Evening Star Newspaper, July 17, 1937, Page 13

Books—Art—Music HULL SE Secretary of State Forecasts Economic Chaos in European Countries Unless Powers Shift Concentration From By Lucy Salamanca. F DEFINITE and immediate Meps are not taken to restore international trade and stabilize present chaotic economic con- dittons abroad, Europe 1s on the way to unprecedented economic disaster. If this mad race for armaments, con- eentration upon the militaristic aspects of life. and the policy of national relf-sufficiency which is autarchy, are not abandoned, nothing can stay the impending crash. Moreover, the United States cannot escape the influ- ence of such a catastrophe.” Secretary of State Cordell Hull | made this prediction in a decisive | manner, addressing me across the Rleaming expanse of his mahogany desk, and there flashed through my €@ mind the realization that foreign dig- nitaries must have sat in this same black leather armchair beside him, in | this historic room, and, charged with | the responsibility for human happi- | ness and prosperity, heard facts, as I was hearing them, that threatened the | atability of the human race and the | peace of the world. You cannot escape the conviction of these facts, nor their authority, for the statesman who utters them has #poken words that have rung around the world in the last few months, and by their strength and wisdom have | arrayed national organizations of men | and women passionately desirous for | peace in the interests of this objective, and placed his name in the forefront | as possible recipient of the Nobel Prize | for his oustanding contribution tc the can only lead to moral isolation as well and an intensified nationalism that breeds international friction, fear, envy and resentment and destroys the very foundations of world peace. No, there is no other alternative. That is Why it is desirable to establish this new point of yiew as speedily as possible— & non-militaristic point of view that, through the revitalization of inter- national law, will achieve renewal of those finer relationships between na- tions upon which freedom, peace, pros- perity and civilization itself depend.” Just before I had entered upon my | visit With the Secretary I had been told that women's clubs, domestic and international leagues, church councils and peace organizations everywhere, irrespective of party interests, are ex- pressing in ardent and sincere mes- sages their intention of aligning them- selves with the trade-agreements policy adopted by the present admin- istration. Their reason for indorsing the plan, they state, is that they re- gard it as an instrument for world he #n FEATURES ening Star WITH SUNDAY MORNING EDITION WASHINGTON, peace, more powerful than any yet| conceived out of that hope. Expres- sions of distinguished citizens have | been received in the Department of | State, pouring out the prayer that we | may have discovered in this plan for | brotherly international relationships | the one weapon for which mankind | almost hopelessly has been search- | ing—a weapon to do away with war. ’l‘HERE now stands arrayed behind the fresh and vital policy the National Peace Conference, with & list | of 1000 distinguished names; the 105005 SATURDAY, News of Churches JULY 17, 1937. PAGE B—1 ES TRDE RESTORATION AS ONLY PEACE HOPE He Recites to Interviewer Record of Ad- ministration’s Reciprocal Trade Agree- ments in Encouraging International Understanding and Mutual Benefits. “’T"HE process of reducing trade bar- riers by negotiation with indi- | vidual countries is from its very na- tyre a gradual one’” Mr. Hull ob- served, “and many factors enter into any consideration of figures. Never- theless, such evidence as we have in- dicates an unmistakable and continu- ing gain in American foreign trade, attributable in no small degree to the trade-agreements program. The influence of trade agreements upon our exports has been decidedly grati- fying. During 1935 our foreign sales | exceeded those of 1934 by 150 mil- | lions of dollars and -during 1936 they increased by a further 170 millions. That trade agreements had an impor- tant influence upon these increases is shown by the fact that exports to countries with which trade agree- ments have been negotiated increased 15 per cent in 1936, compared with | 1935, whereas our exports to all other | countries increased py only 4 per | cent.” Secretary Hull pointed out that all those who produce for export mar- kets must, as foreign trade increases, buy in turn sdditional domestic raw materials and semi-manufactured goods, while those from whom they | buy, in turn, gain increased purchas- ing power and buy from others. “Each dollar of imports,” he stated, | “enables foreigners to buy a dollar's worth of exports, and increased for- eign trade directly expands domestic markets and helps speed the wheels of American industry.” He mentioned the effect of the | suggestion, he insists, is only dependent upon the well-being, the liberty and happiness and prosperity of the people of all