WORLD MONETARY CONFERENCE

Hutt News, Volume 18, Issue 3, 21 June 1944, Page 8

WORLD MONETARY CONFERENCE

NEED FOli, PUBLIC OPINION "As victory approaches, the importance of informed and active public opinion to successfully solve reconstruction and rehabilitation problems becomes very great," declared Mr. John Hogan to a large audience in the King George Theatre on Sunday. The subject of his address was "Victory—Then What?" The Mayoi (Mr. J. W. Andrews) presided. The speaker referred to the international conferences that were taking place. The International Food Conference and Monetary Conferences, and the establishment of UNNRA, were substantial indications that steps were being taken to deal in advance with post-war problems. "Wo must not over-estimate the value of these Conferences, however" he continued. "In the first place they are necessarily only representative of the United Nations, and other countries, even though defeated, can not be left out of the final decisions without storing up trouble for the future. In the second place all these Conferences are examples of planning from the top down, and if all that is implied by the term Democracy is to survive and prevail, we must have planning from the bottom up—the people themselves must have a hand in what is done. There are two distinct points of view in the world to day, and the question is which will take control of the immediate postwar period—those who believe in cen tralisation, planning from the top, and the subordination of the individual to the State, or those who believe in decentralisation and the. supreme importance of the individual, on whose welfare the real security of the community depend It is equally a question of whethe; national rights are to be subordinate to world planning and control or whether it is to be recognised tha the preservation oi} national inde pendence and culture is the onl> louudation on which human progress, unity and co-operation can be built/ " We still have warnings that all is not necessarily well when we hav-i won the war. In yesterday's newt: .tj'jK.ar statements I'rom Mr. Nasii I ti:i!. uuioiiia certain things are donn i here will be larger, longer and worau world wars, while an American Professor foreshadows widespread unemployment as serious ay the depression. Commonsense tells us that neither of these evils is unavoidable —that the productive resources of the world will be so great that poverty and economic distress can be abolished and freedom ant security established for all peoples. But these desirable results will no just materialise—they will only come about if there is determined action, originating in the people themselves. That isf "also the only safeguard against a planned "New Order" imposed from some central source, which is only a form of totalitarianism." "World leaders are naturally most concerned with international conditions and relations, and cannot be expected to give attention to the in-; ternal problems and needs of individual countries, especially small countries, whose people must look after themselves. The fact that Mr. Nash and others are taking part in international negotiations does not relieve the people of New Zealand from the responsibility of making their own decisions at home. International arrangements need not in terfere with domestic standards. Not only are those standards our first responsibility to the members of the 2nd N.Z.E.F., and their dependents, they are also the foundation or which we can make the greatest con , trlbution to the welfare of othei peoples. Itsas wrong to suppose tha 4 such standards must be sacrificed fothe alleged benefit of other countries. On such a basis there cannot be harmony." Referring to the World Monetary Conference, and the statement issued last week by Mr. Sullivan, the Acting Prime Minister, the speaker said it was a pity the Government had delayed nearly two months befor. I making any explanatory statement on the initial Conference whose decisions were published on April 2:. as an "agreement hetween represen jtatives of 34 United and Associatel !Nations." Tt had befMi lak'ii lot

ji:rnnfod f 11; i ( t!io,->c roil n i i'it's. iiu'lilti iiur Xi'\v /'calami, had fm■«■ 11 ul)i<i;il'y I I'cpi'c.-voiilcd. N'ow wc wci'r inlnnii ied that Mr. Nash v.-as not i»r<•«.•!) I jwith' no indication of the nature of J New Zealand's representation, or |what authority or instructions h;i-.' 'been given to it.. It could not. b® (denied that the initial Conference:; I had some standing, and its decision? j would carry considcrnliV' h-m-vli iwlT>n thn nflifin! Oou iVt '])• 1,1 in Tilly ' ' 'fin- If) I'UijjliA liiiiil ! fur .iniomationnl f.nnnce wn? a 'great shock to those who ihouph! we had learnt a lesson from fh< periences of the last twenty-fiv<-years," said Mr. Hogan. Although it is now claimed that this cannot be compared with the use of Gold aw a standard governing the issue of internal currency, it means that a great deal of power and control wil still be vested In those interests whr command the resources of gold, which could well be left right out of the picture. It is all the more remarkable to find Mr. Sullivan, in his statement, justifying and supporting the use of Gold as a basis, although this was described in the original re-\ ports as a "clear-cut American vic-j tory over the British proposals." It

is vital that the power of international finance, which knows no country and is not concerned with human values, should be finally eliminated." The following resolution w;as unanimously carried by the meeting: "That this public meeting, believing that successful reconstruction and rehabilitation will only be possible if New Zealand is free to carry out a monetary policy based on her own resources and without accumulating debt, requests that New Zealand's representatives at the forthcoming world monetary conferences should adhere to this view, and in particular should object to the use of gold as a basis for international financial arrangements, which we consider unnecessary and dangerous."