WORLD ECONOMICS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20087, 2 May 1927, Page 9

WORLD ECONOMICS

THE GENEVA CONFERENCE. AN EVENT OF FIRST IMPORTANCE. A**ocl«tton —By Telegraph—Oopyrijjht.) LONDON, April 30. (Received May 1, at 5.5 p.m.) M. Litvinoff has telegraphed to Sir Eric Drummond that the Soviet will be represented at the Economic Conference at Geneva. The Russian delegation would consist of 18 persons. The Observer, in an editorial, describes the conference as a grand inquest racking in importance before any other work which the League has attempted. It says that some see the League as a just and miltant organism; but a truer version is that it is humbler, safer, and more serviceable. Economics are not the whole of life, and man is more than a breadwinner; but economic ignorance is chief amongst the barriers to a rationally-con-stituted world. Europe is suffering from disorganisation. It is the mishandling and misdirection of her productive power that principally obstruct prosperity and depresses the standard of living, and threatens industrial and international peace.—A. and N.Z. Cable.

EXPERTS EXPLORE THE GROUND,

MAIN LINES OF DISCUSSION. LONDON, May 1. (Received May 1, at 11.30 p.m-) A vast amount of preparatory work has already been done by experts, who have explored the ground in such a way as to direct the conference mainly to two classes of questions—first, commercial and tariff, policy, and, secondly, international industrial agreements. It is held that these go to the root of the world’s economic difficulties. It is expected that the subject of migration will also be prominent. It must be borne in mind that the delegates, though appointed by Governments and chosen for their personal qualifications in various subjects, are not in any way spokesmen of the official policy. The British delegates are Sir Arthur Balfour, Sir A. Norman Hill, Sir Maxmus Pratt, Mr W. T. Layton, and Mr Arthur Pugh.—A. and N.Z. Cable. EUROPE’S TARIFF BARRIERS. TRADE DEPRESSION AGGRAVATED. PARIS, April 30. (Received May 1, at 6-5 p.m.) M. Roger Auboin, a leading publicist, points out in L’Europe Nouvelle, that the trend of the commercial development of the present nations bordering on the Eastern Atlantic to the Pacific is due to the use by those countries of their capital and man-power to treat and export their own raw material. Thus the cotton industry has greatly progressed in India, China, Brazil, and Mexico, and the metallurgical industry in Asia, Australia, and New Zealand. The depression of the European currencieSj the employment of hydro-electric power, and liquid combustibles, and the substitution of artificial silk for cotton have altered the economic conditions. The Governments, in seeking remedies, have resorted to excessive protection, and this has only aggravated the evils.—A. and N.Z. Cable.