Evening Star Newspaper, October 11, 1931, Page 29

Part 2—8 Pages WASHINGTON, EDITORIAL SECTION he Sunday Star, D. C, SUNDAY MORNING, OCTOBER 11, . 1931. POLISH CORRIDOR PROBLEM IS WORLD’S GORDIAN KNOT Problem of Restoring Europe’s Balance Is Discussed as Hoover-Laval « Parley Is Near. BY CONSTANTINE BROWN. ILL Premier Laval and Pres- | ident Hoover be able to cut the Gordian knot of our | day? Will the conversations between the leaders of the| two most powerful nations in the world | be able to come to an understanding | regarding the Danzig corridor and thus, | by solving that irksome question, he'p | restore the political balance of Europe? | Diplomats in Washington are asking | each other these questions and are 1os- | ing themselves in all kinds of specula- | tions as to the outcome of the Hoover- covering the Danzig corridor even for such a short time as 10 years. The corridor is of great political value to the French and the Poles as long as both nations think in terms of war. When the makers of the Versailles treaty created it they had the idea of crippling Germany politically. The Poles have been told repeatedly that their independence would be threatened if the Gemmans were ever to recover that narrow strip of land; they actual- ly believe this now. In the course of these last 12 years, however, public opinion in France seems to have changed. Outside of some out-and-out Laval conversations regarding that Very | nationalists the French people on the il whole don't care much about the cor- The Danzig corridor is a strip of ridor. The former prime minister, M. land some 90 miles long and 40 miles | wide running from the Baltic Sea to| the Polish frontier. On the Baltic Sea | a new Polish port, Gdinia, has been | created. This narrow strip. which beAl longs, according to the treaty of Ver- sailles, to Poland, divides Germany from East Prussia. Its economic im- portance is negligible, but its political | importance is so great that it prevents the restoration of peaceful activities in Europe. The Danzig, or Polish, corridor, often has been described n open wound in Europe. It drives a wedge between the Reich and East Prussia, dividing Germany in two. The Germans, who have become reconciled to the idea of | having lost Alsace and Lorraine and Silesia, cannot accept the verdict of Versailles of having their country sepa- | rated by an unnatural frontier which | prevents a free intercourse between the | two parts of the Reich. It annoys them | to be compelled to stand a*rigorcus | passport and custom control when trav- | elling from Berlin to Koenigsberg. | They feel that the strip_of land which | has been taken from them under the | pretext of providing Poland with a free access to the Baltic Sea must be re- turned to their sovereignty. Incidents Occur Daily. Minor incidents which are provoking to the Germans occur almost daily. A typical illustration of what the corridor means was given to a group of Ior:-lzn‘ military attaches last year during the | ‘German Army maneuvers in East Prus- | sia. The officer in charge of the mili-| tary attaches asked these high-ranking officers who were invited to witness the | war games of the German Army ‘o| travel in uniform and, according to the | German custom, to carry their swords | with them. ~The military _attaches complied with the request. The ma- neuvers took place in East Prussia and in order to reach the field of opera- tions they had to pass through the cor- ridor. To the great astonishment of these foreign officers, when the border line of the corridor was reached a * Polish custom officer came on board E Raymond Poincare, has said once that he had an open mind about the cor- ridor. Last Summer, during Secretary Stim- son’s visit to France, M. Laval has re- peated this statement. The great French eel industrialists, however, have im- portant economic interests in Poland and through the Parisian press, which they control to great extent, are threatening to throw M. Laval out of office should he agree to Germany re- covering the Polish corridor. The Poles themselves are in a battling mood and have informed the French government that they are prepared to defend their treaty rights by arms. They say that they are willing to fight- the Germans unaided by their allies should France declare herself ginopposed to'Germany recovering the Danzig corridor. Conse- quently the situation appears confused and difficult, Yet there are certain signs that some sort of a compromise might be possible if the French really believe that it is vitally necessary to reconcile Germany by ending a situation which many consider absurd. In diplomatic quarters it ig consid- ered possible that the French premier would agree to take up this matter with his collcagues and with _the leading members of the French Parliament on his return to Paris. The suggestion which is expected to be put before M. Laval is the follcwing: The German government to be given the sovereignty over the narrow strip of land known as the