AUSTRALIAN FINANCE

Evening Star, Issue 20778, 28 April 1931, Page 9

AUSTRALIAN FINANCE

THE £12,000,000 LOAN

MR LYONS AT SYDNEY

A TUMULTUOUS RECEPTION

MR THEODORE AT ADELAIDE A TILT AT THE BANKS Press Association—By Telegraph—Copyright. ADELAIDE, April 27. Mr Theodore (Federal Treasurer) addressed a noisy meeting in the City Town Hall to-night, explaining tho Government’s financial policy and defending the fiduciary issue. A large section of his audience was obviously hostile, including a number of university students, who became involved in a series of fights with Mr Theodores supporters. On several occasions the uproar was serious, and Mr Theodore was unable to continue for many minutes. Large numbers of people m the body of the hall left hurriedly, fearing a riot. During a bitter attack on the banks Mr Theodore said that the Govei nment was not going to yield to the dictation of financial institutions, come what might, nor would it allow the Commonwealth Bank to act defiantly, since it was the prerogative of the Crown to decide the particular form of currency which was requisite for the nation’s safety.

TO HELP WHEAT GROWERS AND UNEMPLOYED. ADELAIDE, April 27. Addressing the waterside workers at Port Adelaide to-day, Sir Theodore said that Nationalism dominated Commonwealth legislation through the Senate majority leaving the Labour Ministry without power or responsibility. Ho added that the country was being strangled by its monetary system, which was dictated by the banks.' Mr Theodore announced that the Loan Council had authorised the raising of a £12,000,000 loan, half of which was to help wheat growers and the other half to create work for the unemployed.

AN UNRULY CROWD. CONFLICT WITH THE POLICE. SYDNEY, April 27. An organised attempt by Communists and others to gain admission to and disturb Mr Lyons’s meeting in the Sydney Town Hall to-night, under the auspices of the All-for-Australia League, was thwarted by the police, but not before several baton charges *wero- made and many casualties were inflicted on either side. A plucky' constable discovered a group of would-be disturbers secreted in a porch, and he ordered them to disperse, when amid an angry shout the whole gang set upon him and felled him. They then threw him into the roadway and. kicked him. An inspector of police, who went to his assistance, also received a heavy blow on the jaw, which split his lip. Police reinforcements soon arrived and chased the ruffians. They caught eight and placed them under arrest, while others who adopted a menacing attitude were driven away with batons. A huge crowd gathered rnd the situation was extremely grave.

THREE THOUSAND UNABLE TO GAIN ADMISSION. SYDNEY, April 28. (Received April 28, at 10.5 a.m.) Not for many years has a political leader received sucli a tumultuous reception as that accorded to'JVIr Lyons by 3,5(k) people who filled every portoin of the Sydney Town Hall. About 3,000 were unable to gain admission, and heard the speech through amplifiers outside the hall. Mr Lyons said the Federal Treasurer (Mr Theodore) apparently contended that tho risks of the Commonwealth Bank’s insolvency and the consequent ruination of its customers should be incurred so that the Government might continue to spend more than it received. The size of the gathering, ho said, indicated that tho conscience of the people was aroused. There was a disorganised rabble in tho Labour Party, each faction vieing with the other in the concoction of more and more fantastic schemes. Its leaders, in a time of national peril, had sacrified the work of reconstruction to a sordid scramble for place and power. He refused to be an accomplice in plans that would lead tho wage-earners into the wilderness of currency inflation. The Government iiad no more right to demand excessive financial assistance from tho banks than to demand it individu ally from private citizens whose funds the banks were safeguarding. Mr Lyons added that he believed that there should be a sound tariff policy, with effective preference to Great Britain and interdominion reciprocity. The audience repeatedly rose and cheered him to the scho.

MR SCULLIN ANSWERS CRITICS

LACK OF CO-OPERATION DEPLORED, SYDNEY, April 28. (Received April 28, at 10.5 a.m.) Mr Scullin stated that the Government’s measures for relief had been misrepresented, relentlessly opposed, and thrown on the Semite scrap heap, and nothing was offered in their place. On Juno 30 Treasury Bills amounting to £5.000,000 would fall due in Loudon. The Commonwealth Bank Board had written informing the Government that it could give no assistance to meet this obligation. The loan market was closed, and the Commonwealth Bank was helpless. The only recourse left was to ship gold to Loudon at once, otherwise Australia would default in nine weeks’ time. The Bill to authorise that gold bo shipped to save Australia’s honour had been received in a hostile manner, and bitter attacks had been made on the Government for introducing it, but not one suggestion had been offered as to how this serious position could be met. This discouraged the belief that there would be any cordial co-operation with the Government in facing its difficult task. Mr Lyons s contribution was to push on with his plan to unite the opposition forces against tho Government. The only' definite proposal put forward as an alternative to the Government’s practical policy was tho defeat of the Go\ eminent.

SIR GEORGE FULLER

VANCOUVER, April 27. (Received April 28, at 10 a.m.) Homeward bound from London, the former Premier of New South Wales (Sir G. W Fuller) arrived to-day. Questioned if he would return to political life, he declared: “ I am not prepared to say that I am definitely through with public life.” Ho declined to discuss political affairs in Australia.