na- tions. He conceives modern civiliza- tion to be incompatible with war. I was reminded of Herbert Spencer's as~ sertion that “the possibility of = high social state fundamentally de- pends on the cessation of war,” l:URTHER, Secretary Hull eontends that civilization is dependent upon freer outlets for the surpluses of every nation, without regard to “greedv and shortsighted calculations of momen- tary advantage in an impractical isola= tion.” He visualizes international re- lationships, rather, as fostered by “a liberal policy of commerce, which would lower excessive barriers to trade and lessen injurious discriminations - & policy of economic benefit, good will and fair dealing that would inevi- tably wipe out the bitter resentment to which unfair tariff regulations and selfish dealing have given rise in the past.” The Secretary of State believes that the results obtained even in the short space of time that trade agreements have been in operation justify his faith in the ability of such measures to create the prosperity and good | feeling of interdependent nations, and thus ultimately assure peace. As an illustration, consider, at hiy Cuba, Canada and Bel- glum—three countries with which we now have reciprocal trade agreements, ‘There was a two-way revival in Cu- ban-American trade the first year after the reciprocal trade agreement went droughts upon the much-discussed | cause of peace. They are uttered, 100, | world Peace Foundation, the Foreign | “favorable balance of trade.” into effect on September 3, 1934, and by a man who has long entertained the | pojicy Association, the Women's In- economic philosophy tha: they expres and since his early days in Congress has reiterated his faith in the power of improved international trade rela- tions to establish the understanding and amity without which nations can- not deal justly or humanely with one another. Secretarv Hull is convinced that healthy international trade, based on fair play and just dealing and consid- eration of mutual rights and needs, is essential to world peace. “There has never been such an op- portunity,” Secretary Hull emphasized, “for the great nations of the world to step forward and by their example establish a precedent in international dealing that can only result in sim- {lar action on the part of smaller na- tions. With such an example, it would be far less difficult to bring about the changed attitude of mind that is necessary to divert the thought and | effort of national powers from militar- | | ternational League, the Council for the Prevention of War, the League of | { Women Voters, the Young Women’s | | Christian Association and a long list | of smaller but influential groups such | as church and school organizations, | mothers’ clubs and civic organizations | the length and breadth of the land. | Here we are witnessing the aston- | ishing spectacle of a nation aroused | to recognition of a surprisingly simple and beautifully apparent truth—that happy, prosperous people will not fight one another; that happy, prosperous people do not nurture ill-feeling, prej- udices or aggrievements; that happy, | prosperous people do not rise up | against orderly government to estab- | |lish dictatorships. That, in short, | | happy and prosperous peoples conduct their family life, their business af- fairs and their neighborly relationships with regard for their moral obliga- | SECRETARY OF STATE CORDELL HULL. —Harris-Ewing Photo. preclude war. | hopefully, “toward greater understand- | | | | happy and prosperous. These facts| “There ix a gradual trend,” he said | tion of what may be accomplished by this means. Billions of additional Nations are slow to admit these ing of the tremendous significance of dollars would be available for employ- things, it appears. In answer to an inquiry about the attitude of other | powers generally, and what we may expect in the way of their future co- | international trade relationships.” | Assurance grew in his voice, and | he nodded to emphasize his expecta- | tion of fuller co-operation as the tions. And this, in turn, means that | operation in the effort to establish a | ideal takes hold. the individual standard reflects the | world at peace, Secretary Hull gave istie pursuits to those pursuits which | national standard, provided people are | measured answer. build permanent peace and prosper- ity. *“'RADE relaiions that are based upon exchange of the surpluses | of nations and are conducted only in| # spirit of fair play can have as a sure | result the promotion af good feeling and better understanding between the nations involved. Such relationships have a soothing, a softening, a hu- | manizing and mellowing effect upon “There are definite indications that | nations are coming to the realiza- | ment and the uses of prosperity if na- tions of the world would adopt pro- | grams for the freer interchange of their surpluses.” | The Secretary states that, despite droughts in our own country which inhibited our usual export of surplus agricultural products and