Polish corridor. The Poles to maintain possessicn of the railway line they have built in order to be able to convey the products from the interior to the sea and given a guarantee that at no time and under no circumstances will the German government interfere with the free passage to and from the seapcrt of Gdnia, which has been built since the war as Poland’s outlet to the sea. May Form Customs Union. ‘The German government is convinced that such an arrangement will, in the end, prove so effective that within a ’ ‘ The Road to Normalcy World’s Ills Cannot Be Cured Too Quickly, Says Noted Economist in Discussing Conditions. BY GASTON NERVAL HE convening in Washington of the Fourth Pan American Com- mercial Conference, which abouteto end its sessions, has brought to the limelight the difficulties and financial embarrass- ments the Latin American republics are going through. Newspapers here have been repro- ducing during the last few days the statements and views of the Latin Ameyican deleggtes—worrying reports of conditions prevailing on the other Commerecial Conference Shows nomic Conditions as Basis for Violent Changes in Governments. LATIN AMERICAN FINANCIAL DIFFICULTIES REVEALED Eco- necessary to help the nation out of the present economic crisis.” | The extraordinary powers accorded |5 | the Colombian executive will last until | December. Under this authority, Pres- ident Olaya may alter the customs tar- iffs to the extent that he might deem convenient to provide relief to the local industries, or he may prohibit entirely | the importation of certain foreign raw materials or manufactured goods. | Using the emergency _prerogatives | given him by Congress, the chief Ex- | ecutive of Colombia has already taken | measures to prevent the flow of gold side of the Rio Grande as a consequence | abroad and to maintain the interna- Offcourse, the Latin American crisis was no secret to anybody who had been ‘following the trend of affajrs in that part of the world. In fact, it had made itself felt in a more noticeable | way than in other regicns, for in Latin America the economic crisis had poli- tical and social consequences which were not present elsewhere. The seriex‘ of violent changes of Government which accompanied it affords the proof. | Average Citizen Awakes, | These, however, were facts with | which only those interested in inter- American aflairs were familiar. The “man in the street” had failed to establish the exact connection between the Latin American revolts and the economic situation of the countries suffering them. Absorbed in his own economic troubles, the average news- paper reader in this country had viewed the Latin American upsets as mere | expressions of that supposedly tradi- | tional spirit of restlessness and violence which vears ago was characteristic of political movements down there. It is only recently. and when the economic crisis of the Southern re publics began to affect him directly— | to cut down his sales and to imperil | his foreign investments—that the aver- | age citizen of the United States realized | the serlousness of conditions over there. Logically, i uation than this continental confer- ence in Washington, aimed to promote an increased commercial interchange | between the two Americas and to dis- cus remedies to alleviate the economic difficulties of the Latin American na- tions. Mexican Planning Commission. 1t is still too early to comment upon the conclusions reached by the Fourth Pan-American Commercial Congress, | for at the time these lines are being written the conference is still in session But while the subject is in the lime- light it might be interesting to point out certain trends and measures being adopted by the Governments of some of the Latin American countries most hardly hit by economic conditions of the world-wide economic depression. | tional exchange. | “Although it might finally result | harmfully to the prestige of parliamen- tary government in Colombia, the Con- gress of Bogota did not hesitate to enact the “law of emergency,” feeling that it should facilitate considerably the difficult task of the executive in these trying times. New Economies Uryed. In other South American countries, where political agitation is intense in view of the forthcoming elections, eco- nomic conditions are being used by elements of the extreme left for partisan purposes. Peruvian and Chilean radicals are advocating extreme economic meas- ures by means of which they promise to substitute a new and more soild financial system in the government. A recent dispatch from Santiago, the Chilean capital, announced thus the outstanding points of the Com- munist platform for the presidential elections: Foreign debts will not recognized: dissolution of the recently established and government-controlled company for the exploitation of the country’s nitrate; recognition of the Soviet government and increased com- mercial relations with Russia; govern- ment expropriation of large private estates and