Evening star., 1922-01-19
DECLARES BARTER !
/ |sEc0NOM|c HOPE
Danube Commission Official
Points Also to Need of.
Transportation.
BY EDWARD PRICE BELL.


By eHble to The Star and Chicago Daily News.
Covyright. 1922.
LONDON, January 19.-Col. Alfred
Stead. chief of stan to Admiral Trou-
bridge, commanding on the Danube and
secretary-general to the international
Danube commission. has returned from
a long and intimate experience Of GEN.
trail European conditions and problems.
convinced that money has no value at
present and that the economic saliva
tion of the world must be sought
through return to organized, compre-
hensive barter.
Britain today" said Col. Stead to
the writer. Stands at the crossroads
great industrial and commercial coun-
try or is she to become an aggregation
of individuals unable to produce the
wherewlthal to live or to earn money
with which to buy from others? Con-
ferences cannot save her. Neither, can
conferences save the United States.
Millions of potential European pur-
chasers cannot buy goods and pay, for
them in pounds sterling or dollars.
Money has lost its value and is now
rather a hindrance than q help. to
trade.
Doubts Prospect Of Revival.
while we think in terms of money,
there is no hope of an economic revival.
Exchanges between variously colored
and printed hank notes are based on
financial speculation and have no rela-
ton to actual conditions. Trade al
ways has been based upon the exchange
of essential commodities. Artificial at
q Yf IN ST mn
Only great financiers profit by such at.
tempts.'
"In the Serbian retreat saw soldiers
dead from starvation with bank notes
clenched between their teeth. This
picture we should keep before our eyes.
bank notes. To save the world econofn-
ically and save British and American
industry and trade We must revert to
barter.
I'm the early days the merchant
ventures OF Great Britain created the
Loading vessels with goods, the mer-
chants sailed from these shores to
coasts where there were no money
values and over the sides of their ves-
sells bartered beads or gin for ivory.
rubber and spicea 1t was the prin.
the trader owning both commodities
and transport.
Gradually the value Of the trans
port grew and trading posts were
esta blished in order to avoi d the de-
tention Of vessels while the barter
is the lifeblood of barter, the freer it
is the greater Is the exchange Of COM
modities and the more rapid the es-
tablishment Of normal conditions.
Awaiting Exchange.
"All over Europe and the rest Of
the world there are commodities
awaiting exchange and whole popu-
tured goods in exchange for food
stuffs and raw materials. These popu-
lations go shoeless and without shirts
while we pay dearly for bread and
other articles simply because money
obscures the vision Of trade, and be-
cause transport facilities do not ex-
ist Nobody troubles to organize them.
Nobody tries to negative the enor-
nous obstructipns created by new
European frontiers drawn up without
reference to economic conditions. II
1t is possible to run trains de luxe
across Europe for the comfort Of rich
passengers 1t should be possible to
run goods trains. de luxe for saving
Great Britain.
portation pfsanizat ton needs autocFatfc
methods. Conferences and commissions
never will run transportation, since
they are devised essentially to create
delay and shift responsibility. II
Noah had had a committee he never
would have builts thes ark before the
flood came, said the late Gen. Booth,
the great organizer. And unless
transportation Is taken. automatically
in rand. Europe will be submerged
and British trade win perish.
Experience ON Danube.
"On the Danube. after the armistice,
had a good demonstration OF this.
With Admiral Troubridge. order was
developed out Of chaos. On our ar
rival at Belgrade only one steamer
was running. Whole populations were
without food or fuel and the specter Of
bolshevism was ever present. Auto
cratic organization saved the situa-
tion, though the whole of the ship
ping was manned by enemy subjects
Regular transportation made it pos
sible for food. fuel and other essen
tials to flow freely and bolshevism
was unknown.
What we did on the Danube can
be done everywhere. Traders must
load ships as did their ancestors, and
fare forth to seek commodities in ex-
change. Free exchange, of commodf-
ties. with transportation facilitated to
the maximum. means the salvation of
industry and commerce In Great Brit
ain and the nnifed 2fafeas