necessitated agricultural imports instead, and in the face of the disjointed state of af- fairs in other nations and the fact that commerce is “tied up with selfish agreements,” there has been improve- ment since inauguration of those trade agreements which have been operating with other countries. i‘ of nations which persist in policies of | Since 1932,” he explained, “im- ports have been increasing as well as exports, and emphasis has been placed by some upon the increasing amounts | of agricuitural imports. While our | imports have increased within the last | few years, such increases in agricul- tural products have been largely either in_non-competitive commodities like | coffee, silk or rubber, or in products | in which there have been domestic | shortages due to droughts and to in-| creased demand due to economic | Onc cannot speak for more than & few minutes with Secretary Hull with- out being vividly impressed with his abeorbing interest in this new vay to peace—his vital concern for the future | isolation and harsh retaliatory prac- tices. It is & compelling interest, lerMing vitality to every expression. One is conscious of the fact that here | is a statesman who refuses to regard the possibility of world peace as the dream of an idealist. World peace, | STARS AN Author's note: Much of the material in the following article was derived from “The Historical Romance of the Foreign and American Merchant Marine,” by D STRIPES ships, ships flying the Stars and Stripes from their sterns. Of all the thousands of passengers —tourists, honeymooners, immigrants, emigrants, men and women on busi —_— Only 11 in 100 Travelers Crossing North Atlantic Today Are Aboard American MAY ~RULE THE OCEAN’S WAVES AGAIN duce its freight rates $15 a ton. With- drawal of the Government subsidy left North Amrican dominance to the Cunarders. | It is historical fact that when the | | ships, gave them to railroads and, as | | the land carriers gained in power and | scope of operation, the sea earriers | declined. Confederate gunfire destroved most | that revival continued into the second year of its operation. The rate of recovery in the trade between the United States and Cuba during the: two years has been much more pro- nounced than the increase in the com- merce of either country with the world generally. During the second full year of the operation of the Cuban-American trade agreemeni—that is, from September, 1935. through August, 1936, the value of United States products sold to Cuba aggregated about $64.000.000, as compared with $35000.000 during the first year, and with an average of less than $30,000.000 during the depressed two-year period preceding the agree= ment. Compared with that two-year period the rate of increase in the valis of United States exports to Cuba way 85 per cent for the first agreement year and 113 per cent for the second American imports from Cuba reached $151.000.000 during the firsy year under the agreement, after an exceptionally low average value for the two preceding years of $51,000.000, | This large figure was due primarily to the fact that sugar shipments to the United States and withdrawals of sugar from bonded warehouses, which would normally have been made dur= | ing the early part of 1934, had been postponed in anticipation of the re. ductions in the rates of duty on sugar. Four-fifths of the Cuban sugar qunta for the year 1934 was filled during tha four months following the conelusion Representative William 1. Sirovich, and “Participation of the Ameri- can Merchant Marine in the Inter- national Carrying Trade,” by Al- | ness or diplomatic missions—of all | these thousands American-bound or | headed the other way, only 28 in every 1100 are on American ships. And of of the beautiful clipper ships, while | of the agreement. The entire 1035 War of 1812 her mechant ships, serv- | the United States fell woefully behind | quota was filled during the first eight ing as privateers, were a potent in- | England in the transition from sail to | months of 1935, one nation in its dealings with an- | United States became engaged in the other.” But other nations answer, in words | Vessels, Statistics Show. A direct or involved, that such a pro- | gram for the establishment of world | peace “will take too long.” “Some of the nations which are fev- erishly engaged in the armament race, | while the entire international order is reverely dislocated, say to me that it will take too long, that centuries will be necessary to bring about this friendly relationship between national | powers,” the Secretary observed, “but I say to them, ‘What is the alterna- | tive?’ | “There is no answer to that ques- | tion, for armaments and war and con- tinually recurring periods of economic | disruption, of instability and chaos | certainly can never contribute to the aims of peace. There is no promise of peace in any channel but exercise of A philosophy that refuses to concede | that war is inevitable. I have said be- fore that war is not an act of God, but a crime of man, and its progeni- tors are those evil passions that are or New Orleans or San Francisco or | Galveston. engendered by economic distress. “No people will \disarm while they are unemployed or in want, or suffer- | dreds of thousands of tons of cargo | of shipped from this country or to this that country, less than one-third—31 tons orme nation off from another,|in every hundred—is in American | ing. The policy gelf-containment, cuts of isolation, of autarchy, fred H. Haag of the Georgetown University Foreign Service School. By William A. Bell, Jr. N THE seaports of the Nation to- day, as happens every day, trans- | | American oceanic vessels are loading or un- loading their cargoes; taking on passengers or putting them ashore, And in ports throughout the world cargoes destined for the United States are being lowered into ships’ holds. Other cargoes — American wheat, American farm implements, American automobiles, American business ma- chines—are being hoisted, out. Up ships’ gangplanks in these far-off places march United States-bound travelers. Down ships’ gangplanks come others who days before were waving good-bys at plers in New York | Around the world, of all the hun- | Pride of the American Merchant Marine, the Manhattan, fn trans-Atlantic service for Ahe and carries 1,300 passengers.< United States, is 705 feet long the travelers crossing the North At- lantic via the principal routes only 11 in 100 are on American ships. Most of them are on British ships. Since all of the export cargoes are products going out to i bring dollars in, all of the import cargoes foreign products to be used by Americans, and since the majority of the travelers are American citi- | zens, why is it that more are not car- ried on American ships? The answer is a simple fact of long standing—the United States just hasn't got the ships. Most American vessels—and there are not a great many of them in comparison with the merchant fleets of other maritime powers—are old, slow and relativeiy small. ‘That is why the new Maritime Com- mission has set out to obtain for this Nation a merchant marine which, in the promise of President Roosevelt, will be “second to none.” IME was when Columbia ruled the waves. United States maritime prestige today is to that of the middle | of the last century as a satyr to Hyperion, & minnow to a whale. American shipping grew rapidly from 1789 to 1810, its history showing a close relationship between maritime progress and governmental support. The young country, newly freed from allegiance to English Kings but cling- ing to British sea tradition, began to enact beneficial ship legislation as| early as 1789. A generation later the fame of American vessels was world wide, and with the launching of the clipper Rainbow, in 1845, this country em- barked on a sea-going career that was to enthrone her as mistress of the seas, Foreign builders gazed with envy at the magnificent craft that flew the star-spangled flag. Poreign merchants hopped with rage as their Yankee competitors snatched their richest markets. The Queen Mary or the Normandis | of the day was neither British nor | | French, but the American clipper ;Lllhlnin(, 1,468 tons, 244 feet long' and with a canvas spread of 13.000 square feet. Her sails billowed and' | towered like massed clouds on some horizon toward which she pointed her | | knife-edged prow. Costing $160,000, | she could carry 365 passengers and a! crew of 71, and made her first trip | | across the Atlantic, Boston to Liver- | | pool, in the astonishing time of 13 | days, 191 hours. Forerunner of the clipper was the! war frigate. At the.end of the eigm~| | eenth century American designers | | evolved this entirely new type of sail- | ing vessel, of which Old Ironsides, | the Constellation and other famous | Navy craft were prototypes. Repre- | | sentative Sirovich of New York, in a | | speech in the House eulogizing the American merchant marine of yore | and appealing for comparable suprem- | acy in this era, described these vessels as “slim-hulled, with clean runs aft, heavily sparred and canvased and | carrying a cloud of sail ‘forrad,” quick In the stays, ardent on the helm and | highly maneuverable on the seas or in tight waters.” DURING the first half of the nine- teenth century American ship| captains were not only skippers, but also first-class salesmen of American | goods. The real work fell on the super- cargo, an officer aboard ship in charge out what demand there was or could be | were Yankee clocks, | and when the discovery of gold in | little as 90 days. | Collins Line, of the cargo, whose duty it was to find | created for American-made goods. Did & buyer in Central America want ice? New England warming pans made excellent utensils for cooking over open fires. “Best in the world"” shoes, rubber boots, horse plows and agricultural implements. For many generations the senoritas of Buenos Aires would ‘wear no other footgear but American kid boots. | The supercargo would report on sale prospects to his captain and the ship's owners. On the return home