"Words of High Praise"

Called upon Premier Benito Mussolini Thomas W. Lament, partner of J. P. Morgan.

Called upon Premier Benito Mussolini U. S. Senator David A. Reed.

Called upon Premier Benito Mussolini Frank W. Stearns, Boston merchant, friend of U. S. President Calvin Coolidge.

At a dinner given by the Italo-American Society in Rome, the above three visitors were present. Premier

Mussolini had to cancel the engagement owing to pressing affairs of state. Among others present: Senator Tomaso Tittoni, President of the Senate; Admiral Thaon de Reval, Minister of Marine; Signer Rocco, Minister of Justice; Senator Schanzer, ex-Foreign Minister; Senator Contarini, Secretary General of the Foreign Ministry; Signer de Stefani, Minister of Finance; Commendatore Pace, Director General of the Treasury and one of Italy's leading bankers; U. S. Ambassador Henry P. Fletcher.

After a few words of welcome by Baron Sardi, Vice President of the Society, Mr. Lament rose to speak. He paid the necessary compliments to those present, to the Premier, the Government, Ambassadors de Martino and Fletcher and ex-Ambassador Prince Caetani; then turned his attention to Italian finances, called Signor de Stefani's balanced budget "a wonderful feat." "I note, too," he said, "Italy's material advance in industry. I see no signs of public unrest or clamor. On the contrary, tranquillity everywhere prevails."

In toning down his words of high praise, Mr. Lament reminded his rapt audience that he did not mean that all Italy's difficulties had been overcome:

"One of the handicaps to which I allude is the falling off of immigrant remittances to Italy from her sons working on foreign soil. In the past, these remittances constituted a distinct factor in your invisible international balance. May I suggest that you try to offset the loss from this item by increasing legitimate income from American tourists, who should be encouraged on a broader and more practicable scale than ever before to come to Italy and prolong their visits here.

"You may not want us here as much as we want to be here, but nevertheless our visits in increasing measure may well prove an economic factor of some value for Italy."

Finance Minister de Stefani, in replying, thanked Mr. Lament for his flattering remarks about his financial policy, which he adumbrated anew. He was also glad that such prominent American figures as Messrs. Lament, Reed and Stearns had come to Italy to find out the true state of things for themselves.

Mr. Lament went to Italy "for nothing more than a vacation," but bankers' "vacations" have come to possess a special and technical significance-something akin to the sudden "illness" of diplomats. Bankers leave Manhattan loaded with golf-clubs, but closely followed by earnest-faced secretaries even more heavily loaded with brief cases and portfolios.

Italy, however, has for long not been keen on the U. S. money market; so, of course, there could be no arrierepensee behind Mr. Lament's rhapsodies on the Italian landscape. Moreover, financial rehabilitation and gold currency are terms that have not yet been coined in Rome. Clearly, Mr. Lamont was on a vacation. Yet the impression in Wall Street was to the effect that Mr. Lament was not in Italy simply to admire local sunsets and that he may return to Manhattan with something beside good golf scores to show for his "vacation."