Three for Litvinov

Just one delegate to the World Monetary and Economic Conference was a hero last week to his people. Russia's roly-poly Maxim Maximovich Litvinov. While the Conference proper stewed over stabilization (see p.15), Comrade Litvinov bustled busily around London attending to three major outside jobs. In his thick Jewish English and even thicker French he bargained with statesmen of at least eight nations, closed a thumping deal with Professor Raymond Moley. The professor's wallet seemed to contain last week chiefly U. S. $20 bills. Short of English money, he once or twice was seen to borrow taxi fare. In his talks with Comrade Litvinov recognition by the U. S. of the Soviet Union was undoubtedly mentioned but the soft opening wedge was a great wad of cotton. Discreetly the Moley-Litvinov meeting of minds was announced not in London but at Washington. The R. F. C., with specific approval of President Roosevelt and Secretary Woodin, will finance the sale of 70,000 bales of U. S. cotton to the Soviet State and the cotton will begin to move within a month. The R. F. C. loan, expected to total between $3,000,000 and $4,000,000, will be made for one year at 5%. secured by notes of Amtorg (the Soviet State trading corporation in the U. S.) and further "unconditionally guaranteed by the Soviet State Bank." This tended to confirm Wall Street's impression that the R. F. C. will soon be financing all sorts of U. S. exports to Russia. While this cotton deal was pending Comrade Litvinov dickered through the Legation of friendly Poland with Rumania, Estonia, Latvia, Finland and Turkey--all states bordering the Soviet Union on the West. Since Russia was having trouble in the East last week (see col. 2). Comrade Litvinov offered secret and highly favorable terms to the Western border states for a pact guaranteeing that none of them will attack Russia's European frontier. Close to midnight verbal promises to sign this pact within 24 hours were exchanged. Reports were current that Persia and Afghanistan will also sign, thus further strengthening the Soviet Union which has always feared aggression. Third score of the week for the big. beaming Russian was a quiet agreement reached in the chambers of British Foreign Secretary Sir John Simon. This cleaned up the mess resulting from Moscow's badly bungled trial of English engineers for sabotage (TIME, March 27 et seq.). Because two of the engineers, Leslie Thornton and William MacDonald, were held imprisoned in Russia (the others being "deported" to England where they became heroes), George V broke off British-Soviet trade relations with an order in council. Last week Comrade Litvinov agreed to free the two engineers if His Majesty were "advised" (i. e. ordered by the British Cabinet) to revoke the order in council. In Moscow the engineer-prisoners knew nothing of this dickering. Suddenly their cell door clanged open. "Pack your kits!" barked the Soviet warden. Nervously, not knowing whether they might be going to Siberia or worse, the two Englishmen packed. "Now come this way. March!" Engineers Thornton and MacDonald marched down a series of corridors and out into an open courtyard--just the place for a firing squad. With a paper in his hand the Prison Director approached. "This is a decree of the Central Executive Committee!" he boomed. "Gentlemen, you are free!" Fast as cables could flash news of the release sped to London. George V. whose own cousin Nicholas II was exterminated by the Bolsheviks, revoked his order in council, restored trade relations between Great Britain and the Soviet Union.

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