socialization of the land; nationalization of credit and foreign exchange, etc. Of course, these are only the views of a group of radical leaders who must offer something new and revolutionary to attract the sympathies of the masses. The wssibilities of their realization are very remote, but, at any rate, if noth- ing else, they serve to prove the serious- ness” of economic conditions in those countries. To Distribute Land. “To_alleviate the critical conditions brought about by the present economic depression and the lack of employ- ment,” announces the government of Guatemala, 2 new law has been en- acted, by which large extensions of land owned by the government, will be distributed gratuitously to individuals who desire to engage in agricultural pursuits. An official communique ‘from Guate- Paramount among these is the an-{mala City states that this law marks | nouncement of the establishment of a|the beginning of a whole system of the train and asked them to surrenderd féW years Germany and Poland, at National Planning Commission in Mex- orderly social renotation, made neces- their swords, since it is provided that nobody passing through the corridor | can carry any weapons. The military attaches protested vehemently, pointing out that they had diplomatic immunity and consequently were entitled to carry their inoffensive weapons with them. It was useless. The Polish official proved adamant and told them that if they insisted on their diplomatic im- munity they had to get off the train and wait until he could get in touch with the Warsaw authorities, who alone Were able to decide on such an impor- tant point. This meant wasting a good deal of time in a somewhat desolate frontier station. So they decided to surrender their swords, which were re- turned to them when the other side of the Polish territory was reached. A number of more serious incidents between the people who live on one side of this narrow strip of land and want to go to the other and the Polish au- thorities occur daily, but naturally they are considered trivial and are seldom reported in the world press. Sometimes the demarcation line runs through the middle of a village, the street being the frontier line; the inhabitants of the German side must provide themselves with identity cards or passports when they want to go from one side of the street to the other. As long as the re- lations between the two are fairly cor- dial there is not much hardship for the inhabitants of this territory; but when- ever the relations between the two countries are strained, for some reason or other, the authorities can make life pretty difficult with the red-tape regu- lations which are rigidly enforced. This is only a pale picture of Avhat the Danzig corridor means to the Ger- mans. Consequently it is not surprising to most fair-minded people to hear that no German government is allowed by , the German people to subscribe to any- thing like an agreement not to bring up the question of the revision of the Versalilles treaty as long as the question of the Polish corridor has not been settled in Germany's favor. ‘The best illustration of how the Ger- mans feel about it can be seen in the fact that when Germany was on the verge of bankruptcy this Summer Herr Bruening, the German chancellor, pre- ferred to refuse a French loan of $300,- 000,000 which Mr. Laval offered him than to agree to a *“political mora- torium” for 10 years; he told the French premier that he would be stoned out of office if the German people heard that he had given up the idea of re- present antagonistic, may agree to form a_custcms union such as the Germans suggested to the Austrians last Spring. This thought has been communi- cated to the French and the American governments, and is being studied at the present moment by the diplomats of both countries. Of course, it would be rash to expect any definite agreement while M. Laval is in the United States. It is also impessible for the two gov- ernments to agree about something that concerns principally Poland. It has been suggested here that should the French premier continue to have “an open mind” on the question of the Pol- ish corridor, the matter would be taken up immediately with the Polish govern- ment. If some agreement is reached, the official suggestion for a revision of the Versallles treaty would come gfrom the Polish government itself. Whether Po- | land will see the necessity cf making this sacrifice without some substantial compensation is impossible to say at the present moment. Some of our dip- lomats feel that, outside the strong point cf the sanctity of the Versailles treaty, Poland has few arguments in favor of her maintaining this strip of land which is preventing the political and economic rehabilitation of Europe. Consequently, if it was agreed to put the whole matter befcre an unbiased and impartial tribunal it is likely that the corridor would be restored to Ger- . Premier Laval, however, in order to undertake such an important and dangerous