THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. THURSDAY, DECEMBER 22, 1932. CURRENCY AND PRICES.

Wairarapa Age, 22 December 1932, Page 4

THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. THURSDAY, DECEMBER 22, 1932. CURRENCY AND PRICES.

Much that was said by President Hoover in his latest message to Congress will intensify regret that he is on the point of leaving office. His observations, particularly on the subject of currency and prices, reveal him, as the London “Daily Telegraph" has said “completely cured of the delusion that his country is able to stand on its own feet, in happy detachment from the troubles of the rest of the world.” Unfortunately, there is no assurance that either Mr. Franklin Roosevelt, who is to take office as President in a little over two months, or his Democratic supporters in Congress, have undergone the same cure. Nothing better could be desired, in the interests of the world at large as well as very definitely in the interests of the United States, than that Mr. Hoover’s expressed views on the calamitous fall in world prices should be adopted as the basis of American policy. The note the occasion demands is struck in his statement:— I concur in the conclusions of many thoughtful persons that one of the first and most fundamental points of attack is to re-establish the stability of currencies and foreign

exchanges and thereby release an indefinite number of barriers against the movement of commodities throughout the world. A dependable measure of value undoubtedly is needed to restore world trade to activity and even to enable men to work and trade confidently within the borders of their own countries. Some reservations may be applied, however, to Mr. Hoover’s further assertion: “The gold standard is still •the only practicable basis of international settlements and monetary stability, so far as the more advanced industrial nations are concerned.” Britain at present is preferring to a gold standard currency a managed currency. Though this necessarily is subject to fluctuations, it seems quite likely that a considerable period may elapse before Britain brings her currency into even a fixed relationship with gold. It seems most improbable that she will over return to her former gold standard. The point now sought is not one at which the pound sterling would return to parity with gold, but only one at which the pound sterling would be established and maintained at a value at which it would exchange for a set number of dollars, francs or other units of foreign currency based on gold. A return to -the gold standard in this sense no doubt is desirable and may not hinder the adoption of methods of management directed to maintaining price stability. Much might be hoped from the coming World Conference if the American repre sentatives attending it took as openminded a view of these questions as Mr. Hoover has taken. It is the attitude of Mr. Franklin Roosevelt and the Democratic Congress, however, that will count in the immediate future. ADULT EDUCATION. It is good news that in spite of financial and other difficulties, the lectures and study courses of the Workers’ Educational Association are to be continued next year in this district. On the whole, the W.E.A. has been well supported in Masterton and elsewhere in the Wairarapa and has succeeded in reaching large numbers of people of a Studious and inquiring turn of mind. Most of its lecture courses have been well attended and the organisation of study groups and of play reading is developing with promise. Not only the continuation, but the greatest possible

extension of these activities undoubtedly is desirable from the standpoint of the welfare both of the individual and the community. To all who are intent on enlarging their knowledge and broadening their mental grasp and outlook, the various facilities offered by the association for study and the exchange of ideas are of the utmost value. As they develop, these facilities come steadily nearer to conferring the advantages of informal attendance at a university. Making remarkably effective use of limited means, the association is doing p great deal to promote a spread and exchange of ideas which must contribute notably to the development of the intelligent and informed public opinion that is so much to be desired at any time and most of all in days of stress and difficulty like those through which we are now passing. It may b? hoped that the very short financial commons on which the association is meantime placed will be augmented before long, and, incidentally, that the withdrawal of the grant formerly made by the Trust Lands Trust in Masterton is only a temporary deprivation. In any case, all who are in a position to benefit by the educational help the association offers Should join its membership, which may be done on the very lightest terms. Others, whose need of help is less, should feel it none the less incumbent on them to rally to the support of an organisation which is doing so much to assist and ensure an open-minded appreciation and treatment of social problems. While its aims are always broadly educational, the association is moving with the times in such matters as the arrangement of broadcast lectures and measures to make material for study available to dwellers in the baekblocks. It may or may not be true that we are witnessing a race between educa-

tion and disaster for the human race. In any case, the extension of adult education is an enterprise greatly needed and splendidly worth while. On its well-established merits, the work of the W.E.A. should gain increased support in this district when active operations are resumed next year.