Show 61 importance of world trade trad e turns spotlight on oft se sec c H hull 00 epst st war building iding of international structure I 1 hu ji will get det consideration before armistice by BAUKHAGE veun analyst and commentator Ser service vici 1313 1343 11 II street NW i wa washington sh ington D 0 hints to the effect that the president will make a discussion of postwar conditions a part of his forthcoming message to the congress foreshadows fore shadows the reentry re entry on the diplomatic stage in a prominent role of the figure of secretary of state cordell hull in wartime diplomacy plays its part chiefly behind the scenes the brass hats have their day in ih public but there are now several indications that secretary hull is labout cabout to take the thea spotlight again in an old famili arrole namely as as spokesman tor for the economic platform which he made a part of our foreign po policy llcy before the war to understand secretary hulls importance today jt it is well to recall the words spoken to mb me not long ago by a very keen diplomatist secretary hull he said was probably chosen as secretary of state for four reasons one because of the presidents political debt to him and because they were friends two baca because se he had a diplomatic gift three because there was vital need for liaison between the state department and lahd congress ind and tour four because of hulls deep knowledge of international trade relations reason no 3 is more important than ever and although reason no 4 kiy may have been a pure coincidence at the time it is turning out to be one of the most important factors today behson reason no noa 4 is com coming ing to the front there are those in the administration who believe that america must play a vital part in the building of the postwar post war world if freedom of enterprise is to be maintained they realize too teo that th at unless conditions of peace are iare outlined before the ar armistice mi stice isolationist sentiment may break out again and force america back into extreme nationalism when the war war is over as it did in 1918 turning Poll point rit toward depression americas withdrawal from world 01 airs in 1818 is considered by the people who believe in hulls international trade poll policy cyas as the turning point that led straight to the depression of the ewens then it was that america began building up her tariff walls which many economists consider one of the causes of world war II 11 throughout this period peri odthe the foreign war debts were fester festering hig america continued to demand payment of those debts land at the same sometime same time to raise trade barriers that curtailed international commerce and thus made the dett debt payments impossible then came the new deal and the introduction on of many measures some of which tended further toward nationalism Seck secretary etar hull who had been fighting an uphill fight for free trade relations without much success especially after the sabotaging of the london economic conference ain 1933 finally launched his reciprocal trade agreements plan hulls progress was retarded retard ed tor for r many natural reasons inthe in the first place it was too a procedure to engage the i dents active support the president leans joithe to the dramatic does not pre i tend to understand fiscal matters in the second secolia place the traditional onali state department attitude was one of aristocratic disdain of all matters involving trade lend lease policy fitted into picture then came that new and strange lirange device the lend leak leae policy it was inaugurated first in the hope that we could fight the war in absentia by furnishing britain the tools and secondly to avoid the recurrence of that painful phenomenon the war debts and then just when it is not known or exactly how secretary hull gull was able to revive his policy of unhampered tr trade adeby by introducing article VII into the lend lease agreements briefly article VII provides in the final determination othe benefits to be provided to the united states of america by the government of in return for aid furnished und under erthe the act of congress of march 11 1941 them the terms term sand and condit conditions ioni thereof shall be such as not to burden coin commerce merce between th the e two countries but to pro promote I 1 mote mutually advantageous economic re lations between them and the betterment of worldwide world wide economic relations to that end they shall include provision for agreed action by the united states of america and t open to participation by all other countries of like mind directed to the expansion by appropriate international and domestic measures of production employment and the exchange and consumption of goods which are the material foundations of the liberty and welfare of all peoples to the elimination of all forms of discriminatory treatment in international commerce to the reduction of tariffs and other trade barriers and in general to the attainment tain ment of economic objectives identical with those set forth in the joint declaration made on august 14 1941 by the president of the united states of america and the prime minister of the united kingdom at an early convenient date conversations shall be begun between the two governments with a view to determining in the light of governing economic conditions the best means of attaining the above stated objectives by their own agreed action and of seeking the agreed eed action of other like minded governments 11 the chronology of americas approach to a peace founded on the principles of free economic intercourse is autumn of 1940 the atlantic charter march 1941 lend lease law february 1942 master lend lease agreement with britain june 1942 presidents clari clarf I 1 fi cation of article VIL VII I 1 secretary hull believes that a I 1 sound and equitable international economic policy must be laid down before we can hope for international political stability he will be as he always alwawi has been the champion of that view that is the internationalist view f second city the T this aint a building this is a city with a roof over it what I 1 calls it this was the remark of my dusky skinned guide between bites of a ham sandwich which one of his colleagues had offered him as we made our journey through the maze of corridors in that amazing building the pentagon in washington which houses horses the war department it is a city for it houses no less than chah workers when they teave leave they begin at 4 p in one g group after another every ten minutes utes otherwise all the bu busses ass and cabs and private cars that jam the labyrinth of highways which cost a mile to build would never be ab ablerto leto take care of them recently Ito I 1 took okd a cab with kith anin an inexperienced driver dilver im afraid I 1 took the ha hard rd way there were four policemen at the door and a huge receptionist desk I 1 found my proper stall labeled press and showed my pass to the girl she had never heard of me or the West western din newspaper abi union or the blue network and she spelled my name nam i wrong three times however I 1 wad was eventus eventually moved up to a waiting bench and finally a guide appeared and escorted me to the officer I 1 wished to see we passed two beverage rooms on the way and as awas I 1 was somewhat exhausted I 1 dropped into one for a soft drink and a cigar it took me 30 minutes from the time tim e I 1 got in the building to 0 the time I 1 reached my destination and bomb some of the people there told me they had already been wilting waiting longer than that the officer whom I 1 was visiting adlan had an inside office he told me that if the lights ever went out they would be in pitch blackness at for of course there were no windows 1 I asked aked what chat would happen if the ventilating system broke down he said he had not thought of that I 1 had and I 1 imagine the air ali would get pretty bad before very many minutes it if the air conditioner ceased to work this huge institution is only a fraction of the expansion of washington which has been caused by the war but it is a concrete symbol simbol of the tre tremendous clerical effort required to beat the axis |