Roosevelt Seeks Wide Scope for Evian Conference, Including Christians, Spaniards

President Roosevelt definitely wishes that the refugee-aid conference opening next Wednesday at Evian-Les-Bains not consider the problem of Jewish exiles alone, but the question of refugees as such, including Catholics and Protestants in Germany, refugees from Spain and others.

The agenda for the conference prepared by the State Department, a copy of which was obtained today by this correspondent, and the numerous conversations held between the American delegation and representatives of private organizations, Catholic and others, throw light on the president’s intentions regarding the conference.

The agenda, which has been sent by the United States Government to all participants, contain five recommendations:

1–That the conference consider measures to facilitate settlement of political refugees from Germany and Austria under which as political refugees will be considered not only those who have left the Reich, but those who wish to leave;

2 — That the conference work out measures for assisting urgent cases within existing immigration regulations of the respective nations, with each government expected to submit to the conference a confidential statement on its immigration policy and laws, stating how many and what kind of immigrants it would be ready to admit;

3 — That the conference agree on a system of providing papers acceptable to the participating governments to those refugees who are unable to obtain documents of identity;

4 — That the conference establish an inter-governmental office in some European capital to formulate and carry out a long-range program for solving the refugee problem, not only in connection with Germany but in the larger sense;

5 — That recommendations on the above subjects and others which the conference may discuss be submitted to the participating governments in the form of resolutions.

That the refugee problem is far from being entirely Jewish was indicated by George N. Shuster, editor of the American Catholic organ, Commonweal. Mr. Shuster, who is now surveying the catholic refugee situation in Europe, and who conferred with the American delegation to the conference, says that 100,000 Catholics must leave Austria as persecuted. Other non-Jewish deputations appeared before the American delegation and also emphasized the precarious situation of the Catholics in Austria.

The 30 governments participating in the conference are: Argentina, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Denmark, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, France, Great Britain, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Norway, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Sweden, Uruguay, United States and Venezuela. Non-immigration countries have not been invited.