Those who sit in the stalls and pay wood money for the pleasure fof wine:
ing their favourite Jcomedians in action have the ight to be amused. The British taxpayer, in contemplating the War Debt Comedy, may claim a similar privilege. Last year his representatives staged the thrilling melodrama of Lausanne conjunction with the arti lof other countries. understood that the words "War Debts" would not President Hoov politically interesting condition. JAny sudden shock might be harmful to him. While it was generally understood that he Jand his Government were aware lof the existence of the War Debts and had distinctly uneasy qualms about the accumulation gold in American vaults, it was just as well realised that truly tactful comedians before that Lausanne audience shoul refrain from uttering the unwell come words. With proper concentration on purely European busi. ness the comedians swept away the debts owed by Germany for whom electioneering contests pre-iserited no bar to such discussions, A furtive eye was, however, cast Jat the place which might ha been reserved for an American representa and it was lxenerally agreed—with suitable whispering devices attached—that in certain unmentionable circumstances certain equally lunmentionable decisions might be reached on the other side of the Atlantic. And those Wecisions would make it possible for the decisions made at Lausani be decisions. That sounds if the comedians had for the moment become contortionists. They certainly had tied them-elves up into knots. That was donot noticed in America for, at jelection time as everyone knows, the process of tying yourself up into a knot is the surest method lof attracting the sympathetic attention of the intelligent voter, And the intelligent voter is, of feourse, he or she who votes for on.
Election time, however, cannot last for ever—the British taxpayer sighed in relief at the thought. In due course a decision was made by the great American people, It is true that President Hoover, even without any murmur of War Debts, received a shock. November came and with it the know-edge that President Franklin Roosevelt would be shaking hands with the departing Mr, Herbert Hoover on the steps of (Continued on page 405.)
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.