Evening star., 1933-07-16
BY WILLIAM HARD.

Museum of Practical Geology.
Occasion: The International None
tary and Economic Conference.
Character: The meditative reporter.
What gloom.
Twilight in the delegates lounge.
Twilight, perhaps. for the conference.
Even the servitorS Of the place seem
to have become gloomy. Why don't
they turn on the electric lights? Any
way. they don't.
The delegates standing at the bar
seem discouraged and dull. The dele
gates sitting at the tables seem like
dark wraiths. The delegates walking
about in the open space near the stair
cases wear the appearance OF restless
and strangely black ghosts in a somber
graveyard.
All are watching the staircase that
leads to the floor above. On that floor
the bureau" of the conference IS meet
ing. Nice short word bureau for
Steering Committee" Some II countries
are represented in it. They are now
trying to reach quite important deci-
sion. Shall the conference continue?
Or shall it be adjourned?
Presently the members Of the "bu-
reau" will come down that staircase
and tell us what the decision Is.
Orestes Ferrara. chief delegate of
Cuba. walks over to table and takes
a seat and orders soft drink. He's
an Italian. really Temperate people.
these Italians. Mr.. Ferrara is greatly
interested in trying to sell Cuban sugar
to the world He came here largely to
persuade the sugar importing countries
to reduce their tariff duties on imports
Of sugar He is pretty well convinced
now that they will do no such thing.
He remains rosy and cheerful You
cannot entirely Quell a man who can
sleep at any time Of the night or of
the dav for any given number OF hours
or minutes and wake up refreshed and
ready for work That's what Mr.. Fer
rara can do Admirable member Of an
international conference.
He is now cheerily giving the latest
bad news on tariff reform to his COM
panions at his table.
X
At the next table six American jour-
naliStS are drinking cocktails and one
German journalist is drinking beer.
The German journalist:
You have blamed us Germans for
going nationalistic. Now you are all
going nationalistic. You Americans are
even going to have your own sort of
money. based on the prices of COM
modities. 1t will be different in prin-
ciple from every other sort of money
in the world. You are seeding in the
monetary sense, from all the rest of the
world. That's why the bureau is meet
ing upstairs now. How can there be
40
tween the United States and the
worlds other nations? But my real
Hitlerite point to you is: Welcome,
gentlemen, to the nationalistic age"
One of the American journalists:
Here's one of those British treasury
monetary experts. Hey, there! Sit
down! Have a drink What's going
to happen to the gold standard inter-
nationally?"
The British expert:
Like this, you see! Every little
while your government will declare the
price that it will pay for gold Gold
won't flow freely any longer from coun-
try to country. finding its own price
IN terms of commodities. It's price will
be fixed for you by governmental action.
That's more or less what we're doing
IN Britain already. Every day there s
an official announcement here of the
price OF gold. Gold is going to be a
in the international transactions of the
future"
X
A French expert, whom everybody
likes, is by this time leaning over the
shoulder of the British expert.
You British and you Americans, "
says he, ARE never happy except when
you are in some kind of adventurous
fog. Or, rather. you try to persuade
yourselves to believe it. You're off gold ;
and you're lost; and you don't know
where you are: and you're feeling your
way; and you're trying to make out
that you've discovered some variety of
new system of things. It's a myth.
Ill tell you the truth.
There are three grades Of nations
now in this conference. First, there
are the gold nations, like France. They
are. are the respectable nations, the high
caste nations. the Brahmin nations.
Then there are the gold-dust nations,
like Germany. They've got just few
ounces of gold; and in order to keep it,
they have to forbid its expectation.
They are the middle-caste nations, try
ing-at least trying-to be respectable.
Then, finally, at the bottom, there
are the nations that don't even want
to be on gold. They want to stay of
gold; and they want to drag everybody
else off gold, and down to their own
level. They are the real low-caste ma
tions. They are the 'untouchables.'
X X X
The French expert laughs; and the
British expert laughs; and the German
journalist laughs: and the six American
journalists laugh: and all begin discus
sing China and Russia.
China! That's a monetary system,
too. Silver"
"Oh, yes. And Russia. That's an
other monetary system, too. Based on
some sort of labor r-coSt bookkeeping"
1.-The French are dull. They can't
think up new monetary system. They
just keep on saying gold They're not