ELECTRIC ATMOSPHERE

Manawatu Standard, Volume LIII, Issue 167, 14 June 1933, Page 7

ELECTRIC ATMOSPHERE

W'AR DEBT NEGOTIATIONS GREAT EXCITEMENT PREVAILS ROOSEVELT STATEMENT AWAITED (United Press Association.—By Electric Telegraph.—Copyright.) Received June 14, 12.35 p.m. LONDON, June 13. The Sun says that the debt situation is changing hourly. It has provided Whitehall with 30 hours’ continuous tension, comparable with the wartime crisis. Three Cabinet meetings and several Cabinet sub-committeo meetings succeeded each other within 18 hours, Ministers and officials rushing to telephones and motoring between the Economic Conference and Downing Street. A mere handful are aware of President Roosevelt’s momentous decision, the details whereof Mr Neville Chamberlain is drafting into a statement in a locked room behind the Conference lobby.

SCENE IN THE COMMONS.

an indispensable guarantee of mone- , tary security.” I Signor Jung (Italy) stressed the j necessity of real stability of values and said it was useless to create illusive values. The stimulus of credit could j not be increased merely by increasing the supply of credit, j General Smuts (South Africa) emI pliasised the need for quick decisions. ! Viscount Ishii (Japan) said they had | burned their bridges behind them and failure would mean disaster. Japan desired conditions making possible a general restoration of the gold standard. M. Beck (Poland) considered that stabilisation of currency should be kept to the forefront. • No artificial measure could restore prices to where they were before the crisis. All efforts should bo directed towards the reconstructing of stability of international | relationships, he said. Senor Marino (Cuba) said: “If the Conference does not succeed in reducing the very high rate of tariffs existing in the world to-day it will have failed in its principal task.” Baron von Neurath (Germany) emphasised the desire of his country to collaborate in the spirit of the King’s opening address. He remarked that the interests of the creditor and debtor countries seemed to differ and the gold standard countries seemed to have other interests than the countries which had abandoned the gold standard, or which required exchange regulations for the protection of their currencies, but the Conference, in its overwhelming desire to acknowledge common interests, proved most strikingly that all those differences were only differences in appearance. Industry could not prosper if agriculture did not flourish. The creditor could not exist if the debtor perished, and vice versa. Gold currency became meaningless if the free circulation of gold was not guaranteed. They must find courage to carry through tho solutions while remembering that the success of the Conference was largely dependent upon the fulfilment of great political tasks. x Mr Neville Chamberlain will make an important statement putting forward the British proposals at to-mor-row’s sitting of the Economic Conference. Herr Dolfuss is. also expected to speak before returning to Vienna. LAPSE OF DEBATE. DEBT ATMOSPHERE INTRUDES. DEFINITE WORK ON FRIDAY. Received Juno 14, 12.30 p.m. LONDON, Juno 13. Although the afternoon session of tlie Economic Conference was timed to end at 6 o’clock, it lapsed an hour earlier, no speakers being available. A contributory reason was the all-day distraction of the fate of the AngloAmerican debt negotiations, which inevitably precipitated themselves into the atmosphere of tho Conference from which Mr Cordell Hull was an absentee. Many delegates preferred to go to the House of Commons to hear Mr Neville Chamberlain’s statement and it was not surprising when Air MacDonald announced that nobody was ready to continue the debate. It is an open secret that Air Hull is re-drafting his speech in the light of tho war debts negotiations, also the outspoken references thereto in most of the speeches. It is fairly certain that specific subjects will be referred to the commissions on Friday, when the real work' of the Conference will begin. General Smuts’s suggestion to leave economics wholly to the experts is not finding favour and the politicians assert that they have always, in the long run, to cut the knot to save the experts debating interminably. Viscount Ishii left no doubt that lower tariffs are an essential condition of Japan’s willing co-operation, a sentiment which disturbed tho .other manufacturing countries. ADDRESSES OF IMPORTANCE. Received June 14, 11.45 a.m. LONDON, June 13. Viscount Ishii advocated immediate temporary measures in connection with currency, credit, trade barriers and price levels. Japan was ready to consider obviation of exchange fluctuations pending the final return to gold. He advocated unrestricted application of the “most favoured nation” clause. Baron Von Neurath urged a clear understanding of Germany’s situation as a prelude to the selection of the proper remedies. International debts could only be paid in goods services after the credit and financial problems were satisfactorily settled through peaceful co-operation. Herr Hitler’s declaration had paved the way to a return of confidence and Germany’s acceptance of Air AlacDonald’s plan, as the basis for the 'convention, gave disarmament a new impulse. The spirit inspiring these actions would characterise Germany’s approach to the world’s financial and economic problems. The Conference has adjourned. CANADA’S POSITION. SILVER AND STABILISATION. POINTS FOR SETTLEAIENT. Received June 14, 9.0 a.m. LONDON, June 13. Air R. B. Bennett, Premier of Canada, told journalists that the World and Ottawa Conferences were not related, except in that the “latter reached agreements, and let us hope we shall agree here.” The important questions for the Conference were the use of silver as an alternative to gold, and stabilisation. Failing stabilisation, it became almost impossible to transact international business. Canada bad come here in her own interests. “As far as we are concerned there is no common plan. It is impossible for any statesman to speak on behalf of the whole Empire,” said Mr Bennett.

