OCR Text |
Show News Review of Current Events the World Over New "Temporary" Gold Standard Adopted Russia Accused of Using Spanish War to Rouse International Interna-tional Discord Belgium Abandons Alliances. By EDWARD W. PICKARD Western Newspaper Union. TT IS a now gold standard, a1 way of doing business which has never been tried before," was Secretary Morgenthau's character- Li 3 Secretary Morgenthau ization of the agreement agree-ment just entered into by the United States, Great Brit-a Brit-a i n and France, whereby, subject to 24 - hours' cancellation, cancel-lation, they will exchange ex-change gold for each other's currencies. Financiers, economists econo-mists and business men were taken by surprise by the move and immedi ately gave it close study. Some were disposed to label the maneuver "political "po-litical expediency," but experts generally gen-erally said it was a logical step in the sequence of monetary events but not positively in the direction of stabilization. The new plan, Mr. Morgenthau said, differs from the old gold standard stand-ard in that it will permit the export or earmarking of gold only to and between governments instead of private business institutions and traders. "The door is wide open," said Mr. Morgenthau. "We're not going out drumming up business, but we'll welcome all other countries which want to participate." According to the Treasury department, depart-ment, the United States alone will announce a selling price for gold. France and England will keep their selling prices secret, though there will be a free flow of gold between the stabilization funds of the three nations. It was believed that Great Britain was the prime mover in this new pact. As one commentator put it: "The agreement was made necessary neces-sary when France debased her currency cur-rency and placed an embargo on gold exports, because Great Britain suddenly discovered that nowhere in the world was there left a fixed yardstick yard-stick against which to measure in-ternaional in-ternaional commitments and handle international exchange." COVIET RUSSIA made a second determined effort to aid the be-leagured be-leagured government of Spain, and sustained a second rebuff. Ivan Maisky, Russian ambassador to England, handed to Lord Plymouth, British chairman of the non-intervention committee, a virtual ultimatum ulti-matum demanding immediate convocation con-vocation of the committee to consider con-sider blockading the coast of Portugal Por-tugal against arms shipments destined des-tined for the Spanish insurgents. It was understood in London that Lord Plymouth replied that if the proposition propo-sition were seriously made, it should be presented through diplomatic channels to the governments concerned. con-cerned. The Russian plan was fora blockade by English of French warships. war-ships. Observers in Europe are convinced con-vinced that the Soviet government does not expect the powers to agree to any such blockade as is suggested, sug-gested, but is chiefly interested in stirring up discord among the nations. na-tions. British- Foreign Minister Anthony Eden, after hearing of Lord Plymouth's Ply-mouth's reply, made a speech at Sheffield in which he pledged Great Britain's unwavering support to the policy of nonintervention in Spain. He declared the governmentwas determined to "confine that tragedy within the boundaries of that country." coun-try." Leaders of the Fascists were reported re-ported to have planned a steady, steam - roller advance on Madrid, and this offensive was already under way. The defenders of the capital were hastily building fortifications in the suburbs and surrounding the city with trenches. In Ovied othe dynamite - armed force of loyalist miners was still battling with the garrison and rebel troops sent to the rescue were about to enter the city. -TAURICE THOREZ, French Communist leader, made a speech in Strasbourg that is causing a lot of trouble. He was charged with deliberately insulting Adolf Hitler, Hit-ler, and the Berlin government entered en-tered formal protest. The official Nazi organ, Der Angriff, says the speech was an attempt to precipitate precipi-tate war between France and Germany, Ger-many, and also that it was an attempt at-tempt "to overthrow the German reich and to achieve the definite bolshevization of France for the benefit of the Soviet Communist interna in-terna tionale." The French rightist newspapers declare the Thorez incident was part of the Russian Communist scheme to throw France against Germany that Russia will not be left alone to face "any eventual German attack." The rightists were even more vigorous vig-orous in ther accusations when it was learned that Maxim Litvinov, soviet foreign commissar, was secretly sec-retly in Paris. tjMGURES made public by the 1 American Navy department show that since July 1 last every great naval power except the United States has increased the number and tonnage of its war vessels. In the Vk months from July 1 to September 15, the United States reduced re-duced the number of its ships from 324 vessels totaling 1,080,715 tons to 306 vessels, totaling 1,062,875 tons. Great Britain increased ships from 37 to 309 and tonnage from 1,224,329 to 1,232 854. Japan increased ships from 213 to 217 and tonnage from 772,797 to 776,397. France increased ships from 178 to 187 and tonnage from 558,452 to 571,734. Italy increased ships from 191 to 195 and tonnage from 403,865 to 406,-333. 