Evening star., 1933-01-20
ECONOMIC PARLEY
EXCLUDES DEBTS
Credit Policies and Prices
Head List of Subjects to
Be Taken Up.
BY tho Associated Press.

BY tho Associated Press.
GENEVA, Switzerland, January 90
Economists preparing program for
the projected World Economic Confer
ence have excluded from their recon-
mended agenda any discussion Of war
debts, but they acknowledged the i'm
portance Of this problem with the asser-
ton that until it is settled economic
reconstruction will be extremely diff
cult.
The program which they drew up
after two months work and published
this evening recommends discussions of
these six paramount matters.
First, monetary and credit policies;
second, prices; third, resumption Of the
movement Of capital; fourth. restric-
tions on international trade; fifth, tariff
and treaty policies, and, sixth. organ
ization Of production and trade.
Such a program as this, the authors
declare, should make the projected con-
ference successful and blaze the trail
back toward prosperity.
Declares Settlement Vital.
Intergovernmental debts, which. of
course, include the war debts" were
excluded from the recommended program
because the committee considered that
problem outside its terms of reference.
Until there Is a settlement Of the
debts issue, or definite prospect for such
a settlement, these debts will remain
an insuperable barrier to economic and
financial reconstruction" the commit
tee said I'VE therefore attach the
greatest importance to the early re-
sumption and successful conclusion Of
negotiations with respect to this prob
lem"
The committee. on which the United
States Is represented by Prof Edmund
Leon Fraser, vice president of the
World Bank, followed Selective meth
cd of eliminating questions which might
possibly be considered secondary. and
concentrated on the six which the ex-
perts regarded as paramount.
In an introduction to the published
agenda. the economists denounced the
development during the past three years
of "a network of restraints upon the
normal conduct of business and the
throttling of business enterprise and
individual initiative, measures which
have developed into virtual state OF
economic warfare"
Ideal Program Outlined.
II recovery Is to be realized this pre-
vailing conflict Of national economies
must be ended, the report said. Then
it outlines the ideal program Of recon-
struction:
In its essence the necessary program
is one Of economic disarmament. In
the movement toward economic recon
citation an armistice- was signed at
Lausanne. The London Conference
must draft the treaty of peace.
Failure in this critical undertaking
| threatens the worldwide adoption Of
ideals of national self-suff1ciency which
cut unmistakably athwart the lines Of
economic development.
such a choice would shake the
whole system Of international finance to
its foundations; the standards of living
would be lowered and the social system
as we know it could hardly survive.
These developments, If they occur,
| will be the result not of any inevitable
natural law, but of the failure of hu-
man will and intelligence to devise the
necessary guarantees to political and
economic order. The responsibility Of
the governments Is clear and unmistak-
able"
Committee Meets Next Week.
The Organizing Committee meets
January 26 to fix a date for the con-
ference which, it is believed here, will
not be before June.
In dealing with monetary and credit
policy. the report says, the objective
must be the restoration of an effective
international monetary standard to
which the countries which have aban-
doned the gold standard can adhere
Each government must remain free to
decide when and under what conditions
it could adopt such a standard It will
be necessary to provide effective safe
guards against such restoration of the
gold standard leading to fresh break
down"
Regarding prices the experts reported:
THE unprecedented fall in commod-
ity prices in recent years has caused
growing disequilibrium between costs
and prices, has immensely increased the
real burden Of debts, made business
| more and more improbable and has re-
| suited in q continuous disastrous in
crease in unemployment throughout the
world. Some increase in the level Of
world prices Is highly desirable and
would be the first sign Of world recov-
cry"
Enduring Remedy Sought.
Concluding their summary Of pro-
| poSals, the experts said:
| In formulating this program, we have