LATE NEWS

Dominion, Volume 31, Issue 270, 11 August 1938, Page 15

LATE NEWS

EUROPE IN STATE OF ALARM Scramble For Gold Continues FEAR OF COMING DEPRESSION Prices Fall On Berlin Stock Erchange By Telegraph.—Press Assu.—Copyright. (Received August 11, 1.15 a.m.) London, August 10. The scramble for gold continues unabated. French business inep. alarmed at the sudden return of M. Daladier, the French Premier, from the Mediterranean, sold francs heavily to-day, and many in London are inclined to the view that It is not merely nasal catarrh that has caused Mr. Chamberlain, British Prime Minister, to interrupt bis holiday. The bulk of. the orders came from the Continent, bu a novel development is the large number of purchases on behalf of America, South America, and the Far Fast. In a statement to the French Press to-day. M. Daladier declared that France’s financial position was satisfactory, deposits at the moment exceeding withdrawals.'The savings bank situation was also contrary (o normal holiday expectations. M. Daladier denied any impending revision of the tripartite monetary agreement between Britain, France, and the United .States.

The Berlin correspondent of "The Times'’ .reports that apprehension is also spreading in Germany. Prices on the Berlin Stock Exchange declined an average of five points, which is one of the sharpest falls since the Nazis seized potver. Company reports indicate the presence of all the classical accompaniments to the onslaught of a depression, and complain that; owing to rising costs, the Expansion of profits has not kept pace with the expansion of sales.

Wages, however, have been kept low, unlike the cost of capital. A continuance of low wages, it is felt, may yet delay tlie break in German industrial activity.