Britain Must Pay Its Way

Dominion, Volume 24, Issue 286, 29 August 1931, Page 20

Britain Must Pay Its Way

(C T“\ MTAIN ° * itatlon has to pay it# way jmrt a# much as any | individual business. In 1929 the net surplus due to us on interI national account was estimated officially at £188,000,000. In 1980 “ it fell to £39,000,000, and this year we may well have to face a deficiency," writes Mr. Seebohm Rowntree, C.H., in the “NewsChronicle.” • "Our trouble is that our costs have not fallen in proportion to the selling prices of the world, nor in proportion to the ability of our foreign customers to buy. In consequence, from the foreigner’s point of view, we are a nation demanding a standard of life which he does not consider justified by the value of our wares. v “In this situation we must either reduce our standard of life or increase our productivity. Inexorable economic forces will compel this eventual readjustment. Our object should be to bring it about as quickly and as

harmoniously, and with as little human suffering as possible. That is an immensely difficult task calling for the best brains and the.best contribution from all classes. “If I may make a practical suggestion, it is that this problem should be approached in concert by ail interests, employer and employed, agent, wholesaler and retailer, Civil Servant and banker, with a view not to working out detailed arrangements, which must vary from industry to industry, but with the object of agreeing upon the broad facts and upon the broad avenue to a return to prosperity. "Only the Government can take the lead in bringing about such a conference. “As a nation even yet we are not facing the’facts; Sooner or later we shall have to face them. Why not do It now? ; "Every‘day’s delay renders the case more difficult We do not want either optimism or pessimism. We want realism.”