The Waterbury Democrat., 1931-01-01
Whole World Aiming
 Threats At Present
 Costly Depression
For the Economic Blow That Has Hit the United States Has Permeated to Every Section of Entire Globe

France accumulated gold until 1t had horde of more than $2,00O.- 900, ,080 but this gold did not save 1t from joining the ranks of the depressed countries. Germany suf- fered most after it's elections. Italy blamed the American market de- cline for its losses. England suf- fered severe losses in trade. The Far East was depressed because of q sharp break to record low prices of silver which is the monetary standard of all its countries except Japan which recently adopted gold, and of commodities such as silk, rice and sOya beans.
 England closed 1880 with trade deficit of more than $2.0OO, poo, poo and for the first time in her his- tory was below second place among exporting nations of the world. Eng land lost gold heavily to France and Germany until the reserve wavered around the f150, .O00 mark, the safety minimum set by the Cunliffe committee.
 France managed to evade the de- pression until autumn. when con- fidence was shaken by failure of more than q dozen banks and brok
 
 the final months of the year showed 8 steady decline; foreign trade de- clined; iron and steel production slipped off and all other lines fol- lowed. Tourist trade brought mucht lighter returns than in 1929.
 Germany experienced it's greatest depression In the latter half of the year after the elections which brought many radicals into the Reichstag. The country found it dihi- cult to raise capital due to the un- settled political condition. The Reichsbank position was considered sound. however. but prevailing high interest rates were believed q factor in keeping down business recovery. Unemployment attained an unprc- cedented total in the autumn and this was expected to approach a higher mark as the winter progress cd.
 Italy also experienced increasing unemployment, Bankruptcies reach cd the post-war figures. Railroad traffic declined 20 per cent as con- pared with 1929. Stock exchange val- ues dropped. Stability of the lra vas a feature. and the general status Of the countrys credit was round. To eliminate the depression the gov ernment has set out on a campaign of reducing salaries, beginning with government officials, and of cutting retail prices throughout the country.
 Holland suffered from declines in commodities produced by it's colonies rubber and sugar-bOth of which made new record lows. Tobacco en- terprises also suffered. but the tea business held up fairly well. Pros- poets for the present year are still uncertain, although efforts are be- ing made to relieve the difficulties.
 The South American political and economic difficulties are directly traceable to declines in commodities, such as coffee, metals. grain, wool, petroleum. meats. nitrates. linseed. cocoa and cotton. Countries which survived the depression best are Venezuela which is without foreign debt; Columbia with the highest gold reserves in South America; Argen- tine with a wide variety of exports; Chile with adequate gold reserves; and Uruguay with high gold reserves and high per capita wealth.
 Countries of South America most severely hit by the depression were Peru. dependent on copper. petro- leum and cotton production, all of which are selling below cost of pro- duction; Bolivia affected by the de- cline in tin prices; Brazil demoraliZ- eG by the lowest coffee prices in his- tory; and Ecuador affected by low cocoa prices and q blight on its crops.