Greymouth Evening Star. MONDAY, DECEMBER 10, 1945. TURN FOR THE BETTER.

Greymouth Evening Star, 10 December 1945, Page 4

Greymouth Evening Star. MONDAY, DECEMBER 10, 1945. TURN FOR THE BETTER.

INTERNATIONAL relations have taken a. turn for the better, the U.S.A.-Bri-tain loan and credit agreement being followed by an announcement of the Foreign Secretaries’ meeting at Moscow, at the; end of the week. It is explained that this gathering is in accordance with plans previously laid down, but the fact that it is being held, and not postponed for some evasive reason, is evidence of a desire to minimise, if not remove, the misunderstanding that developed after the failure of the London meeting of the Foreign Secretaries. These, will probably profit from that experience, and be more, compromising when total agreement is difficult. The French protest at exclusion is understandable® but is not meant to be more than a. reminder that France claims to be a big Power, and must not be ignored. ■ Generally, the U.S.A.-Britain loan deal has had q favourable reception on both sides of the Atlantic, the reaction after the first shock being mostly acceptance of the official claim that the best has been made of a. defensive offensive by Britain’s representatives. They had the harder part of the struggle, and seem Io have made as good a deal as could have been reasonably expected. The fear that Britain will become a. financial vassal of U.S.A, seems groundless, as where long-term finance and commerce were concerned, Lord Keynes and his colleagues, assisted by the. best brains at the Treasury and in the City, were unlikely to he as innocents abroad. The American people declare that their own. representatives have to arise early to get the better of British financiers —or diplomats. None could have expected an agreement without flaw, or cause foi debate, but the opponents of this new deal, in the Commons or in Congress, are likely to be outnumbered by those who believe that both nations will benefit from the new pact. Chief criticism in Britain seems to arise from acceptance of what arc called the Bretton Woods proposals, to which Labour has long been opposed, and which it now appears that the Attlee Government is to accept. An official defence of this change in policy states. “Criticism against Bretton Woods Agreement is based on argument that it involves return to gold standard. This is however not true as far as gold standard in the old sense is concerned. Although it is true that parvalue of each currency will be expressed in gold, each member has the right to alter value of its currency by 10 per cent, of initial par-value after consultation but ‘without agreement of Fund, and by further 10 per cent, with Fund approval. Moreovei the Fund is obliged to concur in proposed change if it is satisfied it is necessary to correct the fundamental disequilibrium and it may not object to a change on the ground of a country’s domestic policy.” This may not be clear to the uninitiated, but financial affairs rarely are. Experts are entrusted with the guidance of Britain’s finances, and honest doubters must leave it at that. When it is explained that “the main purpose of the Bretton Woods proposal is to set up an International Monetary Fund to facilitate expansion and balance the growth of international trade, and to contribute thereby to the promotion and maintenance of a high level of employment and real income, and to the development of the productive, resources of all members as primary objective of economic policy,” there seems little more to be said. Time must be .left to justify, or confound, the makers of the new agreement. The odds to-day, appear to be in their favour.