of the specialized work OF some
dozen separate associations representing
various groups of iron and steel prod
ucts. This is not a reorganization
scheme proper, only the machinery for
one, but it is an important first step.
Hope of maintaining Russian trade
relations is faint The public is OF the
opinion that both Litvinoff and the
British government have handled the
situation growing out of the sabotage"
trial in Moscow with needless provoca-
ton and ineptitude. There is sympathy
for the arrested engineers, but the Gov
ernment is believed to have been too
aggressive in its first demands. On the
other hand, there Is wide suspicion that
Russia Is being deliberately provocative
in the hope of ending relations with
large debts unpaid.
Spring Trade Revival.
Paris.-President Roosevelt's choice OF
Herriot as French delegate to the Little
Economic Conference probably IS me
second great American blunder. follow
ing the Hoover moratorium. The dan
ger lies in the certainty that America
IS faced with still another disillusion-
ment. since Herriot, (who IS not now In
the government) once upon American
soil, necessarily is bound to limit ms
role to a mere goodwill representative.
The Spring trade revival is well on
the way with almost weekly gains in
pay rolls. March indices Of wholesale
aad retail prices show slight declines
compared with last month, with the
general wholesale index of 10 per cent
compared with last year, and the retail
index down Is per cent.