VALUE OF LENDLEASE ACT

Dominion, Volume 35, Issue 52, 25 November 1941, Page 8

VALUE OF LENDLEASE ACT

Financing The War REFLECTION IN TRADE PROBLEMS (British Official Wireless.) (Received November 24, 7.5 p.m.) RUGBY, November 23. “In March of this year outfinancial prospects in the conduct of the war were remarkably bettered by an outstanding ac: of generosity on the part of the United States. It was not merely an outstanding act of generosity. It was unexampled in the history of the world. I refer to the passing of the Lend-Lease Act,” said the Secretary to the Department of Overseas Trade, Mr. Harcourt Johnstone, speaking at Bristol.

“’This magnificent gesture bettered our financial prospects enormously, because we could never have earned by our export trade, or by the sale ot our investments in the United States, sufficient dollars to enable us to purchase the armaments with which the United States intends to provide us, and which we must have tor victory. But this does not mean that we can afford to slacken our own efforts, nor indeed have we done nor shall ml do so.” . , • "We must look upon the help given us bv the United States as an encouragement’ ail’d incentive to use our own production of cmaments to the fullest possible extent. In the field ot expoit trade, too, we must maintain on a selective basis the fullest volume of export trade consistent with our munitions “ rne ’ Need For Dollars.

"There are still many requirements for which we must look to America, and which we cannot obtain under the provisions of the Lend-Lease Act. tor these requirements, therefore, we have to pay, and to be able to pay we must earn dollars. . _ “The Government of the United States, quite naturally, has taken the view that the material they supply us to help us win the war should not be used by us for the purpose of export trade in competition with the United States, where supplies are being restricted for our benefit. The British Government recently gave an undertaking to the United States Government on this subject, and it is being applied with fairness and commonsense on both sides. "But therels still a number of traditional lines of export manufacture in which we can and must continue, to conduct a large volume of export trade —woollen and worsted cloth, cotton and linen apparel of various .kinds, pottery and rubber products, and antiques. Post-War Outlook. “Export tra'de has already played an important part in this war, and still has an important part to play. And when the war is won again, as in the past, we shall have to look to export trade not only to provide us with our daily bread, but to enable us to maintain our accustomed standard of living. It will mean hard work by everyone engaged in the export tra'de, for it would be lunacy to imagine that exporters in other countries are going to sit back and do nothing. “Competition will have increased in many 1 directions because of the war. Great manufacturing and engineering plants will have sprung up. In America, the Dominions, and South America the manufacture of textiles is going ahead by leaps and bounds. Even France lin'd Germany will be coming back into the export market not long after the war. One of the Government’s first concerns after the war will be to see that an abundant flow of food aud raw materials at the lowest available prices is assured in order to enable us to manufacture and sell at competitive prices on' the export .market.”

SURVEY OF AID

(Received November 24, 11.15 p.m.) WASHINGTON, November 23.

Mr. E. R. Stettinius announced that contracts had been let for more than 75 per cent, of seven billion dollar lease-lend appropriation, and indicated that one billion dollars worth of supplies had already been shipped to Britain and the Allies. He said that since the beginning of tlie war, the total exports to Britain had amounted to 5,250,000,000 dollars, most of which was financed by the British with their own dollars. « Illustrating the steady increase in Lease-Lend aid, he said the amount in March was eighteen million dollars, in June eighty-five million dollars, in September 207 million dollars, and October was the largest month during the war.