Evening star., 1933-07-02
BY WILLIAM HARD.


Museum of Practical Geology.
Occasion: The International None
tary and Economic Conference
Character: The Meditative Reporter
Guess I'll really have to start doing
some work.
mo, thank you, Jim. I've just been
saying to myself. I've got to 60 to work
What are you writing for your paper
today?"
THE conference is q failure"
Thought you wrote that yesterday.
II did"
Write 1t for me tomorrow, will you?'
Sure. This is the last international
conference that ever will be held"
That's the news sent out from the
international conferences at Genoa,
Brussels, Stresa, Lausanne, Barcelona,
Geneva, The Hague, Washington, Basel,
Rome and Ouchy. You're too opti-
mistic. I'm going to prophesy interna-
tional conferences at Bombay, Oslo
Madrid, Moscow, New Orleans and
Budapest. Every nation is turning itself
into competitive business trading
firm. and they'll have to have confer.
ences to try to trade one another out Of
their eye teeth. When an awful lot of
time, it's q conference"
Run along"
I'm sauntering."
No. boy. No copy for the wires yet.
No, boy. No copy yet.
No, boy.
Mol!
That's how any news at all ever gets
written out Of here. It's those boys.
I'm going to get away from them.
+ 4 4 X
That looks like q nice staircase to
walk up.
And now so does that.
And here's another
All! The delegates lounge. Plenty
Of vacant space, on that side of it, for
walking about and picking up other
delegates. Plenty Of tables, on this side
ing hospitable to other delegates. Also
for looking at the bar and for count
ing how many different kinds of glasses
there are on it. Nations seem to diff
fer, not only in their drinks, but in the
glasses they drink them in. There are
more sorts Of glasses on that bar than
anywhere else on earth.
Good luck! I'm sitting at q table
right next to the table Of Neville
Chamberlain. Let's go to work study
ing a British chancellor Of the ex-
cheQuer.
Many delegates wear ordinary busi.
ness clothes. The King even allowed
them to wear such garb at his party
for them at Windsor Castle. But Mr..
Chamberlain wears very formal clothes.
trousers striped, all right. And there's
his top hat, resting on the floor.
He has an amazingly small head. It's
tiny head. His features are quite
firm. He has small, black moustache
His hair is remarkable. 1t Is quite
black. But all around it, In front and
at the sides, and behind, there's a
fringe that's quite white. His hair Is
ike plate. the center Of which is
black and the rim of which Is white.
He is said to be very, very honest
He looks it. Everybody in British pol
itics says you can trust him personally,
absolutely. And he's been in politics
all his life. Must have had wonder
full character to start with.
He looks quite anxious. He has a
right TO. He's the head Of the British
is in favor of lowering tariff barriers,
but not too much, and of initiating the
worlds currency and credit, but not
too much, and Of returning to the gold
standard, but not too soon, and of lift
ing prices. but not too far, and Of re-
suming the loaning of capital from
country to country, but not too fast,
and not too slowly. It takes q smart
chancellor Of the exchequer to keep up
with the British experts on these
points.
The chancellor Is talking now with
the biggest British expert Of them all.
I've talked with him In Washington.
I've talked with him here. I'm glad I'm
not an expert for the American delega-
ton. I'd like nothing worse than to
experttze against Sir Frederick Leith-
Ross.
He's now leaning over toward Mr..
Chamberlain, instructing him. He can
lean. There's plenty of him to do it
frightfully stalwart. And his face Is
correspondingly bulky. A tremendous
face. A formidable face. And out Of
the midst Of it still more formidable
nose. And on top Of the nose enormous
spectacles. He peers through them
downward as II he were . crane about
to pounce upon q hsh. It almost scares
me just to look at him.
As q matter of fact, when he takes
his spectacles OF and puts his expert
manner aside, he's one Of the gentlest
and also one Of the most humorous
souls In international conferences.
He knows all about them, and he
knows all about money and currencies
and exchanges He can translate
drachmas into lire and guilders into
kronen and all Of them into dollars and
into pounds off-hand. He's been doing
1t for years and years and years. I've
never talked with anybody else in my
life who knew 50 much about those
things.
But zee Pirelu Of Italy. Alberto
PirelN. He's talking to Gutt Of Belgium.
Camille dutt. -
Rather baldish, Pirelu. Not veTy tan.