PROBLEMS OF EUROPE.

Feilding Star, Volume XVIII, Issue 4593, 20 May 1922, Page 1

PROBLEMS OF EUROPE.

VARIETY OF SOCIAL DISEASES'. (By Electric Cablo—Copyright.) (Aust.-N.Z. Call*? Association.) Washington, May 18. Mr Frank Vanderlip, the New York banker, who is holding a watching brief at the Genoa Conference for the United States financial interests, lias cabled to tho Chamber of Commerce that ‘he Conference is a clinic rather than a Conference. It exposes a variety of social diseases, such as the fantastically excessive reparations claims and excessive military expenditures, causing the inevitable unbalanced budgets," boundary lines that are an outrage on economic and. ethical principles, government debts so vast as to destroy any hope of solvency,, and the disease of the economic isolation of Russia. The United States should study a plan for segregating part of its gold reserve hold to stabilise tho European currencies after the budgets are balanced, but must avoid involving the United States’ bank reserves. Tho discussion on more important subjects is prohibited. The economic significance of Russia is absurdly emphasised. Unless strong statesmanship can compel a. more reasonable attitude on the part of France, the situation in Germany will be critical. Royalist plots abound, and increasing prices promise social hardship, which may result in revolutionary outbreaks.” Mr Vanderlip reviews the international significance" of the action of the conference, and states: “The United States Government witli respect to Europe is so eminently wise that I feel like trusting the administration fully. We had better not embarrass it with suggestions.” The majority of the speakers of the Chamber of Commerce convention oppose the economic recognition of Russia nad asserted that a settlement of the German reparations 'would restore world business.