Receiving the World

Around the world last week rang out cries of dismay and outrage when President Roosevelt abruptly swept the U. S. off the gold standard and let the dollar coast down toward the depreciated currency levels of 34 foreign powers. Domestic economy controlled the President's action but there was hardly a country on earth that did not see in his gold embargo order a slick trick in world finance. This opinion was intensified by the fact that he had moved only two days before beginning his White House conferences preparatory to the World Economic Conference.

Britain, off gold since 1931, loudly feared the loss of her tremendous export trade advantage over the U. S. as the gap between the pound and the dollar quickly narrowed. To many a Londoner the President's action looked like an attempt to horsewhip Britain into line for some sort of currency agreement. Rapping the President's action as "a deliberate stroke of policy." the Duke of Northumberland's Morning Post warned against a "disorderly race of currency depreciation." The angriest shriek came from the Financial News: "Wilful sabotage could not go much further. . . . The whole business has been deliberately planned in cold blood as a piece of diplomatic blackmail."

Their country left alone as the only world power still on gold, French bankers privately denounced the President's action as a "political fraud, too clever to be successful." Cried the Journal des Debats: "We would be playing the dupe to continue distributing gold. . . ." But sitting on top of a $3,170,000,000 reserve Marianne la France vowed she would not go off gold.

Foreign alarm reached such a pitch that Secretary of State Hull had to explain the President's motives to each country, elaborately denying that the U. S. had, gone off gold to gain a diplomatic advantage in the forthcoming economic discussions. But no one denied that the U. S. had. in fact, gained an enormous advantage.

Aboard the westward steaming newly decorated Berengaria, Britain's idealistic James Ramsay MacDonald was quite shocked out of the philosophical calm with which he has inured himself to crises. Nearly a thousand miles behind him another Socialist, the chunky Mayor of Lyons. Edouard Herriot, was aboard the He de France. When the radioman brought him the news, one of his party exclaimed: "We might as well turn around and go back home." The newly decorated lie de France sailed on.

By the time he reached New York harbor with his daughter Ishbel, Prime Minister MacDonald had regained much of his philosophy. Newsmen asked if he were irked. Replied he: "Oh, gracious, no! It only brings into higher light the stress of the world." When he spied a ferryboat named President Roosevelt, he cried: "There, that's a good omen!"

Few hours later, leaning on the arm of his naval aide President Roosevelt was out on the White House portico to welcome his guest as he drove up in a limousine. Mrs. Roosevelt was there too and Daughter Anna Roosevelt Dall and Major, the police dog, and Meggie, the Scotch terrier. "I'm awfully glad to see you here," cried the President as he squeezed the Prime Minister's hand. He greeted Miss MacDonald as "Miss Ishbel." All moved inside the White House to have tea after the most friendly and informal meeting between heads of States ever witnessed by the Washington correspondents.

An hour later President Roosevelt turned over his office and desk to Mr. MacDonald to meet the Press alone. For 30 minutes the Prime Minister talked, delivering an eloquent sermon on international forbearance. He mentioned God six times; deplored the "awful way the world is wagging"; quoted Lincoln; told how he and the President were going to "lay their heads together." He gave out no news.

That evening after dinner while Mrs. Roosevelt and Daughter Ishbel were off at a dog show, the President and the Prime Minister settled in their chairs by an open fire in the upstairs Oval Room. Mr. MacDonald wanted to talk about War debts. Mr. Roosevelt wanted to talk about stabilizing the dollar and the pound. They had hardly felt out each other's mind and method before it was bedtime. The Prime Minister slept in what used to be Lincoln's Study. He recalled that when he was last at the White House it had been President Hoover's workroom.

On Sunday the Roosevelts and the MacDonalds went for a seven-hour cruise down the Potomac on the Sequoia. Because it was chilly on deck the President and the Prime Minister sat below talking, talking, talking, mostly about disarmament and how to bring the moribund Geneva Conference back to life and a happy ending. Back at the White House Mrs. Roosevelt scrambled some eggs in a chafing dish for family supper.

Meanwhile the job of finding a common ground for U. S.-British currency discussions had been turned over to a staff of experts. The question: should the pound be stabilized around $3.50 as the British experts suggested or around $4 as the U. S. experts urged? Out of some such agreement might come a return to a reduced gold standard by both countries. The experts later discussed their findings with President & Premier, who then announced in a joint statement that they had "reviewed the substance of their discussions with deep satisfaction," that definite agreements must await the World Conference itself.

While the President was off cruising, M. Herriot arrived in Washington, took up quarters at the Mayflower Hotel, awaited his turn at the White House. When asked about international currency stabilization, he packed his pipe while replying: "I'm interested in anything that will keep the price of my tobacco stable--and I have probably said too much at that."

Few moments after M. Herriot had been greeted in French by the President on the White House portico, a limousine drove up and out popped Canada's pious Premier Richard Bedford Bennett. Almost simultaneously Canada's Finance Minister Edgar Nelson Rhodes, in Ottawa, was announcing that Canada had ceased redemption of Dominion notes in gold.

That night M. Herriot returned tothe white house to begin his conversations. Meanwhile from East, West. South many another delegate was preparing to speed toward Washington to put in a word for his nation.

First result of the momentous deliberations was that Sir John Simon. British Foreign Minister, called the World Conference's organizing committee to meet in London this week, consider an opening date. In Washington Secretary of State Hull thought it would be some time between June 15 and July 1.

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