The Daily News THURSDAY, JULY 23, 1931. A MOMENTOUS MEETING.

Taranaki Daily News, 23 July 1931, Page 4

The Daily News THURSDAY, JULY 23, 1931. A MOMENTOUS MEETING.

It is not easy to visualise the task confronting the seven Powers whose representatives are taking part in the conference now sitting in London. They must try to solve problems of almost unprecedented magnitude and to take decisions which must have extremely far-reaching effects. The conditions demanding their consideration arc far more serious than those the Powers have had to meet on any previous occasion when they have discussed reparations and war debts. A world crisis has been brought to a head by the condition into which Germany has been forced by certain circumstances, over which she has no control. Germany is unable to pay reparations, and that in itself has created an altogether abnormal state of affairs in that country. European confidence has been seriously shaken, and there has been a flight of capital from Germany calling for drastic measures. It can be said that Germany has done her best from the commercial standpoint to keep her affairs in order. In the words recently used by the London Times, the conditions in that country “are far sounder to-day than those which obtained at the time of inflation. Industries, though depressed, like the industries of other countries, are on a sounder basis, the balance ot trade is favourable, and, thanks to the courageous policy of Dr.Bruening, the budget of the Reich is in balance.’’ This is a fair summary of the position of Germany at the present moment, and obviously it is far from a hopeless position. What she needs urgently is a very large loan, probably £lOO,000,000, and all the interested nations, especially Great Britain and the United States, are willing to <lo their share in finding it. France, the other great creditor country, is willing to participate in the loan, and, as the Times has said, the only obstacle is the political intransigeance of the French Government, which is responsible for the present crisis and the expansion of its scope. The intrusion of politics into what is actually a grave economic problem is to be regretted, for, though the French outlook must command sympathy from those who know what the war cost the French people, the political demands which France has put forward seem to be based rather on suspicion and mistrust than on fact. She wants Germany to denounce the proposed Customs union with Austria and to postpone the building of another “pocket battleship.” But Germany has already submitted the union proposal to the international tribunal at the Hague, which is surely all that anyone is entitled to ask. Her navy is almost non-existent, while France possesses almost as large a navy as Britain’s, and Germany is quite incapable of venturing anything in the nature of a hostile demonstration against such a force. On land the disparity, between the two countries is still more marked. France, the greatest military nation in Europe to-day, has about 600,000 men under arms, and Germany, unless she has been contriving to build up forces secretly, is limited by the peace treaty to an establishment of 100,000 men, or barely enough to police her territory.- Moreover, bTancc now has an additional safeguard in her treaty with Poland. France's fears are so needless that they hold up the rest of the world, for the crisis. is one affecting the whole world, which cannot afford the loss of trade that would result if Germany were allowed to sink. One of the reasons why the world lacks trade is that Russia, China and certain Eastern countries are not pulling their weight, and therefore Germany’s trade is the more valuable. Even New Zealand is seriously concerned, for Germany is a buyer of crossbred wool, and in the past her purchases from New Zealand have been very helpful. It is still more to the advantage of other countries that Germany should be in a sound economic position, able to buy the commodities of other nations and to sell to them in return. There are therefore the strongest reasons why the representatives of the Powers should devise a practical plan to succour Germany. To allow her to fail just now would be to crush the world with such a crisis that even France would not escape. Already the Bank of International Settlements has given aid and towards the end of last week Britain and the United States together afforded temporary assistance, £2,000,000 in gold being sent from England by aeroplane. If the leading statesmen now meeting in London can see their way to act in similar fashion and reach a settlement, as seems almost asured, they will begin the conquest of the world-wide depression. The nations are facing realities, and everything depends upon their realisation of the urgent need for co-operation. Joint action in the right direction would give the whole world greater cause for confidence than it has had any time in the past eighteen months, and confidence is the first essential factor in the reconstruction of the world’s economic welfare.

THE COAL DEADLOCK ENDED. The decision of the wharf workers at Westport to handle coal drawn from mines working on the tribute system was wise. Their refusal to do so was a direct challenge to constituted authority, and so long as this continued there was no way open to- discussions of any matters in respect of. wliicn inquiry might remove difficulties. If workers on the waterfront were to deckle what cargo should or should not be handled there be an end to confidence, and the position would be as absurd as it would be mischievous. It has taken the watersiders at Westport five weeks to realise that this country will not be browbeaten by any section of the community, and the pity of it is that their dependents have suffered hardship which was quite unnecessary. The origin of the watersiders’ foolishness was to support the Miners’ Union in its objection to the introduction of the tribute system to certain mines, the union seeing in this action a move to “speed up” work in the pits. Under the tribute system the miners’ earnings depend entirely t upon the output achieved, and in this very fact lies the attraction of the system for certain men who do not care to have their services appraised at the dead level of in Arbitration' Court award. The objection to the sound reasoning that a man should be paid, according to his output by union “bosses” can be understood. The man with better capacity learns how much it has cost him in earnings to keep to union rules and. practices, and he is the less inclined to accept the union leaders’ views as the last word in industrial organisation. But for an outside body of men, especially one engaged in -maintaining a transport service that must be open to the whole community, to hold up public facilities in order to support another union of workers was reprehensible from every point of view, including the interests of the wharf workers themselves. With nearly 50,000 men unemployed through no fault of their own, the Dominion can have little sympathy to spare for those who deliberately refrain from performing well paid work when it is available. This lesson has been learnt at Westport, and it is to be hoped will be remembered by other labour organisations which may be inclined to challenge authority.