Evening star., 1941-07-20

Senator Wagner points to the naming
of Arthur Greenwood, Labor party lead
er in England, as minister without port
folio to draw up reconstruction plans
as an example this country should fol-
low. If Greenwood has accomplished
anything it has not been reported here
and the British have made no efforts
to collaborate with the scattered gov
ernmental agencies working on the same
problem. News accounts of his speeches
have been limited to the usual talk of
rebuilding towns and expanding educa-
ton. Some officials here think his job
is almost nominal.
Ambassador Halifax, in his first i'm
portant public speech in this country,
admitted that it was impossible to draw
detailed plans for the future structure
of the community of nations. But urg-
ing greater economic cooperation be-
tween this country and Britain. he
continued:
Lord Halifax's Warning.
This business of rebuilding after the
war will be a task far beyond the
strength of any single country. Great
Britain is resolved to do her utmost. but
it is clear that if the world is to bs
brought back to health after so devas-
tating sickness, it will be only by the
united action of all men and all nations
Of good will
officials like UnderSecretary of Com
merce Taylor are more realistic. On the
international situation, Taylor says:
I'VE are married to the British En-
pire and Latin America for the dura-
ton and will be a long time after,
whether there is British victory. a
stalemate or an Axis victory Whatever
plans We make must keep this in mind"
On domestic questions, he is just as
blunt.
I'VE passed from an old to new era
in August, 1889" he declares. Things
cannot be the same. Organized labor
is stronger in government and econom-
icS. and We must recognize this Busi-
nessmen must realize that there will be
government regulation of international
trade and that the tariff is as dead as
the gold standard"
DR.. PaSvolSky sees the necessity of
accumulating current figures as guides
of present trends and signposts of fu-
ture realities. An extreme possibility
he can imagine is the migration of mil
lions OF Europeans to this continent.
As a currency expert he weighs the in
f1uence of American gold in the peace
settlement
Fight Against Initiation.
Mariner S. Eccles of the Federal Re-
serve System, Leon Henderson of the
Office of Prices and Civilian Supply,
Bernard M. Baruch and many other
practical economists believe that if in
fiation can be prevented, the postwar
problems will be simplified for this coun-
try They and many amateur econ
omists believe consumer consumption
should be cut down during the emer-
gency to build up a backlog of pur-
chases after the war. Some business
men want tax exemptions for encour-
-agement of research for new inventions
and new commodities. Real estate men
are asking for national plans for the
housing boom that may come after the
war.
All of these questions and others, re-
gardleSs of contradictions, could be
studied by national economic COM
mission such as proposed by Senator
Wagner. In his final report as Secre-
tary of Agriculture, Vice President
Wallace wrote:
"Will it be possible when the war
stops to have true economics of peace?
This question really asks how the war
will end, who will win it and what the
terms of peace will be-
1T is, of course, unanswerable now.
Yet it is not an idle question, for it
leads us to consider the deeper question
whether the natural partnership of
trade is with war or with peace For
merly, no one entertained any doubts
about the matter. The whole develop
ment of the 10Th century, with what we
should now consider warlike interludes,
was the development of an economics
of peace, in which the ruling principle
was mutual advantage and not force
Vice President Wallace, as he says,
has raised a question unanswerable at
this time. A post-emergency economic
advisory commission would at least
gather the necessary materials for An
answef when peace u finally attained.
4