BRITAIN'S LEAD

Evening Post, Volume CXV, Issue 11, 14 January 1933, Page 11

BRITAIN'S LEAD

IN WORLD ECONOMICS

WAR DEBT SETTLEMENT

"ADMITS OF NO DELAY"

(British Official Wireless.) \ (Received 14th January, 11 a.m.) RUGBY, 13th January. The Prime Minister (Mr. Ramsay MaeDonald) refers to tho urgency of war debt settlement arid the importance of tho work before the World Economic Conference in a message sent to the Conservative candidate at the Liverpool by-election. Ho says that the economic state of the world is still disquieting, but that in such fundamental matters as intergovernmental debts Britain is recognised as being in a leading position in the work being done to remove that serious cause of trouble. Lausanne not only began that work, but showed how it could be pursued to a successful issue. The Government was now engaged in an endeavour' to reach a settlement of the debt to the .United States, a matter which, in view of the urgency of world conditions and the carrying out of the Lausanne decisions, admitted of no delay. - . Among the world's economic difficulties Britain had held her own as compared with other great industrial nations, and was now in a position to take advantage of the improvement in world conditions which the Government was striving to effect. At the moment they were endeavouring, to remove obstacles which were delaying the International Economic Conference. Mr. Mac Donald added that until that work is done there is no prospect of any serious and. permanent reduction in unemployment, though we are checking an increase. "Millions can be spent on futile efforts to relieve distress, which will make no difference to unemployment, but will have to be paid off by new and1 widespread distress," he says. "No intelligent man will grasp at that shadow." Mr. Stanley Baldwin has also sent a message in which ho claims that the Government has succeeded in stemming the rise in unemployment and in balancing the Budget, and thatdt is effecting a great national saving of war loan interest under the conversion schemes, which make for a permanent strengthening of the country's financial position: Also the adoption of a tariff policy had already caused various countries to approach Britain with a view to modifying their Mghsprotective duties. -