Evening star., 1932-07-29
.SNARLS IN EMPIRE
PARLEY HELP i. S.
Conflicting Trade Interests
at Ottawa May Soften
Blows at America.
BY the Associated Press.

BY the Associated Press.
/ OTTAWA, Ontario, July 29.-Amer-
lean observers at the imperial confer
ence found hope today in several mai jor
difficulties encountered by the delegates
in their attempt to increase intra-em-
pire trade.
The first bright spot for the Amer
leans. interested in preventing. as far
as possible, losses to United States for
eign trade as a result of the British
negotiations, came in the British pro-
poSal made by Stanley Baldwin yester-
day.
He warned the delegates of the do
minlons that the United Kingdom could
not jeopardize its trade with other ma
tionS for new agreements within the
empire.
Currency Big Problem.
The two other principal difficulties
the empire representatives faced were
the problem presented by the variegated
and unstable relations of the currencieS
of the empires various units and the
divergence of standards of industrial
products in each, developed through
custom and requirements over many
years.
Former Premier Baldwin pointed out
bluntly that Great Britain still has to
depend on non-empire countries for
the sale of more than half her own
products, and this was looked upon as
| a warning that the mother country
could not be expected to give up these
foreign markets except in direct ratio
to the dominions willingness to replace
them.
Canadian industries, however, have
cautioned Premier Bennett not to be
too lenient" in subjecting domestic in
duStry to British competition so the
problem became a choice between pro-
lection for the home manufacturers in
Canada and the desirability of prefer
ence duties on British goods.
Considering the problem of a sta
bilized intraempire currency, the Con-
ference Committee on Monetary and
Financial Questions heard that the
pound sterling dropped 2 cents yeSter-
day as result of heavy purchases of
the American dollar to pay for stocks
and bonds in the New York market.
The committee voted to continue its
session.
The difficulty with the varying cur
rencieS as matters stand within the
Empire now is that the buyer never
knows, when contract is made for
goods, how much he is going to have
to pay st the time of delivery The
whole question of preferential tariffs is
tied up with fluctuations in the cur
rency, which leave the Empire importer
always guessing what his laid down
costs will be.
The only solution Of this difficulty
possible, as American observers saw it,
would be the creation of a govern
mental agency to finance exports, the
agency losing or gaining as the Empire
currency approached or fell away from
parity with the pound.
Central Bank Proposal.
1t has been unoficially suggested that
the Bank of England become a central
Empire bank and issue currency against
commodities as represented by COM
mercial bills. This proposition is vir-
tually the same as the GoldSborough
honest dollar" bill which was defeated
IN the United States Congress over the
protest of the allied farm group
In an attempt to avoid the third diff
Guilty, the difference in standards of the
dominions in industrial products. the
Committee on Industrial Standardiza-
tion has selected H. M. Tory. presi-
dent OF the National Research Council
of Canada, as its chairman, and begun
to compile coordination of common
wealth specifications for lumber. chem
ical products, agricultural machinery.
boxes, containers and steel structure
patterns.
It's recommendations will be of par
ticular interest to United States manu-
facturers. since it presents the oues-
ton of whether or not Canada, ac-
cuStomed to American products and
standards, could be prevailed upon to
agree to accept the standards OF Great
Britain and the other empire nations.