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Show I Weekly News Analysis 1 Nazi, Argentine Trade Flans Threaten American Program I Ky Joseph W. La Kino I i ernment for the loan price. Domestically Do-mestically consumed products would sell at not less than the loan price. With surpluses the U. S. would attempt to recapture its lost foreign markets. Significance. Though world economic eco-nomic satisfaction must be a prelude pre-lude to permanent world peace (an important principle in the Hull program), pro-gram), each nation seeks to further its own admittedly selfish interest with self-preservation as a justification. justifica-tion. Still to come is the showdown in which nations will decide whether world problems will be settled via economic treaties, at the expense of selfish aims, or via force, at another an-other kind of expense. ! lAirops In modern Europe no month is complete without its crisis. Janu- ary's crisis was Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain's visit to Rome. February's was the fall of Barcelona and its decisive implications. implica-tions. In March the crisis will again center on Spain if three signs mean anything: (1) Germany and Italy have helped Spain's Insurgents win their battle thus far, France and England Eng-land siding with Loyalists because they were anti-Fascist Today,. with Loyalists on the run, Britain has granted de facto recognition to Gen. Francisco Franco's Insurgents, Insur-gents, encouraging France to fall in line. Obviously a policy of expediency, ex-pediency, the Anglo-French overture is accompanied by financial offers to help rebuild Spain. In wooing Franco, Paris and London will positively posi-tively arouse the Rome-Berlin axis to new wTath. (2) Combined British home fleets will maneuver around Gibraltar in March, just as Germany completes its most thorough mobilization since last autumn's much-feared troop concentration. Meanwhile Italy is' doubling its garrison in Libya (adjoining (ad-joining France's African Tunisia) as an admitted step in retaliation against reputedly increased Tunisian Tuni-sian garrisons. (3) Closer conformation of Anglo-French Anglo-French policy is seen in London's declaration to help Paris in event of war, also in Britain's de facto recognition of Insurgent Spain while awaiting official French action. Such parallel policies, coupled with the bold British decision to spend $1,000,000,000 more on armament, illustrate how Europe's two de- EDITOR'S NOTE When opinions are expressed in these columns, they are those of the news analyst, and not necessarily of the newspaper. Trade Today's high pressure international internation-al salesmanship runs counter to the reciprocal trade program of U. S. Secretary of State Cordell Hull. Devoted De-voted to the cause of low tariffs and "most-favored-nation" pacts, Secretary Hull's idealistic and honest hon-est effort must compete with such devices as the German barter plan and a series of multi-colored trade ideas which emerge annually from congress' halls. This month Mr. Hull saw his beloved program threatened on several fronts: Argentine. Of all South American governments, that at Buenos Aires is least friendly with the U. S. At Lima's Pan-American conference Argentina spoiled President Roosevelt's Roose-velt's "continental solidarity" declaration dec-laration by charging that the disgraceful dis-graceful policy of "dollar imperialism" imperial-ism" was still rampant. But the real roots of this dislike are commonplace com-monplace things like hoof-and-mouth disease, drouth and depression. depres-sion. An agreement was reached in 1935 providing for U. S. import of cattle from Argentine sections not infected infect-ed with hoof-and-mouth disease. But congress failed to ratify it. In 1937 drouth and temporary U. S. prosperity forced heavy imports from Argentina. This business dropped with a thud in 1938's recession, re-cession, far faster than Argentina curtailed her imports from the U. S. Result has been a trade unbalance unbal-ance and subsequent strengthening strengthen-ing of Argentine exchange control against the U. S., encouraged by Germany's increasing willingness to swap machinery for Argentine foodstuffs. food-stuffs. This sentiment reached a climax with Argentina's declara- I " i I f - v i I 1 H - "'1 V - j Defense Last December President Roosevelt's Roose-velt's arms expansion program had more foes than friends in the still-to-convene seventy-sixth congress. Two months later it had more friends, thanks to clever White House publicity maneuvers and a lot of saber-rattling in Europe. The house passed 367 to 15 an administration adminis-tration bill to spend $376,000,000 extra ex-tra on defense the next two years. (Same day, Great Britain voted about $1,000,000,000 more for arms.) Chief features are boosting the army's aviation force to 5,500 first line planes and making the Panama Pan-ama canal impregnable. Certain of passage was the Vinson naval expansion ex-pansion bill to spend $68,000,000 on naval air and submarine bases. But there was little unity in this new strength. Closely allied to rearmament re-armament is the problem of U. S. military alliances with other democracies, de-mocracies, since the threat that inspired in-spired American rearmament is the same threat that makes France and Britain jittery. After a California air crash revealed U. S. manufacturers manufac-turers were selling military planes to France, after President Roosevelt Roose-velt denied telling a senate military affairs committee that U. S. "frontiers "fron-tiers are in France," the White House-congress foreign policy debate de-bate came out in full bloom. Questions: Ques-tions: (1) Shall the U. S. keep its foreign policy secret? (2) Is President Pres-ident Roosevelt risking involvement in war through secret international deals? After a week's debate there presumably pre-sumably were no longer any secrets about either the French deal or the administration's foreign policy. Actual Ac-tual cause of the rumpus was apparently ap-parently removed, but not congressional congres-sional