The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1921-08-25
STANDARDS OF LIVING
ARE SURE TO FALL
Perhaps Even Below the Pre-Wai
Standards, Says French
Economist.

WiIliamstown, Mass, Aug. 25-"ln.
evitable reduction for all nations OF
their standards of living, perhaps even
below the pre-war standards" was
| foretold here to-day by Professor
! Achille Viallate, prominent French
economist, in his final Institute of Pol
itics lecture, The reduction must come,
he said, as an inevitable consequence
of the fact that 1--WE are now under
the necessity of making savings out
of our present production in order to
compensate for the assets consumed
without replacement during the war.
The improvement of the impover-
ished nations is worse TINA it APP
pears" he said, "the enrichment of
others is, in great part, only an APP
pearance. The fact is that the whole
civilized world--victors, vanquished
and neutrals--is impoverished.
I'VE have lived as prodigals upon
our reserves, not reconstituting them.
Nations which seem to have been en-
riched as a result of the war are in
truth enriched not effectively but only
potentially. They have become credi
tors impoverished peoples and are not
only unable to recover quickly their
loans, but are also unable TO dispose
of their excess of goods, because of
the poverty of their expected Gus
toners"
Professor Viallate said that the du-
ties and obligations assigned TO the
league of nations by the Versailles
treaty involved great difficulties.
From the point of view of the eco
monte policy, he continued, sit would
be difficult to realize the idea of an
equal commercial opportunity for all
countries. The giving of special trade
facilities may lead to or may be the
result of political understanding
among certain individual members of
the league. Moreover, great difficult
ties of preserving equal opportunity
for all must arise in the case of trade
relations between mother country
and her colonies, and in trade rela-
tions between nations and their protee
torates.
"A strong argument for a protec-
zionist policy is the fact that in time
Of war il is necessary for every nation |
to have its basic industries as indie |
pendent of all other nations as posi- |
BILE But this argument viii lose i'm
portance in the event an understand
ing is reached relative to disarmament |
at the coming conference.
However, if we are to diminish in
the future the economic causes of war
il is necessary to remove the aggres-
sive character from nationalist senti-
ment and to give to the nations by
some kind Of international guarantee
a feeling Of security.
at is to be hoped also that the idea
Of economic solidarity among nations
will permeste the political world and
that statesmen, acting with business
men and hnanciers, viii make efforts
to increase and broaden the initial IN.
ternational understandings arrived at
before the war AS q foundation for re-
placing unrestrsined competition in the
development OF new or backward coun-
tries by cooperation. II
Il am afraid the hopes we felt that
the great war was TO be war to end
war have not vet been realized. How
EVER. I am confident that. if we do not
forget the lessons we should have
earned from il. we shall be able TO
lvoid the renewal of such a great con
Migration and TO minimize the danger
II localized wars But we cannot be
90 optimistic, unfortunately il is not
yet reason that controls men, but pas
ion"