TRADE TREND

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 67, Issue 47, 5 December 1946, Page 6

TRADE TREND

INTERNATIONAL POSITION RECENT AGREEMENTS REVIEWED

A comprehensive review of recent trade agreements was given by Professor A. H. Tocker, rector at Canterbury University College, in an address to members of the Ashburton Chamber of Commerce last evening. There was a large attendance, and the president, Mr A. A. McDonald, was in, thp chair. Accompanying the main speaker was Mr Eric Beaven, vice-presi-dent of the Canterbury Chamber of Commerce.

In his introductory remarks, Professor Tocker stated that it was his aim to give a general outline of the series of events, in world trade, of which Bretton Woods was but a single one. The 1914 war marked the end of a century of remarkable progress in Britain, especially in the matter of population, which quadrupled over that period compared with only doubling in the previous 400 years. In spite of this increase, however, conditions improved tremendously over the latter period, and there were not the unemployment and other social evils which might have been expected, mainly because there was an opening up of trade in many other parts of the world. Prior to 1800, methods of production were poor and, in spite of huge families, the mortality among children, due to the hard conditions of life generally, was very high. Up to 1914, Britain thrived on free trade. Each country could buy or sell on the market most suited to it; there was free trade in every sense of the w r ord, with the gold standard providing the essential stabilising factor which made exchange of goods between countries easy and free from monetary exchange complications. It was a better world then, added Professor Tocker, a world with very much more freedom and security, and a more peaceful world until the war of 1914.

Many New Factors - That Avar brought in many neAv factors. There was - inflation of currency in many countries —in Germany this was so pronounced that the mark become worthless. The speaker told some amusing stories of inflation days: bow an Englishman attempted to change a sovereign at an Austrian bank and was offered the whole banking business in return; lioav another Britisher had a luxurious meal for six, offered a £1 note in payment and then had to borrow a large suitcase to carry away the change. He cited the case of the Maori football team’s tour of France — at the last moment this Avas held up because, since the French Rugby Union had collected the necessary sum for a guarantee, the exchange rate had fallen, and they had to get busy raising a further 150,000 francs at the shortest notice: “If that can occur with a football team,” he commented, “what will -occur when a country is importing goods-” The speaker briefly dealt with the slump, stating that it was largely the result of the mal-administration of exchange. - Some countries, SAveden being a notable example, came out of it much better than others, simply because the price of things sold was ahove the price of things brought. He described, too, how Germany built up her trade by a policy of paying neighbours (for Avhom she Avas the only' real market) in bloc marks which could only be spent in Germany Avhere, in turn, there Avas rigid control of exports. Causes of Recent War

It was bickering over trade and the dislocation generally that led up to the recent war. People everywhere then began to think over the causes of the struggle and to look around for a means to avoid repetitions. As a result there came into being the Atlantic Charter, then the lend-lease agreA ments (simply a pooling of resources), both of which aimed at freer trade. There was much trade-, however, outside lend-lease, during the war, and this was carried on by bills of exchange payable in London. As a result, in 1945, there were funds in London amounting to £3,500,000,000 —a huge sum which Britain could meet only by exports. Obviously she could not do all this at once, and that led up to Bretton Woods. “I have often heard this criticised,” added the professor, “but never by anyone who understood it.” The surest way to full employment was freer trade, he said. If we could get the finance overseas for it, all would be right, and that’'was what Bretton Woods aimed to do. The An-glo-American loan agreement was the next step in the train of events. The text of all these agreements, he added, was directly against the policy in New Zealand to-day. All the smaller countries in Europe looked to Britain for a lead to-day, and, if she failed them, they were left hopelessly at sea. In conclusion, Professor Tocker stated that the international trade conference would be the keynote of all agreements and to freer trade, though exactly what the result would be he could not say. Motions of thanks to Professor Tocker and to Mr Beaven were carried with acclamation. Mr McDonald also expressed warm thanks to the Canterbury and' Timaru Chambers of Commerce for their assistance in resuscitating the Ashburton Chamber.