step, must be in a posi- tion to tell his pecple that the danger of another 1914 is removed; that the restored. German territorial unity does not endanger France any longer. And he can tell his people this only if he can announce that the United States is willing to step in in case of imminent war danger. Whether the President and the American people would consider taking such a step is a debatable ques- tion. - President Hoover has repeatedly stated that this country is not willing to enter into any obligations which might entangle us in the ropean ” wasps nest. In the last few months he has re: peatedly said that the United States cannot and will not give France either a security or a consultative pact. But has he an open mind regarding a gen- eral pact of consultation or a pact of collective security based on the removal of the main cause of trouble, the Dan- | zig corridor? This is what we will find out in the near future. Afghan King Building Strong Army To Keep Order and Banish Intrigues PESHAWAR.—Neadir Khan, King of Afghanistan, believes in preparedness. According to local officials here, in communication with the diplomats at Kabul, the Khan has announced intention of building up a strong mod- ern army, fully equipped with the latest ‘Western armament, to total 30,000 men. In addition he has already opened a number of reserve corps for military training of peasants and nomads and it is his ultimate intention to bring the force of this unit to 50,000 men.. Kabul's ancient fortifications have been considerably _strengthened and under the advice of French and Ger- man military experts new garrisons are being established at various stra- | tegic points on the frontiers. | In addition to the guns and muni-| tions supplied from the royal arsenals, the Khan has placed large orders with European manufacturers, the first of | which have now begun to arrive. Re- | cently an entire trainload of French munitions was brought to Peshawar, on the way to Kabul. It consisted chiefiy of 10,000 long- range rifles of the latest type and 1,000,000 cartridges, valued at $350,000. ‘The arms are now being conveyed through the Khyber Pass, heavily guarded, on ox-drawn carts. Two hun- dred and forty carts were required. This is the biggest shipment of arms ever to enter Afghanistan and indicates that the Nadir Khap intends to intro- duce his turbulent countrymen to type of ‘vigorous policing heretofore un- known to them. He has announced that within a year all the border tribes will be completely mpmfle&l&d and that all raiding on the Indian, Beloochistan and Persian frontlers will cease. Observers here also see in this strong militarization an cminous threat io the pro-Amanullah party in the capital, which is said to be constantly intrigu- ing for the return of the banished ruler. Alien’ Labor Opposed By Hawaiian Leaders HONOLULU.—Hawaii's position as the “crossroads of the Pacific” has re- sulted in' an appeal by the local Chamber of ' Commerce to employers asking them to discourage the employ- ment of aliens. While there is no grave unemployment problem in this territory, during the last few months a good many | allens have arrived from countries whose immigrants are permitted here, and | many of these are seeking employment. | Employers have been warned that it is a serious violation of the law to promise employment to aliens on condition of their coming to Hawaii, and that the term “contract labor” covers skilled as well as unskilled workmen. This law applies to immigrants from Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the forej, settlements of Asia. There is amp local labor, skilled and unskilled, avail- able here, but, fortunately, little surplus. T BY ANDRE SIEGFRIED, Author of “America Comes of Age. HE economic depression is in full swing all over the world. It rages everywhere: it is a world crisis in the grand manner. Naturally, no one can foresee | when the end will come, or even say | whether we have touched the bottom of | the depression; but it is not too soon to | try to determme certain guiding marks. | | BY C. PATRICK THOMPSON, HEN King George rushed back to Buckingham Palacey! from Balmoral, and Ramsa MacDonald went over from , Downing street to see him, the only companion the premier took | along was a large man built rather like |» gorilla, but with a luminous and ab- normally intelligent eye and a notably capacious brain pa The uninitiated at first glance might | have mistaken him for a bodyguard. ! His function was, however, purely in- tellectual; MacDonald needed him to-| convey to the sovereign—who always | asks questions on these occasions and. wants to know what is what, and why— situation in all its implications, politi- cal, financial and economic. There are plenty of economists, big business men, bankers and others who | could be called in for such a job, but | none measures up in aggregate of quali- fications to Sir Josiah Stamp. | Influence Pervades Nation. A doctor of science Who Is also a ! railroad