such cargoes were shipped as could find ready sale in foreign ports. | The town of Salem built ships and traded with the Orient. Ships of Nan- | tucket rounded the Horn and sailed to the Bering Sea and the Arctic. Al-| though the golden age of the clipper ships lasted only from 1833 to 1858, they carried the American flag into every important seaport of the world, | California and Australia precipitated a mad rush for speedy vessels, full-| rigged and entirely seaworthy ships were built in the United States in as Possibly the first “blue ribbon” for | trans-Atlantic ship voyages belongs | to an American ship, the Arctic of the | built in New York in | 1850. The seagoing world gasped when she made the startling speed of 12'3 knots, which is as fast as many “mod- | ern” ships of the American merchant | fleet can go. TH‘E Collins Line operated from New York to Boston to England from 1850 to 1856 under Government sub- sidy, competing with the Cunard Line, | from which it shortly captured 50 per cent more passengers and 30 per cent fluence in eflecting an advantageous steam and from wood to iron and | | built all competitors. peace. Another achievement which glori- fles the Nation's maritime history is the voyage of the James Monroe in ! January, 1818. Putting out from New York in & snowstorm, this vessel of the famous Black Ball Line inaugurated the first ocean liner service across the North Atlantic to Liverpool. Black Ball's fine fleet of sailing packets, dis- playing the company symbol on one of the foresails, provided monthly service and later semi-monthly, maintained with remarkable regularity. The Flying Cloud, the Rainbow, the Sea Witch and other American sailing vessels of the middle nineteenth cen- tury outranked all competitors, and as shipbuilders the United States out- From 1820 to 1860 American vessels carried 77 per cent of United States foreign trade. | steel. In 1870 82 per cent of the | world’s iron vessels were being con- | structed in British yards, as against | 8 per cent in the United States. | | Before the outbreak of the Civil | ! war—in 1858, to be exact—the United States had a merchant marine ton- nage of 5,600,000 tons—as much as ! all the rest of the world, Britain ex- | cluded, combined, and this tonnage | was only 300,000 tons below that of | Great Britain. Currently the British | | Empire has about 10,000.000 more tons | |of merchant ships (2.000 gross tons and over), and we are likewise in- | ferior to Japan. In the heyday of the clipper ship | 77 per cent of United States imports and exports were carried in American | bottoms. This figure had dropped to | 8.7 per cent in 1914. At the time of the Spanish-Ameri- | earlier witholdings of more freight, forcing the latter to re- The rise and fall of the American merchant marine is like the rise and | fall of a mountainous ocean wave. First we were on the crest, reaching into the sky, surmounted by none; then we were in the trough, while | other “waves” reared higher and | higher around us. can War, because of this country's | deficiency in merchant tonnage, it | became necessary to purchase and charter ships for use as naval auxil- iaries. When President Theodore | Roosevelt sent the White Squadron around the world, in 1908, it was | (Continued on Page B-3.) . URING the second year under the agreement, when marketings of Cuban sugar were not disturbed by shipments 1n anticipation of tariff changes, the total value of United States imports from Cuba declined to the more moderate figure of $115.000.000. This, however, ‘was still more than double the averazs of the two pre-agreement years. American products on which Cuba granted reduced duties or increased preferences accounted for an increase of 147, million dollars in the exports during the second agreement year over the last pre-agreement year. An additional seven million dollars was recorded for those commodities from the United States on which the previ- ous duties were bound against ine crease or which were guaranteed cone tinued duty-free admission into Cuba. During the first year under the agree-~ ment, the additional sales to Cuba of all agreement items were valued at 16 million dollars more than in 1933 34, Cuban products granted tariff reductions by the United States ac- counted for 61 million dollars out of (Continued on Page B-3.) ’I‘HE Civil War, expansion of the West and Great Britain’s rapid | development of coal-burning iron ships signaled the decline of the United States as & maritime power. Probably chief among these causes was the “Westward, ho!” movement. With extension of the Nation's rail- roads, the discovery of gold in Cali- fornia and the trans-Mississippi land rush the eyes of the East were turned from the sea, turned toward the region where the sun sets. Money that had financed clipper ships was poured into rallroad upbuilding, The Federal Gov- ernment withdrew its subsidies from Pride of Great Britain. the liner drydock. This unusual angle picture throws een Mary against the sky at its Clydebank, Seotland, —A. P. Photo.