The Dominion FRIDAY, AUGUST 12, 1932. THE EMPIRE AND CURRENCY

Dominion, Volume 25, Issue 272, 12 August 1932, Page 10

The Dominion FRIDAY, AUGUST 12, 1932. THE EMPIRE AND CURRENCY

The report published this morning of the Monetary at Ottawa is of the greatest, interest and imporance. .In estHnatm. the possibilities of the Imperial Leon PpmPn ts and’ the other from ’ on this second main objective has now been produced and deserves careful study. anything. to X^Sn—> S’/ to ondl ifc cnmnlete success would be miraculous—would that be the Sd of the matter? Would deflation be allowed to run its ruinous course? Is there no second best plan. ■ We believe there is a second best plan. In the first place - Empire comprises in itself the strongest financial group,in the world memE will act in unity. A long step toward common actio will have been taken if the Imperial Conference adopts the report of its Monetary Committee and decides, moreover, to apply it in detai.. Thus would be formed a compact and powerful sterling ? L in? the weight to influence any international conference, especially i the latter realised that, failing its co-operation, the Empire might succeed in nroceedmcj on its own account. . • . «.»• . Such a united Imperial front might well be made an immediate and definite objective at Ottawa. No doubt, also, the Conference would appreciate the value of recruiting to the groupt *° se , which have left gold and adhered to sterling. With the addition of Scandinavia, South America, some European countries and some m the East—units which-are stated as likely and, indeed, ready to’J ol the sterling area would be greatly .en larged and more widely and firmly based. The rest of the world might well conclude that it would be better to be working with, rather than independently of, such a r ° U practical purposes the rest of the world comprises the United States and France, the only nations who in the strict sense remain on the gold standard. On present appearances France will not be eas } to move. On the other hand America’s financial policy does not differ materially from that set out at Ottawa. She is actually practising some of the measures designed to raise prices recommended by the Ottawa Committee. If America’s co-operation could be obtained, the link with gold prices would be secured —the first essential named m the Ottawa report. ~ .. . • < - „ A fuller discussion of the plan we have outlined is contained in a special article by Sir Arthur Salter published in The Times, a summary of which is printed in another column this morning. Sir Arthurs idea? received general endorsement from leading British bankers, financial experts and economists. He agrees that the best plan wotud be to proceed to raise prices by international action but is of the opinion that, failing this, steps could be taken by the sterling group with the possible co-operation of America.