Washington, Feb, 17, High Government officials, including President Roosevelt, to-day were reported to have discussed the possibility of obtaining permission from Congress to include the war debt question in negotiations with Britain for a reciprocal trade treaty.
The plan would call for an amendment to the Reciprocal Trade Agreement Act enabling Congress to grant the Administration permission to discuss the war debt question with Britain simultaneously with trade treaty negotiations, the report said, Under the projected plan, the report said, Britain would extend greater tariff concessions to the United States than the United States would to Britain, The annual value of sales to British trade resulting from the tariff concessions would be credited to payment of Britain's war debt to the United States, the report said, Meanwhile, the report said, Britain would resume token payments on war debts to escape restrictions of the Johnson Act which prohibited American loans to nations defaulting in war debt payments, Official confirmation of the report could not be obtained as Government circles maintained silence and it was reported that the group which conferred with the President on the plan had been sworn to secrecy, preventing any immediate authoritative statement on the report, Those who were said to have conferred with the President included the Vice President, Mr, John N. Garner; Mr, D. W, Bell, director of the Bureau of the Budget; Senator Pat Harrison, Democrat of Missisippi, and Mr, Robert L. Doughton, Democratic Representative of North Carolina,—United Press, Pootung Chinese Found in Yangtszepoo Shanghai was invaded by an armed body of about eighty Chinese from Pootung early yesterday morning. After a brief battle with Shanghai Municipal Police officers and constables from the Yangtszepoo Station, one man was dead, four were wound-led and 32 suspects had been arrested; a Japanese naval river patrol later brought in another 22 men whom they reported having captured when they tried to flee across the river.
The Chinese were attempting to loot a foreign-owned godown, but unfortunately for them the police from Yangtszepoo Station were on special duty that night, another godown in that district, reported to be a Customs warehouse, having been entered the night before.
fore, the police came At about 145 ore iis band of Chinese all busily engaged in looting the American Securities Yangtszepoo a Corporation "godown, in Lane 1362 east of the Lay Road Creek. godown contained a quantity of artificial silk.
As soon as they realized that. tile police were closing in on them, the robbers attacked, drawing a prompt reply from the police, who fire and wounded five men. One of the men died shortly afterwards, the others, with slight wounds, being subsequently taken to the Police-Hospital lin a Fire Brigade ambulance.
Police reinforcements arrived almost simultaneously with a patrol from a Japanese Naval Landing headquarters not far off, and the combined forces managed to arrest about [32 suspects.
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