Evening star., 1939-04-23
Attacks Proposal for
Economic Conference
By O1De1s L. Scott

Even the New Deal group of White
House advisers is bewildered by the lat
est of the Presidents maneuvers.
This maneuver, contained in Mr..
Roosevelt's message to Adolf Hitler, ap-
| pears to the New Dealers to represent an
offer by the President to cali another
world economic conference that could
try once more to ind an international
approach to recovery. The offer Is con-
ditioned on an agreement by the totali-
tartan dictators not to engage In new
aggressions.
The President is tossing out this idea
Of new world economic adjustment at
time when domestic recovery again Is
In the doldrums and when his economic
advisers-in meetings this week-had
agreed that the immediate business fu-
ture was highly uncertain.
But these same New Dealers recall
that President Roosevelt In 1888 deliber-
ately wrecked one world economic con-
ference when the prospects for success
of such conference were much more
bright than they are today. At that time
Hitler was just coming to power. There
still was something of world money
for subsidized exports and for currency
control had not yet been evolved. Ma
tions were not ready to spring at one
another's throats at the slightest pretext.
Mr.. Roosevelt, however, became con-
vinced that In the London economic con-
ference the United States was being
asked to make all of the sacrifices. He
also had become sold on the nationalistic
idea that this country could recover
through better organization of its own
resources
So shift was made from an attempt
at world recovery, probably financed by
the United States, to an attempt by do
mestic recovery through Government
control.
Hitler was left to shift for himself in
Germany. The johnson Act was passed,
barring new loans to nations TN default
on old loans to the United States Gov
ernment. Banks were bolstered with new
capital. The dollar was cut loose from
gold and later was revalued. N. r. A.
and A. A. A. were set going as answers
to the problem Of industrial and agri-
cultural recovery.
y ~
The New Deal at this stage represented
q venture into nationalism.
But 1t turned out that nationalism
called for type of planning that the
country apparently was not ready to ac-
cept. Business used N. r. A. as device
for price fixing rather than for real
planning. Tax changes in the interest
of planning were resisted The Supreme
Court upset first the N. R. A. and then
the A. A. A. Price controls tended to
limit the markets abroad for American
cotton and yet neither the President nor
Congress was willing to face the problem
OF recognizing the entire economy Of
the South, which rested on cotton.
The result was that nationalism began
to pail on Mr.. Roosevelt. Cordell Hull,
Secretary Of State, consistently had
argued that only through a world eco
nomic readjustment could the United
States get economic recovery without set
ting up type Of controls that the Ma
ton would resist. When Mr. Hull offered
reciprocal trade agreements as an ap-
proach to this international recovery,
President Roosevelt set the country on
new internationalist tack.
When Germany offered to barter more
German goods for 300 900 bales of Amer
ican cotton, Mr.. Hull turned thumbs
down. There was no sale and Germany
began to turn elsewhere for the cotton
that she once bought in American mar
kets. George Peek. foreign trade ad-
wiser to the President, who had urged
planned development of foreign trade
and use of all of the trade weapons
used by other nations, was hquidated out
of his job. Here was the start of a new
effort to try again to find recovery
through development of a freer world
trade.
But foreign trade, instead of respond
Ing the way the President and Mr.. Hull
expected has gone to the dogs.
Exports of American products during
the current year have fallen nearly Is
per cent compared with one year ago.
Foreigners now are buying American war
materials-when they buy much of any,
thlng-instead of American cotton and
wheat and lard. Instead of aiding indus
trial recovery, foreign trade today is
drag on recovery.
Caught once more in the necessity of
making fundamental decisions of ma
tional policy, Mr.. Roosevelt baked.
Wheat piled up unsold, so the Presi-
dent agreed to a plan for having the
Federal Government pay part of the
price of wheat so that foreigners could
be tempted to buy. Taxpayers started
out paying cents on each bushel of
wheat exported and on the last deal paid
80 cents bushel. When foreign nations
engage in this type of operation, Amer
lean Notwithstanding the President
call it dumping and use violent language
IN denunciation. Officially they now
carefully explain that dumping, when
done by the United States, absolutely is
not dumping
NOW President Roosevelt is proposing
to do the same thing in cotton. Only he
and other officials want it distinctly un-
derstood that in doing exactly what to-
talltarlan countries are doing, the United
states simply isn't doing anything of the
kind.
furthermore, the United States is get
ting set to trade American cotton and
wheat for pr;ticl, ood p,,@.h ~, ood