The Washington times., 1931-05-06
ISSUE
ST|RS TRADE
CONFEREES
German Proposes Payment of
War Debt in Commodities;
Attack Resented by English

Continued From Page ,
misfortune or unwisdOm may
have aggravated the trouble.
In Great Britain, an exception.
ally rigid and inelaStic econ
omic system, in the United
States a great speculative boom
with q correspOndingly sharp
reaction, in China an abnormal
fall in the value of the metal
which is the basis Of its cur
rency, in countries producing
food and raw material the dis
prOpOrtionately great reduction
in the world prices of these
products.
"But with some differences
I'm degree and in time, all coun-
tries in the world have now
been brought within the widen.
ing circle of the depression.
Terrifying Phenomenon
"The present world depres-
sion is certainly one Of the most
severe that mankind has suf.
fered in its range, in its inten-
sity, and it may yet, unhappily,
be in its duration"
OF American speculation, Sir
Arthur said:
I'm range and volume and
consequently in its extent and
far-reaching efforts, has had no
equal or rival in economic his
tory.
''It is a new and terrifying
phenomenon, which all those
who are concerned to avert or
to mitigate future alterations
Of boom and depression must
certainly study"
Warning On Gold
Salter warned of a possible
shortage of gold in the future.
At present, he said, the trouble
with gold is that nations are not
using it economically or to the
best advantage. He declared the
concentration of gold in a few
nations would tend to per.
manently depress world prices.
Two Notes of Discord
Two disturbing factors inter.
rupted the smooth flow of inter-
national comfy. First Edward
Kamm, former German cabinet
officer, gave the Congress food
for argument by quietly suggest
ing the payment of German re.
parations in commodities instead
Of gold. To carry out his sug-
gestion would require a revision
Of the Dawes and Young agree
ments, a program drawing I'M
mediate opposition from all AL
lied delegations.
Then S. r. BOmangi, friend of
Mahatma Ghandi and leader of
the delegation from India, pub
licly charged Great Britain with
'sperpetrating a fraud on the
world" by pretending to reduce
ornaments"
. He charged the British were
maintaining a huge army by
crediting tremendous military ex-
penditures to the local and voice
less government of India. He
made his charge while pleading
for a world conference to stabil-
lie the silver market. His re-
marks greatly offended the Bri-
tiSh delegation.
The industrial session mean
while was featured by the address
Of Mr.. Meyer, steel king of Europe.
He declared industrial wages were
increasing throughout the world,
but startled the American delega-
ton by asserting that American
wages, now the highest IN the
world, had reached their limit.
Wage Fixing ScOr4d
He held increasing wages in
Europe, particularly in Great
Britain and Belgium. were partly
responsible for depression abroad.
He termed the German law allow
ing the government to fix wages
as a "Short-sighted policy" and
blamed it for Teuton unemploy-
ment. Mr.. Meyer added:
"There are probably other
countries as rich in natural re-
sources as the United States,
but up to the present time, none
Of them has been able to ex-
plot them as rapidly as the
Americans or to obtain for its
prosperity and well-being the re-
suits the Americans have OBJ
tanned.
"The great natural resources
Of the country permit not only
0, smooth movement of COM
mOditieS, but also advantageous
manufacturing of finished goods
by rational methods, and also
the amount Of available capital
forms an ensemble of element
favorable to the payment Of
high wages. But, in spite of
prOpitiOus circumstances, we are
Of the opinion the limit has
been reached"
DM~I D~.S1snsRo