The Timaru Herald. MONDAY, JUNE 12, 1933. ALL EYES ON LONDON.

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXXVII, Issue 19513, 12 June 1933, Page 6

The Timaru Herald. MONDAY, JUNE 12, 1933. ALL EYES ON LONDON.

To-day the eyes of the civilised world will be turned towards London, when the AVorld Economic Conference will be attended by representatives of the nations who will be dominated, it is fervently hoped, by the desire to find effective and enduring remedies for present difficulties and for the unemployment which weighs so heavily on the whole world. The main questions for the Conference as set out in the Lausanne resolution of July 15, 1932, were as follow: (a) Financial questions: Monetary and credit policy; Exchange difficulties; The level of prices; The movement of capital. (b) Economic questions: Independent conditions of production, and trade interchanges, with particular attention to: Tariff policy; Prohibitions and restrictions of importation and exportation, quotas and other barriers to trade; Producers’ agreements.

Taking a broad view of the problems confronting the peoples of the world, the preparatory committee of experts associated with the League of Nations, in drafting an annotated agenda for the World Economic Conference, emphasised from the outset that success would depend upon the recognition of the close interconnection between the various elements of the world problem. “It will not, in our judgment,” declared the experts, “be possible to make substantial progress by piecemeal measures. A policy of ‘ nibbling* ’ will not solve this crisis.” It is generally recognised that the Governments of the world must make up their minds to achieve a broad solution by concerted action along the whole front. Obviously, action in the field of economic x’elations depends largely upon monetary and financial action, and vice versa. Moreover, concerted measures in both fields are essential if progress is to be made in either.” Briefly stated, the issues to go before the Conference are: (a) In the field of monetary and credit policy, the objective of the conference must be the restoration of an effective international monetary standard to which the countries which have abandoned the gold standard can wisely and confidently adhere. (b) The unprecedented fall of commodity prices in recent years has caused a growing disequilibrium between costs and prices; has immensely increased the real burden of all debts and fixed charges, has made business more and more unprofitable, and has resulted in a continuous and disastrous increase in unemployment throughout the world. (c) The abolition of exchange restrictions is an essential condition of world recovery. (d) Finally, there must be greater freedom of international trade. It is manifestly plain that partial remedies in the field to be explored will not be successful. What is needed is a comprehensive programme of world reconstruction, and this should be carried through as rapidly as possible, so as to strengthen the forces which are now working towards recovery. In stressing the necessity of concerted action, the preliminary investigating experts did not suggest that nothing could be accomplished before the Conference meets. It has been repeatedly pointed out, on the contrary, that success will depend in a great measure upon the vigour with which the participating Governments enteredupon preliminary negotiations before the Conference opens. The prospects of substantial all-round success in the necessarily complex and multilateral Conference discussions will be greatly enhanced if, in the intervening months, preliminary negotiations have cleared the way for reciprocal concessions. It would be dangerous, of course, if an impression lias gained ground that any programme will deliver the world at a stroke from the difficulties under which it is now labouring. If the Governments represented at the Conference are prepared to undertake enlightened and progressive economic and financial policies, and also settle political differences which lie outside the scope of the Conference, it may be confidently predicted, as the experts of Geneva declared some months ago in making the preliminary investigations, that such a large measure of confidence can be restored that will herald the dawn of better days for the people of the world. THE GOOD SAMARITANS OF TO-DAY.

Members and friends of one of the most valuable organisations which plays an important part in the life of the community, assembled on Saturday night to do honour to six worthy soldiers of St. John of Jerusalem, who have won the distinguished honour of wearing a long service medal for sympathetic and efficient service, over a period of twelve years. The high praise poured upon the Association by the Mayor and the Member for the District, is thoroughly deserved; indeed, it would be

impossible to praise too highly the splendid work of superintendent, officers and members of St. John Ambulance Association. The marks of honour conferred upon the long service men symbolise, in a most eloquent fashion, the conscientious and continuous service the Association performs in the community; a vital part played without ostentation and without monetary reward. The recipients of the long service medals are therefore entitled to the best thanks of the community for their long and valuable service in a good Samaritan cause. Although the organisation can trace its history back to the days of the foundation of Jerusalem during the first Crusade, with its increasing activities through those selfsacrificing hospitallers, up to the time of its expulsion from the Holy Land after the fall of the Latin kingdom in 1291, the St. John Ambulance Association in New Zealand really dates its history from the year 1878 when the British Ambulance Association of St. John of Jerusalem was founded. No enlightened community, however, is complete without the highly developed services that are designed to play the part of the good Samaritan in our midst. The object of the Association is not only to render first aid to persons injured in accidents on the road, railway, or in any of the occupations of civil life, but to provide a course of training highly beneficial to the individual and the community. The Association with which the New Zealand organisation is affiliated, has a long and distinguished record of community service to its credit. As the result of the initiative taken by the St. John Ambulance Association in the Homeland, Ambulance Corps have been formed in all parts of the Empire; and police, railway servants and workmen have been instructed how to render first aid. This wonderful work has been so widely expanded that there is no doubt that many lives are saved annually by the knowledge diffused by the instruction provided by the Association. It is interesting to recall, however, one incident in the ceuturies-long struggle of the Order of St. John to survive the hostilities of less enlightened periods. One of the founders of the Order, a certain noble-minded servant of the people, named Gerard, is the personality who now figures in the legend, which reveals that he joined the defenders on the walls during the storming of the Holy City, and instead of hurling stones, hurled bread at the Christians, who were short of supplies. Haled before the Mussulman governor, he was acquitted, because his accusers were confounded when the incriminating loaves they produced were discovered to be turned into stones! This legend is allegorical of the work of the present-day Knights of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem. It is this work of serving the community by succoring the sick and providing aid to the injured that has placed the community under a deep debt of gratitude to all associated with the first aid and ambulance work —a debt, which, by the way, was acknowledged on Saturday when a large assemblage of members and friends of St. John Ambulance Association gathered to do honour to those members who have been chosen by the parent body in England as worthy of the coveted distinction that was conferred upon them.