Evening star., 1940-01-13
Uniting Of Americas
Urged by Wallace
In Trade Pact Plea
Secretary Tells Committee
Tariff Walls Brought
About Present War
BY BLAIR BOLLES.

A united front Of the Americas,
combined in mutual commercial in
terest so they can work together for
a positive reconstruction of the
world after the close of the Euro
pean war, was urged yesterday by
Secretary of Agriculture Wallace be-
fore the House Ways and Means
Committee. He spoke at the hear
ings on the proposed extension Of
the administration authority to
negotiate reciprocal trade agree
ments. The hearings continue Mon
day.
"The United States and its Latin
American neighbors should, in their
own interests" Mr.. Wallace said,
"look forward to positive collabora-
ton in the reconstruction of inter-
national economic relations after
the war Is over. It seems to me
that the trade agreements program,
conducted much along the line that
1t has been conducted in the last
six years, together with special in
ternational agreements in the case
Of such commodities as cotton and
wheat, can be an extremely impor-
tant factor in the economic recon-
struction of the postwar world"
The Business Advisory Council Of
the Commerce Department, made
up of go industrial and financial
leaders, at its annual meeting yes
terday adopted a resolution in sup
port Of the agreements and trans
mitted its decision to Secretary
Hopkins.
Blames Tariffs for War.
Mr.. Wallace, in the course of ques-
tioning by Representative Treadway,
Republican. of Massachusetts, the
ranking minority member of the
committee, gave the opinion that the
war itself Is the result Of this coun-
try's refusal to encourage the free
flow Of international commerce after
the World War. He said the Ford
ney-McCumber tariff of 1922 and
the Smoot- t-Hawley tariff of 1890
made 1t impossible for our debtor
nations to pay us-by the tariffs
cutting down their sales to us-and
headed Europe toward the economic
crisis Of the early 30s.
The Secretary of Agriculture
called the Smoot- tariff 1.-The
tragedy Of $780," for which "the
whole world is paying the cost" He
argued:
The acts and policies of the
United States during the 20s and
early 30s-combining as they did the
stimulation OF foreign loans and the
insistence on collection Of war debts,
with the erection of higher and
higher tariffs-these acts and poll
cies threw the tremendous prestige
and commercial power of this coun-
try on the side of the restrictive
forces at work in the world.
Sees Retaliation Invited.
After the Smoot- -Hawley Act was
passed, foreign countries felt obliged
to erect prohibitive trade barriers
IN retaliation, international trade
swiftly dried up and what started
out as a mild recession soon became
a worldwide economic disaster Of
cataclysmic proportions.
The financial collapse of Austria
was followed by the financial COL
lapse Of Germany, the abandonment
OF the gold standard by England,
the bank panic in the United States,
the rise Of totalitarianism in Ger
many and other capitalistic coun-
tries the breakdown of tho Taoo,o
OF Nations and finally a major war"
The Secretary defended the agree
ments on the ground they have
opened the export market for Amer
ican agriculture. To the protest
that they open America to farm
imports. he held that the imports
are Influenced by the American
price, not the American duties, and
pointed out that in the 1920s the
average annual farm imports were
considerably in excess of today's.
While he was testifying, the Ag-
riculture Departments Bureau of
Agricultural Economics issued sta
tistics showing that cattle and beef
imports increased A per cent during
the first II months of 1899 over the
like period in 1888 - 424, 200, ,O0C
pounds, principally from Canada
and Mexico, compared with 294 ,84O,-
600 in 1888. The 1899 imports rep
resent 8.6 per cent of the total
slaughter of cattle and calves under
Federal inspection.