Nuncio

The average European unfolding his thin morning paper last week found the U. S. an exciting welter. What was going , on at those conferences in the White House? Was it the peasants of Idaho, Iowa or Ohio that were in armed revolt? What was the meaning of "controlled inflation?" Could the U. S. Government control it better than the French or Ger- man Governments had done? All these things occurring 4,000 mi. away were of vital interest to Europe. Near at hand there was one man who in two brief scenes made things much clearer: U. S. Ambassador-at-Large Norman Hezekiah Davis. Geneva. To the interminable arguments of the League's Disarmament Conference came white-haired Mr. Davis with an important statement. Announcing U. S. approval of the MacDonald Disarmament Plan (TIME, March 27),* he added: "Part one of the British plan is designed to co-ordinate the efforts of members and non-members of the League of Nations to promote an established peace through consultation and methodical co-operation when peace may be threatened or broken. . . . My Government has this whole question under careful advisement. "Our ability to make our collaboration effective will depend in large part on the measure of disarmament we may be able now to achieve. It must be definite, it must be substantial. We are prepared to make very great efforts to assist in the maintenance of peace when a determination to preserve peace is evidenced by the achievement of real measures for mutual and progressive disarmament. ... At the appropriate time we should be willing to ... give a more precise indication of the manner in which we consider that the United States can most effectively co-operate." Surely here was an achievement of the White House conferences. Foreign oracles quickly interpreted this statement as a bargain between M. Herriot and President Roosevelt that the U. S. was willing to abandon its traditional Isolation and help the eternal French cry for Security in turn for real reduction in armaments and armament expenditures. That was not the only fruit of the Washington conversations to appear in Geneva. Two days later Mr. Davis backed France and Britain to the full against German requests for "sample" tanks and siege guns, and let correspondents understand that this too was a Roosevelt-Hcrriot-MacDonald agreement. London. Next day the oracle spoke again, from Britain, whither the Ambassador-at-Large hurried by train and plane to join the organizing committee of the World Economic Conference. Again he had an official announcement:

"At the opening of the World Economic Conference, the United States delegation will ask the Governments represented to join in an agreement to refrain during the period of the economic truce from making any material upward modification of tariff rates or enhancing any restrictions . . . against the importation of goods which would give domestic producers additional advantages over foreign producers.

"The agreement also would provide that no additional direct or indirect subventions should be introduced for the expansion of export industries, or discriminatory trade methods, or measures to promote dumping."

This, too, an armistice in the economic world war that has been waging violently since the adoption of the Young Plan in 1929, came from the White House conversations. Armistice day will not come for a month and could not come too soon. With Ramsay MacDonald full of hope and still at sea last week, and while Britain's bankers arranged to help the franc keep the dollar at its distance (see p. 18), the British Foreign Office and Board of Trade prepared for future battles with the U. S. by drawing up fresh trade agreements with everyone in sight: Copenhagen. The Danish Government agrees to take 80% of its coal imports from Britain and increase its annual steel & iron orders from 50,000 to 70,000 tons. Britain in return will take 63% of its breakfast bacon from Denmark and promise no increased duties on Danish fish, eggs, or butter. Berlin. While Walter Runciman, President of the Board of Trade, hurried up trade agreements for Norway, Sweden, Poland and Finland, Germany signed one. Germany will take not less than 180,000 tons of British coal monthly in return for reduced British duties on razor blades, clocks, toys, pianos, certain optical instruments, enameled ware, etc.

Buenos Aires was next. A -L-10,000,000 loan was arranged, not from the British Treasury but from the banking firm of Baring Bros. In return for which British deposits frozen in Argentina by foreign exchange restrictions will be released. Britain will import virtually as much beef from Argentina as she did before the Ottawa agreement with the Dominions. These signed, British exporters relaxed with the feeling that the depreciated dollar was welcome to any additional crumbs of foreign trade it could pick up between now and June 12.

Warsaw. Strange news from Poland raised a flurry in European chancelleries last week. A report appeared in the New York Times that Polish Foreign Minister Col. Josef Beck, Ambassador Jules Laroche of France and Dr. Vaclav Girsa, Czechoslovakian Minister (acting for Rumania and Jugoslavia as well), had met in Warsaw and signed an agreement pledging undying opposition to the dormant Mussolini Four-Power Peace Plan (TIME, April 10) and opposing revision of peace treaties. Both Warsaw and Paris loudly denied the story, could not deny that the gentlemen in question were in Warsaw busily conferring about something. The Times's correspondent apologized for a slip of the typewriter, said that the phrase should have been "designed an agreement," not "signed an agreement."

*The MacDonald Plan: Germany, France, Italy and Poland each to have a home army of 200,000, France having an additional colonial force of 200,000, Italy 50,000 colonials. The Soviet Army cut to 500,000 men. Scrapping of air fleets to give 500 fighting planes apiece to France, Great Britain, Italy, Japan, Russia, U. S. Future mobile land artillery limited to 4-in. guns, and a consultative pact to bolster the Kellogg-Briand peace pact.

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