WORK BEGINS.

Press, Volume LXIX, Issue 20881, 14 June 1933, Page 9

WORK BEGINS.

FRENCH AND ITALIAN SPEAKERS. EMPHASIS ON NEED TO FACE FACTS. GENERAL SMUTS DEPLORES ECONOMIC WARFARE. (U.S'ITED I'fiF.SS ASSOCIATION —JIT ELECTRIC TELEGKAI'U COl'l'ftlUUT.) (Received June 14, 12.30 a.m.) LONDON, June 13. The opening of the conference was marked by . grey skies, which brought gloom to the chamber. The informal conversations have indicated that few constructive speeches are likely to be made immediately, the delegates withholding their plans until the committees are constituted. Fruitful work in the chamber is rendered extremely difficult by the prohibition of smoking, so that the delegates spend most of their time in the lobbies, where they are able to exchange ideas in friendly confidence. As an earnest of the desire to get to grips with the problems of the conference, there was no dissent to the Bureau's proposal to limit the general debate to three days, and the speeches to 15 minutes. The president (Mr Ramsay Macdonald) has discretion to extend this time if a speaker is usefully contributing to the work of the conference. The opening speaker was M. Edouard Daladier (Prime Minister of France). ! M. Daladier, in a speech of eight minutes, traversed the difficulties of production and exchange, under which two-thirds of the world's population, existing from agriculture, suddenly found that prices for their produce had fallen by half, and sometimes by two-thirds. How could they, deprived of purchasing power, continue to be customers in industry? To the evil of post-war mass production was added the instability of currencies. The maintenance and restoration of the freedom of movement of gold were indispensable for the restoration of the circulation of goods. What would anyone say of an engineer who worked with an india-rubber foot-rule? The adoption of the 40-hour week within an international framework was worthy of consideration. There was a tendency for all government policies to run counter to one another. These had to be harmonised to avoid economic warfare. Italy Emphasises Debts. Signor Guido Jung (Italy) empha-1 sised the supreme importance of a settlement of war debts, and the { fact that all nations, as well those that were wealthy as the others, had 1 suffered from the same ills of unemployment and a decline in real prices. It had been proved that these evils were outside monetary fields. It was not logical to deplore the excess of productive equipment and simultaneously to expand it by j forced injections of credit. It was a problem of adjustment, and co-1 operation was necessary to enable the investor to feel that his interests were safeguarded. In this mat- j ter economic efficiency was paramount. '

General J. Smuts (South Africa-), one of the three survivors of the Peace Conference, said he had seen his fears of economic warfare realised. He now feared for the fate of civilisation if the conference failed. He implored the conference to separate politics from economics and to appoint committees of experts to advise it concerning the right steps towards world recovery. The Personal Aspect. The conference retains an atmosphere of homogeneity, though many of the delegates are not impressive in appearance. M. Daladier, who is of nuggety build, and is filled with Gallic fire and Breton caution, spoke from manuscript notes, but seldom referred to them. He possesses a manly voice of delightful timbre, and was always arresting. He made a great impression. Signor Jung is a man in the sixties, thick set, and of medium height, and wears a Fascist emblem in his buttonhole. He spoke with a perfect English accent, and with a deliberate and quiet delivery. His manner mirrored Signor Mussolini's practicability. An interpreter translated his speech into French. Signor Jung approached nearer to bleak facts than any statesmen have yet dared to do.