resentment. Thundered California's Sen. Hiram Hi-ram Johnson: "No epithets applied to senators or newspapers will relieve re-lieve the situation of its secrecy . . . There is resentment among the administration that anybody should ask the facts. But if there ARMOUR'S PRESIDENT CABELL lie didn't want German harmonicas. tion that imports from the U. S. must be reduced to the level of 1935-36. Faced with a 40 per cent slash in exports, Secretary Hull may be forced to dangle juicy trade plums before Argentina's eyes, seriously se-riously endangering the rest of his reciprocal program. Germany. Barter trade like Nazi Germany's is allowed in the U. S. provided it does not interfere with the "most-favored-nation" plan. But artificial currency devices like Ger- i man payment for U. S. goods with "trade marks" (good only for purchase pur-chase of Nazi goods) are taboo. Mid-F-ebruary found U. S. lard prices low and likely to drop still more when the spring hog run starts. Meanwhile Germany hun- GEN. JOSE MIAJA His 500,000 against 1,000,000. mocracies are drawing closer together to-gether and preparing to meet the next totalitarian demands. Probably these demands will be Italian territorial terri-torial claims against France, coming com-ing immediately after the Spanish war. Meanwhile that war has gone merrily on its way as Gen. Jose Miaja finds himself practically the boss of Loyalist Spain's civil and military branches. With an estimated esti-mated 500,000 unenthusiastic soldiers sol-diers under his command, General Miaja recently heard that his friend General Franco was .about to charge against Valencia and Madrid Ma-drid with 1,000,000 men. Labor In Washington John L. Lewis could peek at the calendar for March realizing it probably held the fate of his Congress for Industrial Organization. At the core of trouble trou-ble is United Automobile Workers of America, torn during January when President Homer Martin simultaneously resigned and was booted from C. I. O.'s executive board. Reason: U. A. W. underlings under-lings thought Mr. Martin was conniving con-niving for personal control of Ford Motor company's heretofore independent inde-pendent labor vote, while Mr. Martin Mar-tin thought C. I. O. was turning communistic. Now split in two factions, U. A. W. opens a pro-Martin pro-Martin convention in Detroit during early March, and an anti-Martin parley in Cleveland March 27. First victory was scored by the Martin faction when property of U. A. W.'s Plymouth local (Detroit) was pulled from court custody and returned to Martin cohorts.' Still pending is a replevin suit instituted by anti-Martinites. To rumors that he might lead U. A. W. into alliance with William Green's American Federation of Labor, Mr. Martin answered with an emphatic negative. Daily winning win-ning public support from such Lewis Lew-is henchmen as Sidney Hillman and Philip Murray, Mr. Martin stands a good chance of emerging not only as undisputed head of U. A. W., but as leader in a C. I. O. conservative movement. People In Moscow, Secretary Earl Brow-der Brow-der of the American Communist party hailed President Roosevelt, Cuba's Col. Fulgencio Batista and Mexico's President Lazaro Cardenas Car-denas as opponents of Fascism. Breaking a bottle of champagne to dedicate an aquacade at New York's World fair, Swimmer Eleanor Elea-nor Holm was cut by fying glass. One hundred and two years old, Banker Edmund J. Reardon of Cambridge, Cam-bridge, Mass., celebrated his birthday birth-day by staying away from the office. Having too many other responsibilities, responsi-bilities, President Walter S. Gifford of the American Telephone and Telegraph Tel-egraph company, will resign as a director of the United StV.es Steel corporation April 3 ; , . 1 I A i gered for fats. Putting two and two together, German trade experts began be-gan contacting midwest packers to swap lard for machinery. Though the Reich apparently progressed pro-gressed on two deals, most packers turned their backs, uninterested. Recalled was the experience of one firm which arranged a swap deal with Germany several years ago, only to find itself burdened with several sev-eral thousand Nazi harmonicas. Typical was the comment of R. H. Cabell, president of Armour and Company, who dismissed the bid by simply stating that "the big packing pack-ing houses are not interested in bartering, bar-tering, but in the sale of products at market rates." Next day packers pack-ers were pleased to note that lard futures were selling up, but Mr. Hull could not fail to note that the Nazi program had made a mite of progress in his bailiwick. Agriculture. Crux of the "cost-of-production" farm bill now before congress is that domestically consumed con-sumed products shall have a minimum mini-mum price. All surpluses would be dumped abroad for whatever they would bring. Whatever the bill's merits, Mr. Hull presumably regards re-gards it as an artificial trade barrier bar-rier in the field of agricultural trade, which would be reflected in other branches of commerce. ll "cost-of-production" fails, the state department must sitll hurdle a second sec-ond new farm measure which would extend governmental loans on three major crops (cotton, wheat, corn) equivalent to three-fourths the "parity price" an amount higher than the current market price. Farmers would then be expected to turn their crops over to the gov- SENATOR JOHNSON He resenled White House resentment. comes a war it will not be fought by the President alone ..." Facts themselves are startling. Faced with U. S. military orders under the new defense bill, plane manufacturers already have their hands full with export orders. Starting Start-ing with $25,000,000 in 1936, plane exports have roughly doubled annually, an-nually, approximating $200,000,000 this year. In the past eight months France and Britain have ordered 1,200 ships. Chief congressional wonder is which orders will get precedence, U. S. or foreign. Meanwhile Mean-while aircraft firms are reluctant to expand their plants to satisfy production requirements which may be only temporary |
