A WIDER OUTLOOK.

Waikato Times, Volume 113, Issue 18850, 21 January 1933, Page 4

A WIDER OUTLOOK.

The committee which is preparing a report preparatory to the World Economic Conference has reached a number of conclusions, from which it is evident that its final finding will be a damning document and a strong condemnation of the methods which have brought the xvorld to the present impasse. The committee points out that there are 30,000,000 unemployed in the world 10-dav; that though production is being deliberately restricted stocks of goods are accumulating; that the movements of commodities between countries is incredibly low. The committee emphasises that continuation along present lines can only end in disaster, exemplified by the shaking of the xvhole system of international finance, a lowering of the standards of living, and the shattering of the social system. It is urged that the problem of inter-governmental debts, though outside the scope of the World Conference, Is inextricably interwoven into our present troubles, and it must be solved if the barriers to world re-construction are to be overcome. If the World Economic! Conference is to achieve even a modicum of success it. will be necessary to bring all things under review. It is useless to tackle our problems piecemeal, or to think that we can solve them without, reference to Ihe party over the border. They must be faced collectively ■ and dealt with comprehensively if they are to he settled satisfactorily. There may have been periods in the world's history wherein it was possible for a country lo Jive in splendid isolation, but if so that time has gone. Modern methods of communication and transport have practically made the world one iarge village and the inhabitants close neighbours. The trouble is that the generality of men's minds has not expanded in a similar ratio io man’s inventive genius. Thus whilst,, his body may roam almost untrammelled by land, sea, and air, his mind too frequently is cribbed, cabined and confined by allotment fences, town boundaries, or national frontiers. We ill need a wider outlook.