STERLING VALUE

Greymouth Evening Star, 27 October 1932, Page 5

STERLING VALUE

EX-CHANCELLOR’S OPINION

NO NEED FOR ALARM ' [BY CABLE —PRESS ASSN.—COPYBIGHT.] (Recd. October 26, 10 a.m.) > LONDON, October 26. “People are unnecessarily perturbed about the fall in sterling, which without support of the equalisation fund, is reaching a natural level in relation to the amount of trade with the outside world,” said Sir R. S. Horne.. “The difficulties ar e small in comparison with the advantage of having sterling at a natural level,” he said, “except in one respect, in which there is a possibility of great difficulty, namely, the level of currency obtaining throughout the Empire. Unless there is a definite arrangement between the communities of the Empire it is obvious that any system of preference can be broken up by changing the currency values. Consequently, one of the first essentials is to fix a ratio of currencies, which should not be difficult.” i A SLIGHT RECOVERY ■RUGBY, October 26 The recovery of sterling, which occurred during the latter part of yesterday, continued this morning. The dollar rate opened at 3.311 to 3.32, a,nd British Government stocks were firmer in sympathy, War Loan being at 100. MR LLOYD GEORGE ANXIOUS LONDON, October 25. In the House of Commons, speaking in the censure debate, Mr Lloyd George said that the Governor of the Bank of England, Mr Norman, had recently made an ominous speech. He had declared that he was “lost,” and that ■ “he did not know what to do.” Thus, said Mr Lloyd George, this man, who, above all others, has been the guide to Cabinet Ministers for a decade past, . has admitted that he could not forsee what is going to happen. Mr Lloyd George said that he felt uneasy. As being the oldest Member of the House of Commons, he asked * whether the Government had any plan to deal with the 3,000,000 of unemployed except that of wait and see what tariffs would do by the end of the present year. It would cost at least £350,000,000 to keep the unemployed deteriorating in thei idleness. Millions of idle money could be employed in providing better houses, roads, public works and land settlement. MR BORAH’S CONFIDENCE.

NEW YORK, October 26. Senator Borah, speaking at Nempa, in Idaho, referred to the causes of depression. Taking issue with a recent statement by Mr Montague Norman, the Governor of the Bank of England, that the economic difficulties are so vast that he could not see through to the end, and that the causes of the depression were yet unknown, Senator Borah called for “these able gentlemen, who are so blue and so discouraged, to come to grips with the real problems of the depression.” Senator Borah said: “In the presence of the mistakes of the Versailles Treaty, of the reparations debts, the demonetisation of silver in the Orient,, and the political interference with trade and commerce, we seem paralysed with fear and doubt, whereas we ought to recognise our task and go to it.”

SOUTH AFRICAN LOAN.

CAPETOWN, October 26. The terms of the Union’s eight mil-, lions loan, issued at £96i, with interest at 3J per cent., indicates that the gold standard policy has not affected credit in relation to sterling. CRISIS IN SWITZERLAND. LONDON, October 26. The “Daily Telegraph’s” Geneva correspondent states that trade in Switzerland is in a disastrous condition, owing to the fall in the demand from abroad, due to the high value of the Swjss franc. The hotels there are almost ruined, while the watchmaking industry is at. a standstill. The Swiss Federal Railways are showing a deficit of £1,590,000 for the period of January and September, 1932. The farmers are clamouring for a Government subsidy ,to avoid ruin. It is likely that Switzerland will go off the gold standard.