president, an industrialist who | is also editor of the Royal Statistical| Soclety, a big business man whose aca- | demic attainments and qualifications give him a geat on the councils of a and entitle him to a place at the head ! of the table whenever professors meet | in assembly, he is the outstanding ex- ample in Britain of the man of scien- tific mind and attainments called in to aid big business in a world which has grown so complex that the ordi- nary big business executive feels a bit out of his depth in it. He used to serve the state, but as the state cannot find another Stamp it keeps on borrowing him back for special jobs and general up his ramifications and you find that his influence and ideas, dif- fused through a hundred intimate con- tacts with the fountain-heads of bank- ing, business, the state administration, educational centers,’ councils and com- missions, permeate the whole national life. He keeps out of the limelight, avoids political entanglements and af- filiations,” holds no state office, but his mind has done as much as any man's to mold the essential Britain of today and is doing probably more than any other single. man’s to direct the tend- encles of the Britain of tomorrow. The son of a butter merchant, he began life without any speci age of education and with ho family pull. His earliest passion was for as- tronomy, and if he had not had to turn out and earn a living at 16 today he might be one of the most renowned students of the heavens instead of only & famous economist who goes to din- ner with the Astronomer Royal for the pleasure of & cozy little chat about the latest visitant to float into the field of immensely interested in Gothic archi- tecture, and but for the aforesaid mis- chance he might have made architec- life's career. He still likes to in a brief exposition the entire British | score of academic and learned societies |. in this article. ‘The situation is exceptionally com- plex because it includes at least three basic aspects that are intértwined. In the first place, there has been a falling off_of prices over = long period of time. | | This has been slow in developing: it has been more or less the same as the drop in prices that the world suffered be- tween 1873 and 1894. And then, as a result of the war there had to be a chitecture_than he knows about any- thing else. But he had to go to work. The state service ‘seemed to be his opportunity. He got in by way of a competitive ex- amination, for a clerk’s job in the in- Jand .revenue department of the Brit- ish treasury, but he did pot stay in the lower grades long. In 10 years he was assistant surveyor of taxes, which is a bigger job than it sounds. He was ronly 36 when, promoted to the position of assistant ture his think he knows more about Gothic ar- secretary, he became the ‘chancellor of the ~—Drawn for The Sunday Star by J. Scott W’ulums. | It is this that we would like to attempt liquidation of the war—which every one ; during the war there had been such | thought had already come, but which had not. Finally, there has been a placement of the world's economic center of gravity which threatens to de- prive Europe of her former monopoly. We must try to find our way in the midst of these extraordinary complica- tions. Without doubt the main cause | of this present depression is the exces- isive and general development of the | capacity for overproduction. Because, ' |enormous and immeasurable destruc- tion, tre impression became prevalent fter the conflict that it was necessary | |to produce, to produce without meas- ure, in order to reconstruct and replace. Besides, during the war countries outsige of Europe had bully enormous plants; and when Europe, after the Armistice, worked to replace the things | that had been destroyed, that work had *(Continued on Fourth Page. When Britain Calls Expert Sir Josiah Stamp Is Old Hand at Sol g Problems That Baffle State Service. —Drawn for The Sunday Star by Eric Pape. SIR JOSIAH STAMP—HE SEES ECONOMICS AS THE SAVIOR OF CIVILIZATION. adviser. His office day wag eight hours, and he took work home. But all through these years he had found himself with plenty of surplus energy left for study. Evenings had found him in the lecture halls and li- D braries of the London University, round the corner from his Whitehall office. Thus, he had completed his academic education with distinction and had been graduated with first class honors in economics in 1911, when he was 31. The next year he had bden Col prizes exchequer’s chief | man. ~ Five years later he got his doc-g torate of science and was Hutchinson | research medalist. ‘While still working in the Treasury, Stamp became examiner in economics, statistics and political science to the | Universities of London, Cambridge and | Glasgow, joint secretary and editor of the Royal Statistical Society and a | member of innumerable comnfittees. | And he still had a little leisure left over to browse on old churches, lecture and attend to the affairs of a building so- clety which he helped to found and which today is the biggest in the island. ‘These habits of ceaseless industry and. diversified interests he has always kept up. They explain how he gets through a volume of work which would flatten out most other men. He is enor- mously strong. His system generates energy as steadily as a powerful dyna- mo. Steadily, unremittingly, method- ically, he toils; always well within his | reserves, niever wasting a second. 