Evening star., 1933-07-23
ECONOMIC PARLEY
PROVES FRU|TLESS
Americas Lack of Monetary
Policy Base of Failure,
Economist Declares.
BY ARTHUR SALTER,


Member British Economic Advisory Board.
BY Radio to The Star.
LONDON, July ~ (NAN.Al.-The
World Economic Conference adjourns
next Thursday after dragging on for
nearly q month since President Roose-
velt,s message made it clear no prog
ress could be made on the base prob
lens Of currency. credit or tariffs.
Those who opposed immediate ad-
journment when the Presidents mes
sage was received were actuated by
three motives.
They thought if the conference were
adjourned Immediately the concentra-
ton of responsibility for its failure
tween Europe and America unfavorable
to other negotiations.
Feared For Confidence.
Apart from that they believed that
q dramatic and sudden termination OF
the conference would cause a greater
shock to public confidence and dis
credit individual delegates more with
their parliaments than a more grad
ual ending, in which anger and dis
iuusionment would be mitigated by
sheer weariness and boredom, and by
the diversion of. the public mind to
the thought Of the August holidays.
1t was hoped. thirdly. that useful
work might be done on secondary queS-
tions-on the regulation of the pro-
duction of certain commodities such as
sugar, wheat and coffee; private in
debtedness: restriction of subsidies;
indirect protectionism through admin
~ k{v,A nyinAc al If
public works expansion; perhaps some
limited agreement on policy and meth
DDS Of raising the price level, and at
least some agreement on a way in
which the gold standard should ulti-
mately be made to work satisfactorily.
BY some it was even thought that a
conditional agree I'm ent might be
reached on tariff reductions to become
effective as soon as currency stability
was assured.
None Of these tasks was necessarily
made impossible by uncertainty as to
currencies. But in fact practically
nothing has been accomplished. The
intrinsic difficulties would have strained
the resources of craftsmanship under
the most favorable conditions: these
difficulties became insuperable with the
psychological deterioration that attend
co Tue currency dispute.
Progress Is Slight.
A little progress has been made in
regard to the wheat and sugar agree
ments, but these are still inconclusive.
British opposition to the public works
scheme destroyed all chances Of any
agreement on that question, and also
regarding the price-raising policy in
general.
Doubts suggested by the Presidents
message not only as to the immediate
future but the ultimate character Of
the dollar made the gold standard dis
cussion unreal. Resolutions on all other
subjects, too, amounted to nothing.
The conference breaks up with no
more results than If it had adjourned
three weeks ago, and that means the
results are virtually nothing. What
happened of importance in the war
debts arrangement for June Is, ana
the ending Of the British embargo on
Russia, happened outside of the con-
ference, although doubtless helped
BY it.
Vital knowledge Lacking.
FOR a time, then. at least the confer
ence has failed Whatever might other
wise have been its chances, the Ameri-
can situation made success lmpoSSlpie.
for currency ratios are an essential
element in all the main problems OF
credit and investment and tariff policy.
And one thing is automatic about every
conference If it is to succeed it must
be able to influence, or at least must
know, every essential element IN its
principal problems. It was the absence
even Of knowledge that was the fatal
dimculty.
The conference could not hope to in.
duence the American monetary and
currency policy decisively. But If it
had even known what that policy was
and was going to be, it might at least
have tried to adapt its solutions to that
known factor However, it did not
know. The policy was changing rapidly
during the sessions of the conference.
Success under these conditions was i'm
possible.
Even if this difficulty had not exist
ed there would, of course. have been
great obstacles to agreement, and they
might have been insurmountable. Other
countries might have proved assasslns-
none Of the principle ones have shown