Evening star., 1933-06-14

| panlc-TlOOen WOTlQ Is lOOklIlS W Cilio
| conference for leadership with pro-
gram of basic relief and every partici-
pant here must realize at the outset that
distressed peoples in every land expect
concord, cooperation and constructive
results from these proceedings. The
success or failure of this conference
/ will mean the success or failure OF
/ craftsmanship everywhere and failure
! at this crucial time would long be con-
| spicuous in history
| It is universally agreed that economic
calamity with attendant losses, suffer-
! ings and hardships unparalleled in our
! time have for three and half years af-
flicted each nation and the world In
common. Depleted treasures collapsed
price levels, a destroyed international
, finance and commerce, greatly dlmln-
| ished domestic production and con-
| sumption, thirty millions Of unemployed
wage earners, a PROSTATE agriculture,
universal monetary and exchange insta-
bility, mountainous debt and tax bur-
dens constitute some Of the awful panic
experiences of recent years. The people
of all nations now realize that despite
| unbounded opportunities they are actu-
ally worse of and mo-, insecure than
they were II years ago and that the ne
cessity for new policies and new leader
snip is OBVIOUS ana urgent.
Has Faith in Conference.
This is a conference of representatives
of sovereign governments; have abso-
Lutte faith In its complete ability, power
and disposition to move the world and
this it will accomplish if 1t promulgates
a program which, in conjunction with
suitable domestic programs everywhere,
will restore confidence, employment and
full and stable prosperity alike in every
country. We would be false to the trust
reposed in us by the anxious audience
of humanity everywhere If this great
tribunal were complacently to adjourn
with the humiliating implication that
We are incapable of providing new poll
cies at all, and that the same nation
destroying, woodworking economic
policies that have been in operation
since the war must continue.
If we are to succeed, narrow and
self-defeating selflshness must be ban
ished from every human heart within
this council chamber If, which God
forbid, any nation should obstruct and
wreck this great conference with the
short-sighted notion that some Of its
favored interests might temporarily
profit while thus indefinitely delaying
aid for the distressed in every country
mankind
All Have Been Isolated.
Ignoring all realities, all nations have
strenuously pursued the policy of eco
nonic isolation, each futilely and fool
iShly striving to live hermit's life.
The cherished idea Of the extreme
type Of isolationist that each nation
singly can. by bootstrap methods, lift
itself out of the troubles that surround
it has proven fruitless Each nation,
by itself, can to moderate extent re-
store conditions by suitable fiscal, finan-
cial and economic steps. Thus the ad-
ministration of President Roosevelt has
within three months adopted an effec-
tive domestic program to promote busi-
ness improvement in the fullest possible
measure. The equal necessity for an
equally important international. eco
nomic program of remedies Is clear. A
brief examination of existing problems
and conditions and the underlying in
fluences chiefly responsible for their
creation sustains this conclusion.
When every nation is visited by dis
astrouS panic 1t Is for the isolationist
a mere coincidence. For him no panic
has an international character, cause
or cure. He credulously believes that
the present depression just happened to
come upon all countries at the same
time and that, despite demonstrated
failure to do so since 1929, each by its
own local program can at Will restore
full prosperity
Trade Is Obstructed.
Economic nationalism as practiced
since the war comprises every known
method of obstructing international
capital and trade, such as high tariffs,
quotas, embargoes, exchange restrictions
and deprecated currencies. Many gov
ernments, by manifesto, are constantly
changing their tariff and other obstruc-
tions so that their utter lack OF stability
is seriously destructive Of business.
These trade barriers inevitably caused
a disastrous reaction upon productlon,
employment, prices and distribution
within the confines of every nation
Under the ravages Of these combined
methods of extremism uncounted NIL
lions of people are starving IN some
parts of the world, while otner paris
are glutted with vast surpluses. Raw
materials are fenced oil from factories,
from foodstuffs.
How MANY nations can get along
without world trade? The indispensable
nature of international commerce Is oet.
ter understood when we recall that most
Latin American countries ordinarily
sell abroad from 80 to IS per cent OF
their total production Of movable goods'
England must sell 25 per cent; Ger
many 80 per cent; Canada 50 per cent:
Australia 80 per cent; New Zealand ~
per cent, and Japan As to go per cent;
A serious decline of the 1nternauonai
market can cause a severe impairment
of the economic and financial life OF
these large exporting countries, and TINS
in turn dislocates all foreign trade ana,
as has been demonstrated during TINS
panic. cuts deeply into all production
and throws tens of millions OF wage
earners out of employment.
international Trade StrangIed.
The strangulation of international
trade from more than so billion dollars,
the amount 1t should be according to
the pre-war rate of annual increase,
down to a rate less than Is billion
dollars reveals a most tragic phase OF
this short sighted and ruthless policy.
An international TRANSACTION has become
an exception rather than rule. Each
country proposes to sell but not to
buy to export. but not to import ana
to get rich at the expense Of the other.
The inevitable effect OF these con-
Trajectory practices has been to reduce
to the lowest level all prices OF primary
commodities bought and sold in world
markets, with similar effects upon COM
modify prices back in each country
| The inability Of peoples in different
| countries to transfer goods in payment
of balances strains all domestic finan-
| cial structures. Currencies and ex-
changes become unstable. These prac-
tices. offensive and defensive. have
! forced business in every nation to an
I artificial basis and nlunQed the world