NEW ERA OPENED

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22544, 8 October 1936, Page 11

NEW ERA OPENED

WORLD PBOSPEKITY CHANCELLOR OPTIMISTIC HARMFUL NATIONALISM By Telegraph—Press Association —Copyright (Received October 7, 6.45 p.m.) LONDON, Oct. 7 The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Mr. Neville Chamberlain, at a bankers' dinner, expressed the hope that a new era in world trade and prosperity would follow the removal of quotas and exchange control. Such a development should be the next step to the devaluation of the gold bloc currencies. Sterling would remain free, but in the end they would come back to an international monetary standard on the only basis which would give general confidence, namely, a system on the free exchange of gold. Expenditure on rearmament had not gone far enough to affect Britain's trade revival, although it had upset the Estimates. But even without this impetus the country's trade continued to expand. l - International trade also was showing signs of revival and progress was being helped by the growing realisation that economic nationalism could be carried to extravagant and harmful lengths.

MONETARY POLICY MR. ROOSEVELT'S POWER AN EXTENSION WANTED (Received October 7, 5.5.p.m.) WASHINGTON, Oct. 6 President Roosevelt to-day indicated at an interview with journalists that if he is re-elected he will ask Congress to extend his legal power to devalue the currency, which normally will expire on January 1, 1937. He said the primary purpose of America's currency policy was to protect domestic values. Therefore, emergency powers should be vested in the Government to prevent the destruction of domestic values through the unexpected action of other nations.

The inference drawn from Mr. Roosevelt's reference to emergency is that he is not contemplating further devaluation under the existing conditions.

GERMAN CURRENCY NERVOUSNESS DEVELOPS PRICES OF SHARES RISE BERLIN, Oct. 6 The prices of shares rose on the Berlin Bourse to-day owing to increasing nervousness as- to the future of the currency. Well-informed circles, however, believe that devaluation is not imminent. The creation of an export i mark, which would operate exclusively abroad for purchase of German goods, is considered to be more likely. The Italian Bourses are to be reopened to-morrow. TREASURY WINDFALL INCREASED VALUE OF GOLD PROFIT OF £160,000,000 LONDON, Oct. 1 One direct consequence., of the devaluation of the French franc is that the Bank of England is in a position to present the Treasury with profits on gold exceeding £160,000.000. The Bank of England holds as backing for the note issue gold to the declared amount of £247,600,000 valued not at the current price, £7 0s 7d an ounce, but at £4 ss, the price when Britain left the gold standard in 1931. Consequently, the value of Britain's gold now is actually £409,998,000. The bank and the Treasury agreed when Britain went off gold that the bank's gold should not be written up to the market value — done in the United States when the dollar was devalued —until an agreement concerning international exchanges had been reached.