406,-333. Germany increased ships from forty-nine to fifty-three and tonnage from 113,708 to 125,458. The British foreign office announced an-nounced that France and Italy had agreed to sign that protocol of the London naval treaty forbidding the use of submarines except under strict limitations. BELGIUM, which since the close of the World war has been tied tight to France by a military alliance, al-liance, has decided to drop that and King Leopold all similar alliances and to rely for her safety on strict neutrality neu-trality and a larger army. King Leopold so informed the cabinet, cab-inet, telling the ministers min-isters that Germany's Ger-many's reoccupation of the Rhineland "practically puts us back where we were before the great war." Belgium's geographical position, he said "makes it imperative for us to maintain a military machine of such size as to dissuade any neighbor from using our territory to attack another state." The period of military mili-tary service was extended from twelve to eighteen months. "Belgium must pursue a policy exclusively and wholly Belgian," Leopold said. "In any case our engagements en-gagements should not go beyond keeping off war from our own territory. ter-ritory. Belgium must remain outside out-side of its neighbors' conflicts." "Any policy of alliance with a single country would weaken our position abroad. A purely defensive alliance would not meet the case because, however prompt the intervention in-tervention of our ally, it would only come after the invader's blow, which would be crushing." AUTHORITY of the national maritime commission to declare de-clare a permanent truce in current contract controversies is challenged by the negotiating committee for the Pacific coasst maritime unions, and members of those unions are instructed to vote on a proposal for a coast-wide waterfront strike. The maritime commission had peremptorily demanded that the Pacific coast ports be kept open while it sent an investigator to San Francisco to discuss the conditions which have long threatened to bring on industrial warfare. In telegrams to President Franklin Frank-lin Roosevelt and the commission, the committee said the commission had caused "great unrest" among the workers through its participation participa-tion in negotiations between shipowners ship-owners and dock and shipboard employees. em-ployees. The seven unions, claiming a membership of nearly 37,000 workers, work-ers, are the International Longshoremen's Long-shoremen's association, the American Ameri-can Radio Telegraphists' association, associa-tion, the Marine Engineers' Beneficial Benefi-cial association, the Masters, Mates and Pilots of America, the Sailors' Union of the Pacific, Marine Cooks and Stewards, and the Marine Firemen. Fire-men. Oilers, Watertenders and Wipers' Wip-ers' association. SENATOR WILLIAM E. BORAH of Idaho, whose attitude in the Presidential campaign is a matter of ereat interest to all parties, h&s declared he would confine his attention to state matters; but then, being irked by some criticism from Republicans he went further and said he was "going after the Republican party." The veteran said he had been accused of not being regular. "Well, what is a regular?" he asked. senator Koran "A regular is a man with no ideas, who waits for someone to tell him what to do. My idea of being regular is in doing what you believe to be right in the interests of the people you represent. "Let this be understood I'm telling tell-ing all parties, Republican, Democratic, Demo-cratic, Union I'm going to advocate advo-cate the things I believe in whether they cross party iines cr not" PESSIMISM and discontent marked the final session of the League of Nations assembly, the leaders admitting that little had been accomplished. Carios Saave-dra Saave-dra Lamas of Argentina, president of the assembly, even asked if he might not raise the question whether wheth-er "civilization is on the verge of a final breakup." The question of reforming the league covenant provoked a bitter