'His | very pastimes are made to serve his main purposes. Figures to him are what a romantic novel is to other folk. ‘They stimulate: him. He enjoys them. Problems in ‘taxation, national wealth, currency, exchange—he settles down to these as the man in the street set- tles down . to.a cross-word puzzle. While other men are: relaxing from the day's work aroud the bridge table, he is re- laxing from ‘his work dashing off a little address on the virtues and vices of industrial amalgamations, or com- posing andther jolly chapter in a book which is to say the last word on the application of official ltllsflu to eco- nomic problems. . ‘Thus, he has taken in his stride those works which are standard classics— “Wealth and Income of the Chief Pow- ers,” “British “The Fundamental Principles of Tax- ation in the Light of Modern Devel- opments,” and so on. None of these chef-d'oeuvres should be taken by the normal library subscriber or book-of- the-month clubman without the aid of a strong stimygant. Is Imperturbable. Stamp himself . needs. no stimulants. He lives the most regular and .tem- perate of lives. Doesn't smoke, doesn't drink. He sounds like an -intellectual machine, but he is not. Knowing of his academic attainments, you are liable to be surprised the first time you meet him—a virile man of 51, full-lipped and with the torso of a heavyweight wres- A vigorous cli mustache. A broad forehead over heavy brows. You find him t, genial, unhurried, but direct-minded, preferring to make statements rather than dis- cuss a ubject. He smiles often as hetalks, but if you keep a close enough watch on that large, energetic visage you perceive that is smile only occasionally rises as far as the wide, quick, vigorous eyes. Most times it stops short at just an expan- sive movement of the large lips, which stretch reveal the biggest and most formidal looking set of teeth I { fco_city. The step is such an im- | portant innovafion in Latin America | that I feel it should be described at length in a separate article. A gen- eral idea of it may be given, however, ir a few brief lines to show the eager- ness with which Mexi€o has accepted | the of planning and government suj on as & cure for her present | economic ills. | The object of the National Planning Commission. headed by the secretary| of communicatiohs and public works, is to form a national plan for Mexico. | Unlike the Russian plan, this will be strictly a physical plan. Industrializa- | tion is not the goal of the Mexican Illiteracy, absence of capital, the sales-resistance of the masses and lack of machinery make industrializa- | tion and mass production still beyond the grasp of Mexico. Plan of Public Works. . But the Mexican plan does not aim in that direction. It is a plan of pub- | lic works and communications, intended to develop Mexico's resources and eco- | nomic pctentialities and to relieve the present unemployment problem. The originators of the plan define thus their purpose: “Our object is to plan a united, homogeneous and beautiful Mexico—and an independent, respected | and prosperous Mexico, in which the | life of man will be complete, filled with | noble interests, dignified and as happy or happier than in any other part of the world. . . . Know in order to fore- see; foresee in order to work.” Several years are to be passed in study, survey and research in order to find out ‘“‘what Mexico has, what she needs and how she can get what she needs.” The first part of the plan, however, including necessary and urgent works, will start immédiately and embraces a period of five years. Mexican planning commission is to formulate programs for: A division of Mexico into natural economic re- glons, or functional zones, determining the best crops, the best industries for each area; a master plan for the fed- eral district, a plan for the future de- velopment of railroads, Mighways and communication lines~a plan for the hydrographic system of the Valley of Mexico, a plan for seaports, a plan for airports, plan for -the use of waters, primarily in the interest of irrigation: a plan for reforestation and national parks and a plan for federal buildings throughout the republic. While Mexico starts the formula- tion of her national plan, Colombia gives. her chief executive dictatorial powers to conduct the country's finances. Congress has just passed the so-called “law of emergency,” which au- thorizes President Olaya to “take any measures, economic and financial, | stricting government expenditures. sary by the present situation, and