THE ECONOMIC ARM.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LX, Issue 301, 19 November 1940, Page 8

THE ECONOMIC ARM.

BRITAIN’S REALISTIC VIEW. LONDON, Nov. 16. The City has interpreted the statements on trade policy by the President of the Board or Trade (Captain O. Lyttelton) and the economic adviser (Lord Stamp) as foreshadowing a concerted Empire effort to curtail the production of goods which do not contribute directly to the war effort. While there is no suggestion of pressure on the Dominions to change their import policy, it is believed that the United Kingdom will influence the nature of intra-Empire trade through the allocation of raw materials. It isj stated that one financial effect will be a further accumulation of the Dominions’ balances in London—in other j words, additional Dominions’ credits for the United Kingdom. A secondary effect may be a diversion of interest from the equities of Dominion companies producing unessential goods. Captain Lyttelton, in a broadcast, said: “After nine months of war the Board of Trade enforced the first restriction on the sale of a great number of personal household things. This has not been enough, and therefore the Board o.i Trade has now announced more severe restrictions.

“In the last war one munitions worker supplied two fighting men with weapons and equipment; now, because of the development of the air arm, the greater fire power and mobility required by the modern Army, and the vast number of auxiliary craft required at sea, it takes two workers to supply two fighting men. That is why we must tighten our belts. “I want your view to be realistic and not alarmist. In spite of the restrictions we are providing more than double the German standard of comfort.”