controversy on whether nonmember states should be consulted. Russia was understood to be anxious particularly par-ticularly to bar German influence and achieved a minor triumph since no definite action to solicit nonmember nonmem-ber co-operation was taken. A committee com-mittee of twenty-eight was named to study reform proposals. The assembly approved reports of its economic and disarmament committees. com-mittees. The economic report carried a British proposal to create a comission to study accessibility or raw materials. The United States and other nonmembers would be invited in-vited to participate. The report of the disarmament committee approved ap-proved the reconvening of the world disarmament conference at an early date. 7"URT SCHUSCHNIGG, chancellor of Austria, is taking his place among the European dictators. In order to consolidate military power in his own bands, he decreed the dissolution dissolu-tion of all private armies, this being aimed especially at the Fascist Heim-wehr Heim-wehr headed b y Prince Ernst von ; Starhemberg. T h e prince directed his followers to obey the edict, and Major I Fey, Starhemberg's ' rival for control of Prince von the H e i m w e h r , Starhemberg. called on the elements recognizing his leadership to preserve order. The chancellor's order also affected affect-ed his own Catholic storm troops. All the private troops were ordered consolidated with the Austrian state militia. This would increase Austria's Aus-tria's official armed forces to about 158,000 men. The dissolution decree met strong opposition within the cabinet, and was voted after three ministers had walked out. Schuschnigg's task now is to actually ac-tually disarm the private armies. If he succeeds in doing this, his complete com-plete control over Austria may be conceded. It is recalled that the Heimwehr was ordered to disarm in 1931, that the government seized many weapons, and that a year later some 40,000 Heimwehr mea appeared fully armed and uniformed.' uni-formed.' Von Starhemberg may not be really squelched this time, either. It is a certainty that he has a powerful power-ful friend in Premier Mussolini of Italy. ARABS of Palestine, who had been on "strike" for 175 days in protest against unrestricted immigration im-migration of Jews, were persuaded by the British to call off the strike, which had been accompanied by great disorders and the killing of several hundred persons. The Arab high committee issued an appeal 'o Arabs throughout the country to return re-turn to work quietly, and this command com-mand was obeyed generally. Sir Arthur Wauchope, British high commissioner, com-missioner, was said to have informed in-formed the British government that it was now sa'e for the royal commission com-mission of investigation to begin its work of inquiring into the grievances of the Arabs. According to a Hebrew newspaper of Jerusalem, the Arabs have arranged ar-ranged for backing by Italian Fascists Fas-cists for their aspirations. Also the Moslem authority administering Islamic Is-lamic church property is reported to be prepared to sell Catholics a Christian Chris-tian holy place on Mount Zion. BASING its conclusions on a study covering the period from 1900 to 1935, the National Industrial Conference Con-ference board finds that there is no evidence to support the theory that the burden of private debt upon business is excessive. Statements that private debt is "absorbing wealth" or is showing a changed and unfavorable relationship to wealth, or that the depression was precipitated by an excessive debt burden are without factual basis, the board reported. Interest charges have not outrun the capacity to pay them, according to the board's study, which showed that the rates of growth of private long term debt and of interest charges from 1900 to 1935 were similar simi-lar to those of national wealth and national income. Since 1930 private long term debt has tended to decline. Only the public pub-lic utilities have increased the amount of their outstanding debt. But the board points out that no debt problem exists in the public utility field as a whole and that ex pansion of the electric light and power utilities has been on a sound basis, with the industry in a safe position to meet interest charges. The steam railroads, taken as a whole, are neither overcapitalized nor overburdened with debt, the board concludes. ONE OF the worst typhoons in the history of the Philippines swept across Luzon island, killing scores of persons and' destroying villages. At least 109 perished and the authorities au-thorities feared the death list would be much larger for four hundred were reported missing. Eighty-two bodies were recovered from the city of Cabanatuan alone. |