in- tended to avold the class conflicts or the violent methods which accompanied similar reforms in other countries. The Guatemalan government asserts: “Te govern 1is to foresee and to provide.” Thousands of unemployed working men and poor people will take advantage of this Jaw and it will, at the same time, give a new impetus to agricultural pro-~ duction in Guatemala, thus tending to diminish foreign imports of foodstuffs and grains, : In the rest of the Latin American nations the most frequent measures re- curred to, in order to face the critical economic situation prevailing _there. have been in the of large budgey economies, salary cuts, suppression of unnecessary offices, increase of taxes and customs duties, etc. Cuba Reduces Salaries. The latest reports along_these lines come from Cuba, Mexico, Bolivia, and Uruguay, although these are by no means the only Southern republics 1;- n Cuba, successive reductions in the sal- aries of all government employes have resulted in-a total cut of 45 per cent. Mexican congressmen are reported to have been called upon to do their share in reducing the expenditures of the government by voting on a proposal to cut_their own salaries 15 per cent. The Bolivian government announces that the officers and employes of the administration will be paid accordingly to the nation’s revenues, proportionate reductions being subject to the ups and downs of the national income. A 20 per cent cut had already been sanc- tioned by Congress last year. In Uruguay, according to a Sipa dis- * patch, the workers themselves have suggested that their hours be reduced to five a dey, with a corresponding cut in wages, so that more men might be employed. At the same time they of- fered to contribute a percentage of their wages to the state for the purpose of assisting the authorities in meeting ex- change losses caused by payment of in- taerhest and amortization on the foreign lebt. All these are only some of the latest steps taken by certain of the Latin American governments in order to cope with hard times. They commarnd par- ticular attention at the present mo- ment because they come at a time when their representatives are discussing in Washington the best ways to promote inter-American trade and aid in the economic recovery of the Western Hemisphere. And they picture better than the most eloquent speeches the Latin "American crisis which has been in the minds of the 500 deiegates to tre Fourth Pan-American Commercial Con- ference in Washington. (Copyright, 1931 LONDON.—Although John Bull is still represerited in cartoons as a portly person of florid countenance, or a good advertisement for the bacon-and-egg breakfast and the beef-and-beer dinner, great changes have come over his diet, and all through intensive propaganda. dvertisements extolling the advan- ages of this or that alcoholic bev- erage, but there is also a campaign, furthered by two London newspapers, aimed to make him drink more milk. At the same time he is being enjoined from other quarters to eat more fish, fruit and vegetables. “The effect of the “eat-more-fruit” slogan is apparent in government im- port fgures just .~ §ince 1924 the consumption of fruit per head has in- creased in Great Britain by 1215 pounds, which seems that the individ- ual Britain is riow co; 83 pounds of fruit annually, the largest in his- tory. The fruit importéd in 12 months costs $155,000,000. Apples, oranges and bananas, in the order named, are the Eflme favorites. The consumption per ead of apples is now 241> pounds. According to Dr. Addison, minister of agriculture, there is no necessity for the im) tion of $50,000,000 worth have. ever séen in a human mouth. This locomotive of a man never loses (&EW, on Fourth Page.) ‘The country is well plastered with'th, John Bull’s Food Habits Changed By Propaganda in Newspapers to practice and to improve their mar- keting methods to cut down the im- porfon of things which can be grown here. While the American habit of eating fruit before breakfast has made enor- mous headway here since the war, last year's record-breaking fruit bill in ese parts was due co; Ll measure to the consumption of appies, pears, bananas, cranges and grapes in midday, principally by clerks, stenog- raphers and office boys. ‘There are a few of the old diehards who will not abate their demands for salid chow, despite the propaganda tack, especially as regards breakfast. But the hardy men of Britain wno pr== fer a pint of beer with their bacon and eggs instead of a steaming cup of cof- fee are a rapidly dwh g company. A few days ago a village which won the esteem of Queen Elizabeth because it produced a good pint ot ale for her breakfast was sold under tne hammer. ) Coffee With Doughnuts. From the Fort Wayne News-Sentinel. The Farm Board, having traded off some of its surplus wheat for some coffee from , how about trading pears. He appeal of apples and s to growers to apply the results of research off some of the surplus cotton for & few doughnuts? . q{ 2