INTERNATIONAL: Wheat Stymie

In gleaming Canada House—the Dominion’s splendiferous sandstone outpost facing London’s Trafalgar Square —representatives of the Big Four wheat exporting powers (U. S., Canada, Australia and Argentina) bickered in exasperation last week with a Soviet Russian, bland, obstinate Comrade Abraham Gourevitch.

Comrade Gourevitch had just one answer to everything the Big Four asked Russia to do: “Why should we?” The Big Four insisted that the Soviet Union, which did not sign the World Wheat Pact clause to raise prices by limiting exports next year (TIME, Sept. 4), must accept and abide by a reasonable quota. The Pact was signed on the assumption that Russia could not possibly export more than 50,000,000 bu. The signatories limited themselves as follows: Canada 200,000,000 bu.; Australia 110,000,000; Argentina 105,000,000; U. S. 45,000,000, the Danube countries 50,000,000.

“Gentlemen,” said Comrade Gourevitch last week, “Russia must have an export quota of at least 75,000,000 bushels—at least!”

The two U. S. delegates, frail, pallid Ambassador to the Court of St. James’s Robert W. Bingham and smart, sharp-nosed John Van Antwerp MacMurray, newly appointed Minister to Latvia, Estonia & Lithuania, promptly tried to save the Wheat Pact by proposing to offer Russia a quota 8,000,000 bu. greater than her hypothetical allotment.

“But why should we take less than 75,000,000 bushels?” shrugged Comrade Gourevitch. “Why should we?”

Minister MacMurray, who is supposed to be President Roosevelt’s choice for Ambassador to Russia when the U. S. recognizes the U. S. S. R., was in no position to answer Comrade Gourevitch bluntly. In Washington, however, threats were promptly heard that the R.F.C might find it necessary to refuse loans intended to finance exports of U. S. goods which Russia badly needs. Abruptly Mr. MacMurray, who was supposed to be merely “stopping off in London” en route to his Baltic post, announced that he had been called back to Washington, presumably to advise the President what to do about shrugging Comrade Gourevitch.