King Country Chronicle. Saturday, November 12, 1932. THE AMERICAN ELECTIONS.

King Country Chronicle, Volume XXVI, Issue 3444, 12 November 1932, Page 4

King Country Chronicle. Saturday, November 12, 1932. THE AMERICAN ELECTIONS.

If the American people are satisfied at the result of the elections last Tuesday in the United States, so will the world in general. Only a hazy idea can be gleaned of what the foreign policy of the new Government will be, but from an outside standpoint it cannot be any worse • than the Hoover regime. Mr. Hoover issued instructions to other countries as to how they were to set their houses in order, but never gave a helping hand to any in a practical sense. The Democratic Party under Mr. Roosevelt may take a different line of action in trying to rehabilitate the world and their own country, but their rule cannot be any worse than the Republicans under Mr. Hoover so far as the outside world is concerned. Mr. Hoover was proclaimed as the great saviour of the world when he proposed twelve months' respite from payment of the war debts, but it is now realised that this was a necessity because the debtor nations could not possibly meet these payments, and never will be in a position to do so. Neither Europe or the United States has any cause to regret the fall of the Republicans and Hooverism, nor can any country look back with any satisfaction to its recent term of administration. The economic blizzard which struck the world less than three years ago was largely the result of the selfish and short-sighted policy of the United States Government, and that blizzard has since been intensified, with no silver lining yet on the horizon. The United States is now feeling the effects of the world chaos as much as 'other countries, and with its large cosmopolitan population, there is a difficult task ahead of the new President and his Government. The Republicans lost the popular vote by reason of the hard times through which the country has passed, but their selfsatisfaction in believing that their country alone could be prosperous while all others were suffering has been dispelled, and they must now realise that a prosperous world means a prosperous America. What will be the foreign policy of the President-elect cannot yet be prophesied. During the election campaign he adroitly avoided this phase of his intentions, confining his propaganda to domestic matters. Mr. Roosevelt does not assume office until March, and in the interim the Legislatures will meet on what is known as the "lame duck" session. It is usual in these sessions to deal only with routine business, but the state of the country is such that some policy will have to be formulated to deal with a serious state of affairs. It is reported that the unemployed, the Communists, the farmers and the Bonus Army will march on Washington to demand their "rights." This will be Mr. Hoover's and the Republicans' responsibility, for they will continue to hold office for the next four months. Official figures show that there are 10,000,000 unemployed in the United States, a much larger number than in Great Britain in comparison with the population of the two countries. These unemployed will be much more difficult to deal with than those in Great Britain, and Mr. Hoover's difficulties are not yet over. Mr. Roosevet is one of the foremost personalities of American public life, and under President Wood- '

row Wilson served as Under-Secre-tary of the Navy. He also supported President Wilson in founding the League of Nations, and if he possesses any of the traits of his cousin, the late President Theodore Roosevelt, will be a friend of Great Britain in his new office. On more than one occasion he routed the Tammany interests in New York. There is hope for the United States and the world with such a man at the head of the administration of the largest and wealthiest country in the world. The prohibition issue figured largely in the elections, and there seems to be every possibility of the Volstead Act being revised, if not abolished altogether. The repeal of this Act, however, will mean a long and bitter fight in both Houses. Prohibition in the United States has not been the success hoped for by the "drys" and many who were strongly in favour of the abolition of liquor have changed their minds in the matter while others are indifferent. The American elections not only concern that country but the world in general. Judging by reports the new President is a man with a fine sense of justice, sincere and upright, and one not likely to play into the hands of the large vested interest* of a country noted for corruption The President-elect is reported, tc be able to think internationally quite unlike his predecessors Hard ing, Coolidge and Hoover, all o: whom could only think on narrov national lines. With such a mai there is hope of better treatment fo: the rest of the world by a countr: that can do much to dissolve the suf fering of all countries.