50 Years Ago EMERGENCY POWERS AN IRRITANT

The emergency powers under which U.S. President Roosevelt, if he desires, can revalue the American dollar down to 50 from its present 59.1 mark, expire June 30. The Wall Street Journal editorially declares that “so far as the authority to clip another nine cents off the dollar is concerned, the sooner that vanishes the better. There is not the smallest doubt that it has been a more or less continuous source of irritation and disturbance in the international exchange markets, and at times has provoked sensational — and senseless — orgies of international speculation.” If the New York paper’s opinion were to be heeded, we would be led to expect the definite fixing of $35 as the permanent American price for gold. However, the administration, if it does anything about advice from such a quarter, will be more likely to take an opposite course.