The Wanganui Chronicle THURSDAY, APRIL 27, 1933. ANGLO-AMERICAN CONVERSATIONS

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 76, Issue 97, 27 April 1933, Page 6

The Wanganui Chronicle THURSDAY, APRIL 27, 1933. ANGLO-AMERICAN CONVERSATIONS

ALTHOUGH too much notice need not be taken of the Press messages concerning the progress of the conversations now going on in Washington between President Roosevelt, Mr. Ramsay MacDonald, and M. Herriot, there is reasonable ground for believing that success will attend these conversations. It is quite clear that the temper of each national representative is good and well intentioned. M. Herriot and Mr. Ramsay MacDonald are accustomed to conferences with each other, and they seem to be able to appreciate each other s point of view. This should not be surprising to anyone, for both have graduated through the Socialist school. The experience of Mr. MacDonald has been, until recent years, somewhat more doctrinaire in quality than that of M. Herriot. The latter gentleman has for many years been the Mayor of Lyons, which is one of the largest of the French industrial centres. As the head of this important municipality he has shown an outstanding aptitude for finance and a general understanding of the needs of industry and commerce. He is therefore well equipped to take part in these negotiations. Mr. MacDonald, on the other hand, has ever been possessed of what might be termed large views. He has ever been capable of standing off from any problem and seeing it in its setting in relation to a wide background. No matten whether he was dealing with the attitude of the Allies during the war, or with British rule in India, or the relationship of labour Io industry, his view—whether correct or not, is not of interest at the moment—was essentially large and broad. President Franklin D. Roosevelt has had an experience more akin to that of M. Herriot than that of Mr. MacDonald. He entered politics, doubtless through the inherited urge thereto bequeathed by his father, ex-President Theodore Roosevelt. He climbed up the tortuous path of the Democratic stairway until he became the Governor of New York. The tussle for leadership then began, with Governor Al Smith, the Presidential candidate at the last Presidential election, who desired to run again. Roosevelt had to head-off Smith without splitting the ranks of the Democrats. But no sooner had Roosevelt accomplished this than revelations came thick and fast, which proved that Mayor Jimmie Walker, of New York, known as the "Playboy of America,” had been engaged in something' more than play. Reluctantly, and without haste. Roosevelt appointed Mr. Seabury to investigate the charges. The result was the "Playboy of America” found that his game was up, and he sent in his resignation. The most difficult point had been negotiated with tact. Walker was out of the way, but again the Democratic forces had not been disrupted. Tact and good judgment have marked the career of Franklin 1). Roosevelt and in the present crisis he has acted with commendable vigour when faced with issues of the greatest importance. From a survey of the chief personalities, therefore, the current Washington conversations are likely to proceed apace, while depression, with its inconveniences and losses and hardships, are waging war on the home front in America, in Britain and in France.