ARCHBISHOP CALLS FOR “FACTS OF ECONOMY CRISIS”

Greymouth Evening Star, 9 November 1949, Page 5

ARCHBISHOP CALLS FOR “FACTS OF ECONOMY CRISIS”

LONDON, November 8. —A call for a non-party declaration by political leaders on the facts of Britain’s economy crisis, was made by the Archbishop of York (Dr C. F. Garbett), when he addressed the York Diocesan Conference today. Dr Garbett warned the people of Britain that they were confronted with a crisis comparable with the months after Dunkirk. He urged the leaders of all political parties to “issue an agreed down-right statement on the extreme gravity of the present position.” Dr Garbett said that, when the people knew the stark realities of the position, they would rise to the occasion. Britain, he said, was maintaining a high standard of living, although she was a very much poorer country than in the past. She was drawing on her savings, and her reserves were getting very low; she was also using Marshall aid, which would end within two yehrs. Unless there was a radical change. Britain would have no money for overseas food or raw materials, and other nations would be afraid to trade with her for fear “that all they send to us may be lost in the general crash, without any hope-of repayment.”

Dr Garbett continued: “The results of such a crash would be fewer things to buy, higher prices, and cut rations. Industries would be compelled to close down for lack of raw materials, with resultant unemployment. Our position as a Great Power would go.” Dr Garbett said the State was trying to avoid bankruptcy by cutting imports, increasing exports, and reducing expenditure. “However,” he said, “I am sure that the Government will not obtain the necessary support of the nation as a whole unless the extreme gravity of the crisis is brought home to all. It is not yet clearly understood that this crisis affects every one of us; that unless it is solved within the next year or two, the manner of life of every citizen may be disastrously changed for the worst.”