THE PRESIDENCY: Preparations for a Visit

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The President prepared last week to clasp hands with Premier Pierre Laval (see p. 18), a gentleman whose strong displeasure he incurred four months ago by asking that France accept at once the Hoover Moratorium (TIME, June 26 et seq.).

Guest Laval has not forgotten. Neither has Host Hoover. Every few days this month the State Department reassured French journalists that in Washington M. Laval would positively be confronted by no cut & dried proposal, by no fait accompli. Exquisitely anxious to return this courtesy Premier Laval, aboard the S. S. lie de France last week, declared:

"Any proposals which may be attributed to me are without foundation. In agreement with President Hoover, I will make public the nature and scope of our conversations only after our meetings in Washington."

Despite such elaborate double disclaimers, questions to be discussed by President & Premier undoubtedly included:

1) What steps the French and U. S. Governments will take to keep francs and dollars unshakably on the gold standard. (Frenchmen are stuffing socks with all kinds of gold coins which they bought in bags on the floor of the Paris Bourse last week. This helped to force the Federal Reserve Bank of New York rediscount rate up to 3½% in an effort to check European withdrawals & hoarding of U. S. gold —see p. 43).

2) Mr. Hoover and M. Laval are understood to agree that further fiscal relief must be extended to Germany; but the President is supposed to favor a further moratorium, while the Premier inclines toward a temporary cut of 50% in War Debts.

3) Since fiscal relief to Germany & Europe must be largely at U. S. expense, the President is in a strong position to bargain with M. Laval for French support of drastic Hoover arms limitation proposals at the League's World Conference in Geneva next February.

But radios from the lie de France made clear that Premier Laval will urge the French plan of limiting only armament budgets; whereas the U. S. has always maintained that "Disarmament" or "Limitation" will prove a mockery if it is not based on scrapping actual war boats and guns, limiting actual trained reserves.

4) On the theoretical side (which Latins love, Anglo-Saxons dislike) looms the French thesis of "No Disarmament without Security," meaning that if a nation limits its arms all nations signatory to the

Kellogg (or some other) Pact should agree to aid that nation if it be attacked. An agreement in this sense would be called by M. Laval "implementing the Peace Pact." He is said to have dropped the original French plea for armed aid to the nation attacked, now urges economic boycott of the aggressor.

5) Finally President & Premier are expected to stand shoulder to shoulder against British efforts to promote a world conference for the distribution of gold to consider such expedients as bimetallism. M. Laval, thrifty butcher's son, is congenitally opposed to mixing silver with gold, likes his gold straight. President Hoover, onetime mining engineer, feels the same way.