Evening star., 1933-05-07
CORDIALITY is KEYNOTE !
OF ROOSEVELT PARLEYS
Atmosphere of Talks With Herriot and
Macdonald Noticeably Better Than
Other Recent Conferences.

| tlOnS. Inc french, OF pOntlcal, quite
as much as financial, and Of economic
not at all. The British were halfway
between both, striving to get the French
to think economically and the Amert-
cans to reason politically.
Another circumstances which added
to the unreality OF the affair was the
fact that neither Macdonald nor Her
riot was in any sense representative of
his own country, and both the British
and the French were left with the i'm
preston that President Roosevelt had
lost control of his domestic situation.
When-while the visitors were still on
the ocean-the United States leaped
| off the gold standard, the first i'm
preston among the foreigners was
that they had been the victims of q
| clever maneuver. But the second inter-
probation. later accepted by all, that
the President had been forced to take
this step because of domestic circum-
stances was no more reassuring.
The impression that while Mac
Donald and Herriot talked in Washing
ton the real masters of British and
French policy were acting in London
and Paris detracted incalculably from
the importance of the meeting in the
eyes Of all but a portion of the Amer
which the President subordinated the
debt question during the first days Of
the discussion diminish this impress
sion.
Conscious Of Situations.
Underneath the surface it was
pointed out with diSquieting frankness
that Macdonald and Herriot were
both in Washington not because the
British or French cabinets had de-
hberately chosen them, but only in
response to the indicated desire of Mr.
Roosevelt, who had for a moment acted
to choose foreign ambassadors, but
without being able to make these rep
'resentatives truly representative And
both Macdonald and Herriot were
ments Of their respective situations at
home
In the larger sense the sudden shift
of the United States from the gold
standard abolished the possibility of
any practical achievement at Washing
ton because 1t precipitated q new issue
and an unforeseen problem. More than
enc Englishman expressed to me the
view that it had been a stroke Of luck
that the arrival of the delegations had
come just after the reversal of Amer
lean policy. since it made 1t possible to
reassure British and French publics
that the change had been due to do
mestic reasons exclusively. But none
concealed the shattering consequences
of the change so far as the fortunes Of
the conversations themselves were con-
cerned.
AS for the President himself. he
scored a personal success not only with
M hut ,,
the rank and file of the visiting for
eigners. On the other hand, no such
success was achieved by the presiden-
tial advisers whose approach to ques-
tions of supreme world importance pro-
voked not little eyebrow lifting. Thus
under the surface there was an inev-
liable tendency of the British and
French to draw together in the face of
new and puzzling phenomenon. ten
dsncy disclosed in London and Paris
more than in Washington.
To the onlooker 1t was evident that
the feeling between the representatives
of the three countries was more pleas
ant than usual. In fact, have never
seen an international meeting-and I
have been present at most of the more
important gatherings in recent years
where the general atmosphere was bet
ter or where the element of suspicion
was less prominent. There was no dis
coverable distrust between the British
and French. just as there was no fool
ish doubt Of either on the part OF the
Americans.
Nevertheless, 1t was not possible in
private conversations to discover any,
thing but polite and pleasant skepti-
cism as to the practical results. Mac
Donald, Herriot and Roosevelt unques-
tionably acquired useful knowledge of
each other But in all minds there was
the same question as to how long Mac
Donald would last, whether Herriot
could come back to power and to what
extent Roosevelt would be able to con-
troll an increasingly unruly Congress.
seemingly bent upon inflationary and
other heretical adventures which took
both the British and French experts bv
surprise and left them more startled
than impressed.
Discussions Overshadowed.
Always the discussions were over
shadowed by the universal recognition
that events in Germany made disarma-
ment impractical. that conditions in the
debtor nations made further debt pay
ments unthinkable and that the Amer
ican descent from Mr.. Bryan's Gross
of Gold" had created a new problem
which it would take weeks If not
months to adjust. And back of all; elss
was the black shadow of another war.
Fsychologically, this Washington meet
ing was the most successful have
seen. The Roosevelt smile was REIN
forced by a superb burst of Spring
weather and the French were treated
with tact and sympathy which has
been lacking in oficial relations with
them since the war
If Macdonald, sHerriot and Roosevelt
had been Kings. able to impose pro-
grams upon which they could agree on
their respective nations, practical pro-
gress might have been assured. But
each had to confess his limitations to
the others. All had to keep their eyes
fixed upon their respective legislatures
and as a consequence there was an in
escapable sense of futility. along with q
degree Of friendliness certainly not ap-
prcximated in any international meet
ing in the postwar era.
tCopyright. 1933)