WAR FINANCES

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXII, Issue 22259, 6 November 1935, Page 9

WAR FINANCES

ITALY'S POSITION NEED FOR READY MONEY FOREIGN CREDITS ABSENT The dreadful consequences of war finance and their possible effect on Italy were discussed recently by the city editor of the Times. Italy's finances, like those of every other country engaged in the Great War, he stated, were ruined to a considerable extent by it and they have not been improved since. The country was left with a huge dead weight of unproductive debt, and all claims expressed in terms of money were so enormously inflated that the currency became heavily depreciated, and Italy found it necessary to reduce permanently the gold value of the lira by nearly three-fourths of its pre-War value.

If Italy is now to embark upon a fresh war, much of the value of the reconstruction work under Signor Mussolini's administration is going to be lost, and still greater losses will be inflicted on the Italian investor. To-day, Italy has no credit abroad, and, unable to pay for the goods she has already bought in other countries, it is certainly quite impossible for her to borrow for purely destructive purposes, thereby merely increasing her external ■ bankruptcy. Hard cash will be, and is already j being, demanded from her for fresh j purchases. For this purpose Italy is | reported to have a gold reserve of about £85,000,000, but a substantial part of! this is held in Britain as security for ; Italy's unpaid debt from the Great I War, and is therefore unavailable. The I balance would not go far in a war that | might last not months, but years. The j major part of it could not be dissipated j in war finance without, destroying con- I fidence in/ and therefore the purchasing | power of, the currency. The statement .that no war was ever i stopped by lack of finance should be accepted with reserve. Finance is merely required to pay for goods and services, and if the supplies needed to wage wars are not forthcoming the wars must necessarily stop. The block- ! ade of Germany in the end caused privations of her people, which contributed largely to her ultimate breakdown. Germany depends to an exceptional extent upon foreign supplies of raw materials, such as cotton, wool, coal, oil and copper, all essential to war, and to no small extent, of foreign foodstuffs. This dependence on foreign sources has been reduced by Mussolini's programme of public works, but the major part still remains. Even supposing that Italian investors have so far forgotten the consequences of their experience in financing the Great War that they are willing to finance another one —and if they are not willing, compulsion may ba applied—it is certain that foreign investors will refuse to lend money to Italy for war purposes. PEDIGREE BEEF CATTLE RECENT IMPORTATIONS QUARANTINE PERIOD OVER The shipment of stud cattle from the United States, which has recently been in quarantine at Motuihi Island", was landed at Auckland yesterday. The cattle, 14 head, had thrived in quarantine, and landed in excellent condition. They are portion of a shipment of 28 imported for. various New Zealand breeders by Wright, Stephenson and Company, Limited, and were selected in the United States by Sir. O. E. Robertson. , Air. A. J. Tanner, an Australian authority on stud stock, who was in New Zealand recently, and judged and Aberdeen Angus cattle at the New Zealand Royal Show, visited the quarantine islands at Auckland and Wellington before returning to Australia. He expressed the opinion that the cattle in the shipment were of the modern type essential for breeding the plass. required for the chilled beef trade. He had no hesitation in saying that many of the cattle he saw would have won the highest honours had they been competing at the Royal Show. , QUOTATIONS JOR WHEAT LONDON AND LIVERPOOL ' t ' 7':' '■ LONDON, Nov. 4 Wheat.—Cargoes are firmer. Parcels are in small request and easier. Futures. —London: February, 25s 4d a quarter; April,. 25s 2Jd> Liverpool: December, 6s 2d a cental: March, 5s 10fd; May, 5s 9fd. V