Evening star., 1931-05-08
DEMAND FORESE|EN
FOR SILVER PARLEY
Resolution Calling for Such
Conference Expected to
Be Offered C. of C.
BY JOHN F. SINCLAIR.

with the closing days of the Inter-
national Chamber of Commerce Con-
vention IN sight, It looks now as though
a definite resolution will be adopted to-
morrow calling for a conference 70 as
cuss silver stabilization.
There is much feeling on the subject.
particularly between the Chinese ano
Indian delegates on the one hand, VINO
favor the calling Of such conference,
and the British delegates on the otner'
who are not so keen about 1t.
war debts and reparations, too, VIII
receive attention from the Resolutions
Committee, although it is not certain
whether anything DEFINITE Will result
either as to their modification OF can"
ceIlation. No subject, with the possible
exception of the tariff, has received SO
much attention. The. difaculty seems
to lie In finding common meetng
ground whereon the delegates from tLs
tinted States will agree with those OF
other nations. It is q delicate sublect
and one that does not lend itself reaoliy
to resolutions.
The British delegation is strongly IN n
favor of a resolution to cut down tain
walls throughout the world. Wnhe tns
deleeation il composed OF many OF
Great Britain's leading business men,
the majority opinion seems TO pe IN tLe
direction of free trade and not proCecs
tion. Several of them have expressly
the belief that the hope OF tne wor1u '.
the lowering of tariff walls everywhere
esnecially in the United States, WHICH
thew saw. has the highest tarin scneo--
lies n, existence, Several members OF
the United states delegation dispute
this contention, declaring that Lne
american schedules are among the low
est in the world and do not apply 70
many more articles than those OF Aree-
trade Britain.
T,eifer Magnusson, American repre-
tentative of the international LABOR Oh
f1ce Of Geneva, sees in the Tree play Va
Goods. people and money the uitlnate
kew to healthy business growth; w..
.Tariff schedules do affect traoe: buC
this conception IS only part Oh S IS
storv" " he said. There are otner ano
ivet as important factors involved. The
other factors are free trade in money
and people. What the world needs az
this time is free trade in these three
basic elementS-goods, people ana
money. We have no such condition To-
dav-anywhere. Not only are gooos
kept out from nearly every country Dy
tariff walls, but people likewise are snut
is being either held in or shut out.
Hence YOU see that there can De no
natural play OF economic forces. TnE,
! think. must be corrected before any
permanent recovery can be nao IN tlie
world Of trade"
One American delegate well known
business man from the Middle West
sees in the suggestion of President Hoo
Yer for world disarmament, Plus the
suggestion of Secretary Mellon Ior
maintenance of the present standard OF
living. q winning combination.
war debts are a bagatelle In En-
rope compared to present war expenol-
lures. why should America cancer tne
war debts of these nations wnhe tney
are spending 20 times as mucn on
armament? Then, too, If we tie this up
to the proposition that the American
standard of living must be maintained
at all cost, We have, by joining tnese
two policies together, a point OF lnte-
grafton upon which all business men
throughout the world should be able
to agree; for If they cannot agree on
these two simple formulae, then think
IL is hopeless to expect them to get
together on any other plan OF world
action"
And it may develop that this COM
ment may turn out to be the wfsest
observation of the conference.
Henry Bell Of London. director Of
IIloyds Bank. one of Englands largest;
is frankly disturbed over the world
banking situation While he insists
that English banks are among the most
LIQUID, the problem of the falling Sc
curity and commodity price levels mas
caused many embarrassments.
LET me explain what / mean. SAID
this 73-year-old Englishman. a oanK
is as strong as its assets. II II mas
in these assets 10 per cent casn, 70
per cent in government bonds that are
liquid and another 20 per cent that
can be nquidated in 80 days, ordinarily
that bank would be considered In
pretty good shape. That is II the other
So per cent are in longtime invest
rnents that are to be considered good.
Now. say that a crisis arises and these
long-term investments, by reason OF
the drop in the security values, become
what in your country Is calIeo
'frozen'-what then? That's the prop
lem, frankly, which Is facing tne Dank-
ing world today"
Melvin Traylor's speech criticizing in
three particulars stock trading on wall
street, which caused as much comment
as any address of the convention, Is
understood to have been gone over
very carefully before presentation by
one of the most successful brokers IN
the country. No comment was avail
able from Mr.. Traylor on the matter.
but 1t is expected that in due course
this Chicago banker will have son1e-
thing to say in reply to his critics.
(copyrignt, 1881. by North american News
paper Alliance.)
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