Negotiations for a $30,000,000 cotton barter deal with Nazi Germany are expected to be “drawn to a head” in the next two or three weeks, Secretary of Agriculture Henry A. Wallace revealed today.
All indications pointed to completion of the deal soon, in spite of objections filed by Samuel Untermyer, world anti-Nazi boycott leader, who in a recent communication to Secretary of State Cordell Hull warned that predicted benefits would prove without substantial basis.
According to the best information available here, only the approval of the State and Treasury Departments is required before the transaction is consummated.
The Export-Import Bank, directed by George N. Peek, Oscar Johnston, manager of the Agricultural Adjustment Administration’s cotton pool, and the AAA have already given their approval, it is understood. The Hitler government has communicated its sanction.
TO SHIP 500,000 BALES
Under the barter plan at least 500,000 bales of American cotton will be shipped to the Reich in exchange for gods of equal value. Among the Nazi products mentioned as possibly acceptable are nitrates, but it is known that manufactured goods will bulk large.
Prime movers in the scheme have been Senators Pat Harrison of Mississippi and John H. Bank-
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