DEFIANT GESTURE

Southland Times, Issue 21362, 7 April 1931, Page 7

DEFIANT GESTURE

MR LANG’S DEFAULT INTERESTING AMERICAN THEORY COMMONWEALTH’S BURDEN (United Press Assn.—By Telegraph Copyright.) (Rec. 8.45 p.m.) New York, April 5. The New York Times, in a leading article headed “Australia Thinks Twice,” states: “In the strained domestic situation between the Commonwealth and New South Wales, it is strongly suspected that the latter is not so savage as might appear. One may conjecture that the militant Mr Lang is pleased at heart that there is a Mr Scullin to permit him the luxury of a great gesture of defiance without incurring the risk of untoward consequences. Would New South Wales actually have ventured to refuse io pay interest on her bonds in the hands of British owners if it did not know the Commonwealth would assume the repudiated obligations? Beyond that Mr Lang must have known, as it now appears, that the central Government has means of reimbursing itself. "Actually it may be said of the present situation in Australia that compared with the outlook a few months ago it is distinctly reassuring. Outweighing the gesture of one State in dishonouring its obligations is the decisive manner in which the Federal Government has spoken out and acted. On the other side to-day there is no question where Mr Scullin stands.” SHOCK TO SECURITY HOLDERS. (Rec. 8.30 p.m.) London, April 5. The financial editor of the Morning Post says that a great shock" has been given to holders of trustee securities by Mr Lang’s repudiation, and it is scarcely surprising that the general question of responsibility incurred by overseas governments under the Colonial Stock Act should be raised. The Morning Post quotes a correspondent who asks, apropos of Mr Lang’s action, what guarantee there is that a similar crisis will not arise in the future. The correspondent says it is manifestly impossible for the British Government to permit a person of such financial influence as Mr Lang, by virtue of his office, to cause widespread ruin to beneficiaries in what are often small estates.