CO-OPERATION OF ALLIES

Southland Times, Issue 24054, 19 February 1940, Page 5

CO-OPERATION OF ALLIES

Difficulties To Be Overcome

PLAN FOR EXPORT TRADE

(British Official Wireless) RUGBY, February 16. The Board of Trade announces that Britain and France have agreed that effect should be given to the conclusions recently reached by the President of the Board (Sir Andrew Rae Duncan) and the French Minister of Commerce (M. Fernand Gentin), with a view to promoting favourable development of British and French trade.

The understanding reached involves, as regards the mutual trade of the two countries, considerable relaxation of the measures of prohibition and restriction which each was obliged to impose at the outbreak of war.’

Tire arrangements now agreed upon follow logically from the provisions of the financial agreement of December 4. Substantial progress also has been made in the recent exchanges of views towards a realization of the same object in relation to other parts of the British and French Empires. At the same time, competent authorities of the two countries agreed on steps to simplify to the greatest possible extent the present formalities relating particularly to the control of external trade and the movement of private persons and to postal, telegraphic and telephonic communications.

Finally, the two Governments jointly examined means for overcoming the difficulties standing in the way of parallel development of their export trade. In this connection, they approved the forthcoming discussions in London between the Federation of British Industries and the corresponding French federation which are designed to facilitate contacts between the corresponding exporting industries of the two countries.

These discussions and their results as a whole serve to emphasize the desire for a full and close collaboration such as will not only contribute to their strength in the present circumstances but also form a potent factor in post-war economic reconstruction. PRACTICAL CO-OPERATION Franco-British trade is discussed in The Economist, which regards the rapid growth of practical co-operation between the two nations as an outstanding good that has come out of the war. During the past five months, it says, one fact after another of the economic war has come up for joint discussion and decision. Supply programmes have been concerted, purchases merged, and foreign resources pooled. A very far-reaching financial agreement has been achieved and the broader aspects of wage and price policy have been discussed by the Supreme Council and by representatives of the trade unions of both countries.

The Economist says that, granted a general desire on both sides of the Channel to increase the volume of trade between the two countries, there would seem to be two tasks to face—the short-period task of meeting the changed circumstances of war time and the more extended problem of securing a permanent increase to the level of trade more worthy of close Allies and friends.

After noting that, with a few exceptions, there is little competition between British and French trade in neutral countries, The Economist proceeds: “This comparative lack of competition is the best reason for hoping that the closer economic collaboration begun in war time may be extended in peace time. Though it would be an exaggeration to say the two economies are the complement of each other, at least they do not clash, and the restriction of trade in the past decade has not been due to any specific campaign by Britain against French goods, or by France against British goods, but merely from the general protectionist practices of the two countries against foreign imports in general.” After expressing the hope that these protectionist ifripulses would disappear after the war, The Economist suggests that the most effective way to extend French-British trade would be by exempting it from main current protection, as imperial trade in both countries has been exempted. DREAM OFNAZI ARMY LEADERS (British Official Wireless) RUGBY, February 16. Obstacles in the way of effective Russian-German co-operation are discussed in The Times, which remarks that the organization of Russian resources by Prussian efficiency is “a dream which always has been attractive to the German Army leaders, but is likely to remain a dream, for, to the great mass of the Russians, there is nothing more antipathetic than precise, soulless efficiency. “The dream could only be given shape through the complete, prolonged domination of Russia by German organizers and the experience of Peter the Great and the succeeding rulers show how difficult this would be. Any attempt to establish it would more likely provoke a quarrel than facilitate co-operation. The Russians know the Germans look down on them as an inferior race—valuable only for cannon fodder and other materials to serve German ends.”