Tlie House of Commons was packed and everyone was awaiting Mr Chamberlain’s deliverance, announced for 5.50 in the afternoon. The entire Cabinet, excepting Mr Ramsay MacDonald and Mr Chamberlain, were on the front bench until 5.45, when Mr Baldwin, Mr Walter Runciman, and Mr J. H. Thomas were suddenly called behind the Speaker’s Chair. Tho atmosphere became electric as it was realised that a hitch bad occurred. It is believed that President Roosevelt suddenly, changed his .mind and desired to avoid the necessity of immediately facing Congress. He therefore wished to postpone his statement to June 15. The full Cabinet met hurriedly. The Ministers arc in a quandary, more especially since President Roosevelt’s original decision caused such a relief. The news is now common property and it is impossible to withhold the statement, much of the magnitude of which is no longer a Cabinet secret. The Ministers sat for a few minutes, after which tlie Atlantic telephone cables were again buzzing to urge the desirability of an immediate statement. It was then announced that Mr Chamlierlain would speak at 10 o’clock to-night. Mr Chamberlain appeared at 10.10 and further startled the House by announcing that the details could not yet be disclosed. The Sun Service learned that Cabinet’s decision to postpone the statement until Juno 14 was due to Mr Roosevelt’s desire to immediately follow his announcement in America with a personal broadcast throughout the continent, thus appealing to the populace over the heads of Congress. it is understood that he will reiterate, as in his despatch to Britain, consistent support of a practical debt settlement. He will propose, as part of the Anglo-American understanding, immediate negotiations, possibly in Loudon, in order to secure a final and equitable discharge of the debts. SPECIAL CABINET MEETING. ~. .THE JUNE PAYMENT. THE TOKEN ISSUE. LONDON, June 13. Information which readied the Prime Minister, Mr Ramsay MacDonald, during the progress or the Government dinner at tho Grosvenor House Hotel to tlie 60U delegates to the World Economic Conference, decided him to call a special Cabinet meeting immediately alter wards. It is understood that the receipt of a dispatch from the British Ambassador at 'Washington regarding war debts occasioned the decision. The Daily Telegraph says that Cabinet lias considered the dispatch from the Ambassador at Washington, which indicates that President Roosevelt is unable to signify general acceptance of a token' payment. Earlier Cabinet had definitely agreed that Britain cannot pay the full instalment while receiving nothing from her debtors. The purpose of the second Cabinet meeting was to decide terms, and not for expressing the intentions of the Government. Tlie Times says that some leading Ministers favour complete suspension of the June payment if a token payment is not accepted. The Telegraph’s diplomatic correspondent says that All' MacDonald s raising the debt issue in bis speech at tho Conference caused surprise and even some resentment among the American delegation, but his initiative was approved by other circles. 'file political correspondent of the News-Chronicle says Cabinet will default if President Roosevelt refuses a token payment. The leader of tlie American delegation, Air Cordell Hull, postponed his speech at tho Conference as a result of Washington dispatches. AAIERIOA’S ATTITUDE. NO OFFICIAL INDICATION. LEGALITY OF PARTIAL PAYAIENT. WASHINGTON, June 12. Although officially silent as to the war debts' issue placed before the World Economic Conference, the Roosevelt Administration to-night was represented as awaiting a formal British debt proposal, which is reported to be an offer to pay portion of the instalment due on Thursday. Accompanying the offer is expected to be a request for an extensive downward revision of the debts. Meanwhile speculation lias been increased as to the attitude of President Roosevelt toward accepting partial payment. It is known that the legality of such action has been given close study by the President and his advisers. Any request for extensive debt reduction is considered certain to arouse an immediate emphatic protest from members of Congress, whether they are still in session or not.

WORLD CONFERENCE.

VITAL DECISIONS NECESSARY. GENERAL VIEw"oF DELEGATES. (British Official Wireless.) Received June 14, 11 a.m. RUGBY, June 13. Several prominent delegates tok part in the preliminary general discussion at to-day’s session of the World Economic Conference. While different aspects were discussed by different speakers there was general recognition that an agreement had to be reached and ■ i+al decisions taken by the Conference unless the world situation is 'O deveiop into one of extreme and incalculable gravity. , M. Daladier (France) said: “We believe that it is first necessary to put an end to the war of money and its instability and give commercial exchange