GRAVER THAN 1933

Wairarapa Times-Age, 6 March 1941, Page 5

GRAVER THAN 1933

WORLD CRISIS FACING U.S.A. PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT'S VIEW. EXTENT OF LABOUR TROUBLE MINIMISED. (By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright) WASHINGTON, March 4. President Roosevelt, receiving the Press on the occasion of his starting his ninth year as President, said the world crisis confronting the United States of America was graver than the economic crisis amid which he was inducted at White House on March 4, 1933. He said he personally felt little different from what he did in 1933. He added that the situation had changed drastically during his stewardship, and today's crisis was more serious for the future of government than that of 1933. President Roosevelt minimised the extent of labour interference with the United States of America’s defence effort, saying that only l-400th of the defence industry was ever affected by strike difficulties at any given time. He said that plans were under study for the creation of some sort of federal mediation. It was a pity, from the viewpoint of America's defence effort, that many people were led to believe that labour difficulties were interfering seriously with it. The War Department made a statement that strikes at Wrightfield, Dayton, were holding up work of essential expansion in one of the most important military aircraft centres in the United States. The strike affects construction work to the extent of 5,900,000 dollars. President Roosevelt has signed the Executive order freezing Bulgarian credits.

It is reliably reported that Treasury officials have prepared an Executive order freezing Italian and German credits. This would largely neutralise, the value of the 20,000.000 dollars’ worth of gold which Germany may acquire from Bulgaria—the latter’s gold reserve. German credits are estimated at 113,000.000 dollars and Italian at 82,000.000 dollars.

NO DISPUTE REPLY OF FORD COMPANY. HUNGRY AGITATORS ACTIVE. DETROIT. March 4. The Eord Company countered the demands of the Committee for Industrial Organisation which threatens a strike affecting 95,000 men. with a letter to the Governor of Michigan stating that no dispute existed between the company and the employees and that mediation was, therefore, unnecessary. The letter said that the situation was a "cooked up dispute, created solely to permit hungry agitators to pluck 1.000,000 dollars yearly Tn dues from our men."