Wairarapa Daily Times [Established Over 50 Years.] FRIDAY, 18th AUGUST, 1933. CONFERENCE REACTIONS.

Wairarapa Daily Times, 18 August 1933, Page 4

Wairarapa Daily Times [Established Over 50 Years.] FRIDAY, 18th AUGUST, 1933. CONFERENCE REACTIONS.

The "World Economic Conference has failed, and the chief trading nations are thrown back upon the necessity to do something to save themselves during the period which must elapse before the next effort at collaboration. The failure at this first attempt is beyond all cavil the direct consequence of early American withdrawal; and it is equally accepted on all sides that that withdrawal was the result of American political pressure upon President Roosevelt, and was prompted by selfish motives. It is not necesasry again to go over the evidence on those points. The rest of the world meanwhile simply cannot mark time. The, United States may elect to try to carry on with a minimum of foreign exchange trade, but for others, and especially the British nations, re;vival of international trade in full vigour is a necessity. We must, as Professor Hytten said at the Agricultural Bureau Conference at Richmond, co-operate with such other nations as are willing to do so. We have previously made reference to a possible economic war, no less disastrous than the war in arms of 1914-18. France has replied to the dollar attack by increasing her Customs tariff up to 800 per cent against American goods. Recent cable messages described secret meetings of Imperial delegates in London as an extension of the Ottawa Conference. There has been on both sides — Britain’s and that of the Dominions—some criticism of the operation of the Ottawa agreement, especially in the spirit in which it has been interpreted. The Dominions have objected to proposals to

restrict primary exports. British critics have objected that the Dominions are dumping on British markets against British farmers, and that the Dominions have not adequately reduced their tariffs against British goods.