Evening star., 1937-08-29
Puzzling Problem of
Trade Agreements
BY OWEN L. SCOTT.


Hull is being left with little more than a
fond dream and many shattered hopes.
Few tears are being shed by New Deal
ers over the Secretarys predicament In
fact, there is audible more than faint
chorus of II told you sos" These come
from men who crossed Secretary Hull
during his drive for freer world trade and
who fell before his wrath.
The Secretary of State gets credit for
one Of the century's best selling jobs In
world gone crazy with the idea of ma
tionalistic H-sufficiency, Mr. Hull at
tempted to use the influence of the
United States to turn the tide toward in
ternatioral sanity. The New Deal was
an experiment in American nationalism.
But the Secretary beat down the New
Dealers who opposed him, and sold the
New Deal President on an anti-New Deal
foreign policy. AS result, Mr.. Roose-
welt for the last three years has been
galloping rapidly in one direction at
home and galloping just as rapidly In
another direction on the world stage.
X
1t was Henry Wallace, the heavy
thinking Secretary of Agriculture, who
pointed out in 1884 that, sooner or later,
this country would be forced to decide in
which direction its Government should
gallop. He said that three courses were
open. They were:
l. To take the road toward interna-
tional cooperation, seeking to scale
down tariff walls, to shoulder the respon-
sibilities that go with a world creditor
position, to permit foreigners to sell much
more in this market than Americans
sell in foreign markets, and, in general,
to assume position of world leadership.
This was the path preferred by Mr.. Hull
2. To take the road of isolation, apply
ing the Yankee trader idea in foreign
dealings, assuming as few world respon-
sibilities as possible and establishing
Government controls over finance and
over industries of this country depend
ent upon foreign markets. Raymond
Moley and George Peek recommended
this path in foreign affairs and lost out
to the Secretary Of State.
2. To take a middle course between
international cooperation and deliber-
ate isolation.
President Roosevelt tried the third
course. He let Secretary Hull dominate
the basic foreign trade policy. The Sec
retary of State set out to bring a grad
ual reduction of world trade barriers.
He tried to promote good will throughout
South America There were the good
neighbor policy and the big brother
policy. But, all of the time, at home,
the President was driving for a new
Deal system of controls over money and
agriculture and industry that pointed
toward isolation.
y X
Only now have President Roosevelt
and his Secretary of State walked up to
the fact that they are getting no place
extremely fast in the realm OF foreign
affairs
The Japanese show a magnificent dis
regard for American interests and inter-
national agreements in the Far East. A
nationalistic urge for self -sufficiency is
driving Japan farther and farther along
the road OF conquest in search for the
raw materials that she now buys in the
United States and elsewhere Germany
and Italy are following the same course
and for the same reason in Spain. Italy
took Ethiopia in her drive for self
suf1ciency.
Germans are showing little regard for
good neighbor" policies of for laissez-
faire ideas of trade in their quest for the
South American business that this coun-
try thinks it should have. Germanys
manipulations OF exchange and barter
are getting results in South American
markets that, under old standards,
should belong to American traders At
the same time, she is supposed to be
selling her customers some Of the political
ideas of fascism in way that leopard
ICES American interests and causes jitters
in the State Department.
And Great Britain. even. is giving Sec
retary Hull the cold shoulder.
y X
The Secretary of State is offering trade
agreements to the world. In these trade
agreements, the United States exchanges
a reduction in its tariffs for concessions
from other nations. Fourteen nations,
the most important of which, from a
trade point of view. is Canada, have done
business with us. The British really hold
the key to success or failure OF the whole
venture. Britishers are enthusiastic for
a trade agreement il this country will do
all or nearly all OF the agreeing, but not
otherwise The prospects for any really
worthwhile deal are regarded as slim.
Likewise the British are very inter-
ested in backing up the United States
in the Orient. So Secretary Hull this
week gave a slightly yelled warning to
Japan that this country was not giving
up any of its rights in China. regardless
Of what the outcome of the present trou-
bic might be. England. with huge stakes
in the Far East, many times those Of this
country, would like very mEch to have
her chestnuts pulled out Of the fire. She
moves warily.
1t is very disillusioning to the free
trade-minded American State Depart
ment
Mr. Hull's thought has been that. If
the United States would just offer the
world access to its domestic markets and
! in this way would aid in rebuilding world
| trade, nations soon would forget their
| urge for f-suficiency and would return
| to sanity, and to old-fashioned ways.
Tensions growing out Of this national
| istic urge have Europe and the Far East
constantly on the verge of war, or en-
gagged in what would have been recog-
nized as war prior to the outlawry Of
| that word. Revived trade was to ease
| these tensions.
| But what of this trade? Actually its
i! volume is back near the 1929 level. even
| though the dollar value continues below.
So far as the United States is concerned,
| its people, during the first half OF the
present year, bought more foreign goods
| than they bought in the boom year OF
1929. They sold abroad less than three
| quarters as much.