ROOSEVELT MOVES

Gisborne Times, Volume LXXIII, Issue 11877, 23 February 1933, Page 5

ROOSEVELT MOVES

FIRST VISIBLE-. SIGN OF WORLD CONFERENCE.;. ;jv

INITIAL CABINET APPOINT-

MENTS

TWO NEW MINISTERS .TO MEET FOREIGN; EMISSARIES..

(U.P.A. by Elec. Tel Copyright)

(Rec. Feh. 22,'7.45 p.m.)

NEW YORK, Fob. 21

Tile President-elect, Mr. Roosevelt, to-night named Senator Corded Hull, of Tennessee, as Secretary of State, and Mr. William Woodin, New York, as Secretary to the Treasury. Swift-moving events in foreign relations and domestic affairs compelled Mr. Roosevelt to make the appointments of Senator Hull and Mr. Woodin. They will immediately confer with the emissaries of foreign nations on impending war debts, and world economic problems. WASHINGTON, Feb. 21.

Information from New York to-day that Mr, Roosevelt had announced the appointments of Senator Cordell Hull of Tennessee, ns Secretary of State, and Mr. William Woodin, a leading industrialist, as Secretary of the Treasury in his coming Cabinet, together with conferences with Sir R. Lindsay and M. Claudel, British and French Ambassadors, lias led economic experts to predict that the groundwork is being surveyed with a, view to reaching important decisions on world economic questions, concurrently with debt negotiations.

A veteran Congressman Senator Hull is recognised ns an expert on tax tariff matters. He has always adhered to low tariff policies and is thus qualified to negotiate complicated tariff problems arising out of the Ottawa conference, with a view to implementing Mr. Roosevelt’s thesis of a revival of world trade through tariff adjustments.

Mr. Woodin accepted the Treasury post after Senator Glass had declined.

ONLY PRINCIPAL NATIONS AT FIRST CONFERENCE.

According to present indications, the conference at Washington will include only the principal nations interested in international trade, and will lie the preliminary to a world conference. As envisaged hero, it will, in effect, constitute, using the League of Nations parlance, the ‘'council” of the Economic Conference, while. the meeting of the delegates of 07 countries later will he “Assembly”. The present preparations are being undertaken with the full consent of the • Hoover administration whose departments are eompdiog tbe data whirl) will he used

WHAT HAS CAUSED VNUSHAI

PROCEDURE?

Tt is understood that during this week Sir R. Lindsay and Mr. Claudel will start conversations with Senator Hull and, other Roosevelt leaders. Thus the coming administration will actually be functioning before inauguration. The explanation of this unusual procedure is not forthcoming. A rumour that the crisis in the Far East might he reponsible for a desire to work with all possible speed, is generally discounted. The most logical supposition is that Air. Ro’osevelt considers the world situation requires haste, and wishes to set the machinery in operation as quickly as possible in readiness for n special session of Congress, the date of which is tentatively fixed for April.

WASHINGTON DECISIONS MAY BE WORLD WTDE.

Tt is believed that if tentative agreements. regarding world financial matters can lie formulated at Washington, the decisions can be elaborated and extended among the nations of the world parley. Tt is understood that Mr. Roosevelt formulated his plan after he learned that Britain could make no economic commitments in connection with debts before she knew what other countries would do. Therefore he subordinated for the moment the debt problem for the .larger issues of world economies.

ROOSEVELT RECOGNISES IMPORTANCE OF OTTAWA

The importance with which Mr. Roosevelt regafus Imperial trade agreements is indicated hv his action of calling the Canadian Minister, Mr. Hor.ridge, to the conference. The participants in to-day’s conference are extremely reticent. According to New York reports, they only admitted that they discussed world economies.

Mr. Roosevelt said. ‘‘Everything is in a preliminary stage, but everything is getting on well.”

The inclusion of M. Claudel has resulted in the conclusion that nothing effective could bo. accomplished without France. Tt marks the resumption of the negotiations broken following the Rofault in payment on December 15.