DEBATE ON THE CONFERENCE.

Press, Volume LXIX, Issue 20905, 12 July 1933, Page 9

DEBATE ON THE CONFERENCE.

DISCUSSION IN COMMONS. CHANCELLOR'S STATEMENT OF POSITION. STEADY BRITISH POLICY URGED. innrnsn official wireless.) RUGBY, July 10. The critical situation of the World Economic Conference was debated in the House of Commons, and an important statement was made by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Mr Neville Chamberlain, in opening the discussion. He said the preliminary discussions of the experts had revealed a very large measure of agreement; but when it came to methods there was a wide divergence of opinion. At the commencement of the conference, however, the desire to come to a satisfactory agreement, and the emphasis placed on the unfortunate result which would follow if the conference failed, were so insistent that all felt they would in the end reach some useful result. The fact that the Government of the United States had decided some time previously to leave the gold standard had introduced a new factor. As a result, opinions were divided, many hoping and believing that it was a prelude to recovery, others being unable to conceal their anxieties as to where it might lead. In the uncertainty which prevailed some question was raised as to whether it would not be desirable to postpone the conference until the sky was clearer. There were many reasons against delay. Everybody was extremely anxious to discuss a possible way out of the present world difficulties, and Mr Roosevelt, both in his conversations with Mr Ramsay MacDonald and in his message to the Sovereigns and Presidents of 54 nations, made it clear that he favoured the early meeting of the conference. When the conference met he (Mr Chamberlnin) made a statement of British policy which received general approval in Great Britain, was unanimously supported by the Dominions, and received the admiration of a large number of foreign countries. It gave a definite lead to the conference. Hitch Arises. Up to the end of last month he saw no reason why the work of the conference should not be finished, | as was originally expected, by the | end of July; but at a comparatively i early stage the question of stabilisa- I tion loomed up, and acquired greater and greater gravity, until by the end of the week before last it had brought some of the work of thp conference to a temporary halt. As to the desirability of some permanent stabilisation, he did not think there would be any differences of opinion among the delegates. Only a short time ago he thought that it was perfectly obvious to everybody that it would be impossible to conceive of a complete return to the normal functioning of trade and commerce in the world unless they could have an international monetary standard acceptable to and accepted by all nations. But some countries represented ' at the conference, particularly those still on the gold standard, went further than the question of ultimate stabilisation. They felt it extremely difficult to discuss a good many of the subjects on the agenda ■when the strongest currency of the world was in a condition of instability, undergoing rapid and even violent changes from day to day. Mr Chamberlain recalled the United States Government's invitation to the nations to enter into a tariff truce during the period of the conference, and the attempt made by the Central Banks of France, the United States, and England before the conference met to come to some temporary arrangement which would have maintained some approximate stability in exchanges.

Mr Roosevelt's Attitude. He referred to Mr Roosevelt's attitude to this, and to his modified declaration. It would serve no useful purpose for him to make any comment either on the manner or matter of the President's statement to the American delegation, but there was no doubt that its effect, not only on the delegations from the gold countries, but on public opinion in those countries, was very profound and very disturbing. It was felt that not only had the President indicated that he attached little or no importance to any reaction which his domestic or internal policy might have upon other countries, but also he seemed to suggest that he was thinking of an ultimate international monetary standard of a kind which was not likely to command confidence in th-.r-, countries. ' :"h a pronouncement, coming t such a quarter seemed to the r -rntn + ives of the gold counts •-. mVce-it imrHrsib 1 " for th'm v .'lv o dircus* anv at t "or*er , "f*2 either those qiiest?—s which had been referred to the monetary and financial commissions, or those which dealt with tariffs, prohibitions, and other weapons which could be used as a means of defence against depreciated foreign currencies, which had been referred to the Economic commission. Question of Adjournment. In these circumstances the British delegation had to decide whether the conference should adjourn, leaving the bureau in being, or continue with a limited programme. After discussions with the Dominions and India it "'as unanimously vi r.n'in'. 'he conference, but to (i-n-/ a:- f . v the "wo--:-; c:i t<jr;:•;'« : '.: ; -"e's of it. On the other *he countries or. 'he gold standard represented that participation, so long as the position of exchange was so unstable, would have a very disturbing effect in their own countries; and, urging that existing conditions were only temporary, thougnt it would be much better to wait until

