ARGENTINA’S CLAIMS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 27196, 27 September 1949, Page 5

ARGENTINA’S CLAIMS

Increased Meat Price After Devaluation CLAUSE IN RECENT AGREEMENT s!ew Zealand Press Association—Copyright Rec. 8 p.m. t ' LONDON, Sept. 26. An official British statement upon Argentine claims for an increase in the price of meat as a result of devaluation is still awaited, but it is now admitted in London that a financial clause was inserted in the recent Anglo-Argentine trade agreement which gives the Argentine Government some backing for its claims. This clause provides that, in the event of devaluation of the £ against the dollar, the British Government will make up the difference between the old and the new rates on any sterling accumulated by the Argentine or to be received by it over the ensuing four months.

It is understood that Argentine sterling balances with the Bank of England at present • amount to about £25,000,000. Unless the Argentine devalues the peso—which would necessitate the negotiation of new meat prices at the end of four months—the Argentine Government may feel itself entitled to write up the value of these balances, plus any amounts due for meat during the next four months, by 42 per cent., which is the difference between the new and the old value of sterling in terms of the Argentine peso.

Britain is at present paying about 10Jd a lb for Argentine beef but if this is written up by 42 per cent., the price will be in the vicinity of 15d a lb.

British financial circles consider there is some possibility that the Argentine may be forced to devalue the peso and so provide the opportunity for the negotiation of completely new prices. It is reported in London, for instance, that the Argentine Government is endeavouring to negotiate a loan for £60.000,000 from Britain to enable it to meet its sterling commitments. Debate Opens To-day Socialist members of Parliament have received a three-line whip for each of the three days of the special sitting of Parliament which opens on Tuesday, says the Daily Express. It is usual to issue this, the most urgent summons, only for the day on which a- division is expected. The triple whip is regarded as a sign of Cabinet's nervousness over the debate on the devaluation of sterling. The demand for a full attendance is presumably, a precaution against a “ snap ” division. This • could be brought about by a sudden end of the debate when the motion under discussion would automatically have to be put to the vote by the Speaker. Cotton Price Increases

The stability in American raw cotton prices after a record run of 19 weeks without a change has been abruptly ended by the devaluation of the £. The Raw Cotton Commission to-day authorised increases from to-morrow ranging from gd to 3d a lb. This will cause shirts, sheets, dresses and curtaining to be dearer in shops early next year. Sales of tin, wljich were suspended after the announcement of the devaluation of sterling, will be resumed by the Ministry of Supply to-morrow. The price of Straits tin for sale in the United States will be reduced from 103 cents to 95 cents a lb, c.i.f., New York. The price to other customers will be the equivalent price in sterling —namely, £739 a ton ex smelter. The Ministry of Supply price for standard domestic and export tin will be £750 a ton.

The ne\v r price of tin in Britain may affect a large range of commodities in which tin and tinplate are used, notably canned foods. Sir Robert Barlow, chairman of several metal companies, said: “This is one of the unforeseen implications of devaluation. It is an amazing thing to me that it should be necessary to increase, the price to your sterling buyer and at the same time decrease it to your dollar buyer. It is another indication .that the Government took this step Completely in the dark.” The Ministry of Supply announced tg-day that it intended to discontinue the bulk purchase of tin as soon as alternative arrangements could be made. Communist View of Devaluation

By devaluing the £ the British Government was trying to put across the biggest swindle in history, said the "general secretary of the Communist Party, Mr Harry Pollitt, speaking at Sheffield. He claimed that the Government was trying to persuade the nation that devaluation was the only way to solve Britain’s economic problems.

This, he said, was untrue. Devaluation was the signal for fierce cutthroat competition for the limited markets of the capitalist world. “ Sir Stafford Cripps’s claim that sacrifices would be shared equally was blown to smithereens last Monday by the disgraceful exhibition outside the Stock Exchange, when £150,000,000 was raked in in a few hours by speculators,” Mr Pollitt said. When Parliament meets this week it should be bombarded by workers’ demands for a policy that ■would protect living standards and prevent mass unemployment, he went on. Mass unionists should demand higher wages. Go-slow moves and official and unofficial strikes should receive every support.