Evening star., 1933-06-11
BY FRANK HI. SIMONDS.

TN Washington it was said at the
time the American delegation sci
out for the London conference: III
i its succeeds the ace of miracles will
have been restored" And this
statement pretty accurately forecasts
the professional diplomatic view Of the
prospects for the latest Of international
assemblies In fact, the outlook Is so
patiently desperate that once more, as
in the case of the Arms Conference,
the question must arise as to why 1t
should have been summoned at all.
Obviously in the earlier stages Of
the discussion the Roosevelt admins
tration was eager to see the conference
meet and meet early. That was before
certain very significant things hap
pened First of these was the Hitler
upheavel in Germany. which abolished
the last vestige of calm and confidence
on the continent. Second was the COM
ing and going of Macdonald and Her
riot which, because of the dramatic
dropping of the gold standard, produced
no practical results although the visits
of these foreign diplomats contributed
to psychological satisfactions. Lastly,
of course, was the intransigeant attitude
of Congress in the matter of the war
debts
1t is clear now that in March the
administration was satisfied that the
visits of European statesmen to Wash
ington would prepare the way for a
series of dramatic steps abroad. First
among these was to be the intervention
of the President in the European situa-
tion: He planned an appeal to the
world In the name of peace, an active
american role at Geneva, through new
declarations about American neutrality
and finally real disarmament agree,
ment as a preface to the economic and
financial actions at London.
Hitler SpoiIs U. S. Gesture.
But Hitler spoiled the American
gesture at Geneva because, although
he bowed to the Presidents world ap-
peal and changed his tone incredibly.
his previous utteranceS and the actions
of his followers had awakened an ap-
prehension all over the continent
which made effective reductions In
ornaments impossible. The American
proposal which was to break the log
Jam at Geneva proved inadequate and
the Jam survived
Even before the Geneva happenings,
however, the American slide off the
gold standard resulted in the practical
failure of the visits of Herriot and
Macdonald to produce effective results.
The first consideration of the British
was the double question of the debts
ard the extent of the proposed inf1a-
ton by the United States. But the
debt question was practically ignored
while for the second no answer was
even suggested. The Americans on
their part desired to discover when
and at what point the British were
prepared to stabilize. And they, too,
found out nothing.
The French were concerned about
debts and the restoration OF the gold
standard alike in Britain and the
United States. And they went away
equally in the dark on both points.
Herriot's harvest was limited to the
vague program OF consultative agree
ments and neutrality waiyings which
was later disclosed at Geneva without
much real result. And the conse-
quences for Herriot, as for MacDon-
aid, Of relatively unfruitful Atlantic
crossing were not fortunate.
AS for the question Of tariffs, which
was for the Secretary of State the
primary issue of London, from the very
outset it was evident that nothing OF
real importance could be achieved In
that line because the United States,
like other countries, was in no mood
to subject its own customs laws TO the
decisions of an international confer
ence with the inevitable result OF sur
rendering certain protective barriers.
One could not, for example, imagine
Senator Hiram johnson agreeing to
sacrifice the lemon growers Of Cali
fornia to those of Italy in return for
reciprocal concessions affecting Massa-
chusetts advantageously.
Administration Handicapped.
In the Washington conversations
and COMMUNICATIVE Roosevelt admin
istration was seriously handicapped by
the fact that it is dealing with two
countries which possess governments
divided against themselves. In France
the situation of the Daladier cabinet
was = and remains precarious In
Britain, the Macdonald cabinet is