they had stabilised themselves, I when the question might be taken [ up again. That was the present position of the conference. There was still a cleavage of opinion, but he hoped means would be found of bridging the difficulties. It was useless to deny that, as matters had turned out, the work of the conference had received a serious check. There was no doubt in any case that the conference could continue to carry on its discussion on certain very important lines of thought, on which a very considerable amount of agreement had already been reached. It must not be too readily assumed that the check had dealt a mortal blow at the chances of agreement on world problems. "We still remain of the opinion that we have held all along, that the chief troubles from which the world is suffering are international in their origin, and that they can only be solved by international action and agreement," continued Mr Chamberlain. 'Must for the moment some of these abstruse and difficult problems which we have set ourselves to face cannot be subject to agreement, but British policy remains what it has been from the beginning. In our view, shared strongly by the Dominions and India, the raising of prices of wholesale commodities still remains theprimary objective. Confidence Needed. "But the more you examine the problem the more you come back to the central fact that at the bottom of the whole trouble lies lack of confidence. It is only the restoration of confidence which will enable us to obtain the full benefits from the various measures which we may take to bring about the raising of price levels, and all our efforts must be devoted to the restoration and building up of that confidence. "The depreciation of the dollar has undoubtedly brought into consideration a very disturbing factor; but is to a very large extent an unnatural and artificial phenomenon, not based on intrinsic economic and financial factors, but chiefly the result of speculation which began in Continental circles, and has been followed up by American speculation. In the opinion of many competent experts the conditions and facts are such that it is quite possible that there may be a reversal of this process in the autumn, when various factors will begin to work in opposite directions. Therefore, at this time we have got to keep our heads, and not allow ourselves to be rushed by these temporary disturbing factors into arriving at a hasty, ill-considered, or rash conclusion." Mr Churchill's Speech. Mr Winston Churchill (Conservative) rejoiced that the United States had come off gold. The gold bloc countries played an unimportant part in the world's business compared with the non-gold countries. When gold was dethroned sterling was likely to become the world's most trustworthy measure. Great Britain was the most heavily taxed nation in the world, and there was no hope of modification of the burden without successful price and wage raising. The Government should aim at organising and guiding the sterling convoy, at the centre of which stood the Empire, on a steady plan of controlled revaluation, in an endeavour to raise prices. Sir Herbert Samuel (Liberal) said all parts of the House agreed that the conference must not abandon its tasks. The recent jumps in the sterling prices of commodities had been remarkable. Mr L. C. M. S. Amery (Conservative) said the real trouble was that the Government had not made up its mind on which side of the fence it stood. It could not run' with the Montagu Norman hare and hunt with the Roosevelt hound. The doctrine of economic internationalism was incompatible with our national interests. If the world were one economic unit it would mean unlimited competition from Japan, which would prove disastrous to British industry. The only available compromise would be for the nations wishing to work permanently together to form economic groups. We had made a beginning at Ottawa. Why not encourage the peoples of Europe to form a similar group, monetarily and economically?

SCOPE OF FUTURE WORK.

EXAMINATION BY BUREAU. RECOMMENDATIONS OF FINANCE COMMITTEE. (bmtisji official wireless.) RUGBY, July 10. The scope of the future work of the World Economic Conference is still under examination by the bureau of the conference, which today approved of the reports of two sub-committees of the economic commission on indirect protection and the co-ordination of production and marketing. Both sub-commit-tees unanimously favoured continuation of the conference. The bureau also agreed that drafting committees of the sub-commit-tees on subsidies and commercial policies, on which differences of opinion have arisen, should be appointed to report to the bureau on the dhTarent viewpoints. In the monetary field of the conference work, the decisions taken in Friday's sub-committee meetings on immediate measures were reported. The sub-committee on permanent measures of financial restoration reported that four resolutions were ready for submission to the bureau, and that the sub-committee on silver would report this week. The four resolutions referred to are:— That it is in the interest of all concerned that stability in the international monetary field be attained as quickly as possible. That gold should be re-estab-lished as an international measure of exchange values. That under modern conditions monetary gold is not required for internal circulation, but as a reserve against central bank liabilities. ~ That in order to improve the i working of a future gold standard greater elasticty should be given to central banks' regular provisons.