THE MONEY POWER

Evening Post, Volume CIX, Issue 123, 27 May 1930, Page 13

THE MONEY POWER

LECTURE BY MRS: WHITE

(From "The Post's" Representative.) LONDON, ,27th March. A lecture given last night, before the members of the Fabian Society was interesting, not only on account of the subject—"Unemployment and the Money Power"—but because- the lecturer was Mrs. Blanco White, daughter of the Hon.- W. Pember Mrs Blanco White spoke for an hour, without referring to notes, in a way that save one- tho impression that she was a master of the subject of economies. Her contention was that the effort to force up -the value of the (pound sterling was the mam cause of unemployment. The Bank oi England had the sacred duty to protect its r old reserves. It therefore had, to strict credit. Tho direct result ot this restriction was unemployment. .in speaking of the gold reserve and exnlaining its position in the scheme ot fmancef the lecturer was amusing. This 150 million pounds' worth of shining gold, she said, • was lying m.tho dark vaults of-the bank earning no interest. Nobody was allowed to see it. She suggested that at least the bank should allow the" public to see it through glass eases, with machine-guns and all. During the war, said Mrs. White, most of this bullion was in Montreal and Melbourne, and nobpdy missed it. ~ Reverting to her mam theme, Mrs. White maintained that bankers were mainly interested in international finance, and not in unemployment, lhe remedies for uemployment were in the hands of those who dictated the monetary system of the country. Tho difficulty lay in getting enough people in England to understand the position and in obtaining tho weight of public opinion to force tho authorities to apply tho remedies. People did not take" enough interest in tho subject. Another interesting statement made by Mrs. White was that tho cost 'of living in England was now 25 per, cent, more than tho pre-war cost of living, but that, wages were 75 per cent, higher than pre-war wages. You could not force wages down in a civilised country, she said, without strikes, but the adjustment could'bo made through the currency. . After the lecture a number of apparently devastating questions were put to Mrs. White, but sho was never at a loss iii answering them.