The Wilmington morning star., 1947-01-20
TODAY
and
TOMORROW

ana
TOMORROW /
power which corresponds with nja
responsibility. This condition was
hidden while Mr.. Eugene Meyer
.was the president. For M. Meyer
had a unique personal position. He
had the complete confidence OF
the financial community; ne haG
served with great distinction in
public life. and he had acquired
high prestige in Washington. AS
long as he was president of the
bank, the question as 10 whether
the president had enough real
authority did not arise.
II has arisen for his successor.
AS the bank is organized, all its
powers are vested in a board of
governors. TIE chairman of the
board is the Secretary of the
Treasury. Mr.. Snyder. The powers
of the board are delegated to
twelve executive directors-five OF
them appointed by the govern
ments which are the largest share
holders. the other seven elected by
the other governments. These ex-
ecutive directors, unlike the gov
errors, are paid officials who de-
vote their whole time to the bank.
The American executive director is
Mr.. Emilio G. Collado:
The president Of the bank is
elected by these executive direc-
tors. He becomes their chairman
but he has no vote except in case
of a tie. He may be removed when
the executive directors so decide
The American executive direc-
tor, MI. Collado, who owes his ap-
! continent to the Administration,
is a powerful figure in the bank.
The voting power of each country
is proportionate to its subscription,
and under this system the United
States has 81 out of 100 votes, the
United Kingdom Is, France SIS,
Canada 4, etc., etc. It is Mr.. Col
lado. not the president, who casts
the American vote. Moreover, he
casts it under the guidance of the
Secretaries of States, Treasury.
Commerce, and the chairman of
the Federal Reserve System.
The president not only has no
vote, except in cas- of a tie, but
he is supposed to be a kind of neu-
trail figure, a purely International
official, and to have nc connection
with any government. In reality
then, it is MI. Collado, the Ameri>
can executive director. and not the
president of the bank. who con-.
meets the work of the bank with
the American government and the
American people.
This would be ali very well if it
were not for the fact that the sue
cess of the bank depends so much
on the United States. Most of its
bonds must be sold through Ameri-
can banks to American investors.
The future of those bonls is init
mately related to the financial and
commercial policies of the United
states government-on whether in
the years to come these policies
are sucn that the United States
becomes in fact a creditor country
which enables other countries to
earn the dollar to repay their
loans.
Unless the president OF the bank
can count upon the support OF
the American government and is
assured that his advice will be
taken very seriously by the Ad-
ministration and by Congress, he
cannot hope to do what is ex.
pected of him. If his real authority
is only that which he has legally,
he is only an administrative officer
and a figurehead. Yet the world
will hold him responsible for the
success of the bank. That is, l
believe, the reason why it has
become SO difficult to find a man,
qualified for the high post, who
will accept it.
Since it may be too difficult to
change the legal structure of the
bank the only remedy would seem
TO be an assurance, which con-
WINGED him, that President Tru-
man, and the leaders of both
parties in Congress, will throw the
full weight of American support
behind him, and that he will in
fact exercise the American power
In the bank. In this way it ought
to be possible to find a qualified
man who will accept.
But the assurance of political
support will have to be truly con-
vincing-wholeheartedly enough to
make it clear that the United
States government will do it's ut
most to help him succeed in an ex-
traordinarily difficult task, and to
protect him, one might add,
against the kind of slanderous at
tack to which Mr.. Clayton, for ex-
ample, has recently been subjected
on the floor of Congress.
Copyright, 1947, New York Tribune