The Wanganui Chronicle MONDAY, MAY 8, 1933. THE CONFERENCE INVITATION

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 76, Issue 106, 8 May 1933, Page 6

The Wanganui Chronicle MONDAY, MAY 8, 1933. THE CONFERENCE INVITATION

ZEALAND has received the expected invitation to the World Economic Conference, which will meet in London in about one month’s time. The invitation seems to be somewhat late in arriving, but it must be regarded purely as a matter of form. The Government could hardly have done otherwise than have anticipated receiving the formal request for Dominion representatives to be present.

The importance of the World Economic Conference to the Dominion of New Zealand cannot be exaggerated, because it touches the very breath of life to New Zealand, namely, international trade. International trade is not a simple problem, it is the most complicated of all the fields of endeavour which humanity is engaged in. Unless the opportunities for international trade for New Zealand are widened beyond what now obtains, then there can be no choice for New Zealand but to either reduce her standard of living or to reduce her total population. Anyone who can contemplate either alternative will view the World Economic Conference with a degree of indifference, but anyone who is desirous of seeing New Zealand people more numerous and more prosperous than they are to-day, must regard the Conference as of the most importance.

The present situation may be likened to a fire. The extent of the damage which that fire has already done can best be illustrated by citing the Draft Annotated Agenda submitted by the Preparatory Committee of Experts for the Monetary and Economic Conference:

“Before setting forth tho problems which require solution, we wish to call attention to the gravity of the situation with which the world is confronted. “Unemployment has recently been estimated by the International Labour Office as involving at least thirty million workers. Even this huge total, which does not include the workers’ families and other dependents, is probably an underestimate. The burden of suffering and demoralisation resulting from unemployment of such proportions is appalling. “ Wholesale commodity prices—expressed in gold—have declined since October, 1929, by roughly a third; raw material prices on an average by 50 or 60 per cent. In the middle of December, at Winnipeg, the price of wheat fell to the lowest level recorded in any primary market for wheat during the past four centuries. Such price declines have produced such profound disturbances in the economic system. They have thrown completely out of adjustment prevailing costs of the various factors of production, have made business enterprise generally unremunerative, and have seriously disorganised practically all the world markets. “World stocks of agricultural products and other raw materials continue to accumulate. The index for world stocks for 1932 was double that of 1925. Huge accumulations thus overhang some of the principal markets and burden the processes of orderly price adjustment. “Industrial production has been drastically curtailed, particularly in those trades producing capital equipment. The depths which have been reached in some instances are illustrated by the United States steel industry, which, at the close of 1932, was operating at only 10 per cent, of capacity. “The international flow of goods, hindered by currency disorders, and restricted by a multiplicity of new governmental interventions, has been reduced to incredibly low levels. The total value of world trade in the third quarter of 1932 was only about one-third of that in the corresponding period of 1929. The fall during the three-year period was continuous.”

Some forms of economy are like saving water at a fire. For New Zealand not to strain every effort to stay the devastating conflagration which is the depression, on the ground of economy, will be costly water-saving. New Zealand’s representation should be the strongest and the most numerous possible. There will not be the same need for the troup of experts which went to Ottawa. The ease for the primary industries is safe in the hands of Mr. Coates, and Mr. W. Downie Stewart should be invited to accept the rank of Minister without portfolio in order that he may be present at the Conference. Mr. Stewart was chairman of the Currency Sub-committee at Ottawa Conference, and the continuity of the work done there should not be broken by a change of personnel in this regard. Party political considerations should not be allowed to stand in the way of Mr. Stewart continuing as representative at the forthcoming Conference, as he was at Ottawa, and subsequently during his London visit. The Prime Minister should, of course, head the delegation, not only from the point of view of his giving the delegation prestige, but to enable decisions to be arrived at with expedition on the spot. The fourth member of the delegation should be the Minister in charge of the Department of Industries and Commerce, because, despite any general steps which may be decided on in the Conference, the most fruitful method of achieving results is by direct negotiations between various countries. It will require a big delegation to take full advantage of the opportunities for bi-lateral negotiation which will be offering. This golden opportunity must not be missed. Ottawa offered small opportunities for gaining good results. London offers large and varied opportunities for securing wider and more varied markets. Should New Zealand fail to secure as many of these opportunities as is possible in order to save the expenses of an extra delegate, then the money saved will represent the water left in the bucket when half of the house has been destroyed.