A STRIKING SPEECH

Evening Post, Volume CXIII, Issue 1, 2 January 1932, Page 11

A STRIKING SPEECH

ISSUE MUST BE SOLVED

TRADE BEING STRANGLED

COMMON UNDERSTANDING

(British Official Wireless.) (Received 2nd January, noon.) KUGBY, Ist January. Striking observations upoa world economic problems were made by Sir Walter Lay ton, the prominent economist, in addressing Anglo-French students in London to-day. ■ Sir Walter Layton emphasised the danger- of hampering international trade by tariff barriers, and declared that while gold was usual for settling small dealings, it was in effect merely spare cash in the till and could not settle indebtedness between nations' engaged^ in lending or supplying large quantities of goods one to the other. Some solution of the tariff issue, which was getting worse, must be found. The financial crisis had aggravated it, for there were in many countries not onlytariffs, but absolute strangleholds on! trade through exchange control. Every conceivable device was being operatJ ed in each country in trying to save itself, but in the meanwhile it was strangling its neighbour. The world* commerce was down to something likei half its volume of two years ago. UNEXPECTED RESULTS. Tariffs had played havoc with capital and had produced quite unexpected results regarding the payment o£ debts and reparations. . They could have been paid in goods but were *not, land had produced great movements of gold and resultant chaos. Sir Walter Layton said that .the gold standard,' : from which other countries might have to depart before very long, could not be reinstated until the reparations problem was regularised ia such a way that any reparation paid, was paid in gold. . That: meant that there must be some vanity in: tariff questions.. ;\ .

"The key may be that; we have to form a group of countries which .have a common understanding ;in regard to their money and at the same time have an understanding in regard to what is a sensible tariff policy," he said.' "It does not mean that every country ha« to be Free Trade. At pxasent we have to aim at a group of sane tariff countries." :