The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1933-07-29

414O 5GdbGuleUG d4lIlOulCGS us
formation of a pact between Britain,
al her colonies and dominions for
the maintenance Of a fixed and uni
form currency policy within the en-
tire British Empire. The pact en-
phasizes that the British will attempt
to keep the value and movements Of
the pound entirely independent Of
the franc or dollar. And it will be
completely off the gold standard.
This pact is Britain's answer to
Rooseyelt'S aggressive refusal to yield
one inch of England's desire for some
fixed ratio between the pound and
the dollar, a ratio which would have
robbed the United States Of the tenn
porary advantages given her in the
international markets by the depre-
ciating dollar.
Britain now answers Roosevelt's
avowed intention to go right ahead
with his policy Of initiation and the
most aggressive drive for foreign
markets with the announcement that
she will in turn go right ahead with
the formation of an anti-American
financial group.
And as the first step in the form
alton Of this group, Britain by this
latest pact, attempts to make sure Of
her own Dominions and possessions.
It is significant that Canada has
signed the pact, since Premier Bennett
OF Canada, had originally favored
Roosevelt's open inflationary policies
Canada had been In recent months
maneuvering for some trade agree
ments with the United States which
would restore some of the trade be-
tween the two countries lost as re-
suit of the Ottawa agreements be-
tween Canada and Great Britain.
The announcement Of Canada's par
ticipation in the pact means that
Britain has momentarily recovered
her grip on the Canadian markets
against the United States.
The Economic Conference, and the
fight between the pound and the dol
lar, was merely the reflection Of the
British American battle for markets.
With the complete collapse of the
conference, the race for the erection
of ever higher trade barriers, tar
ifs, ETC. which went on even during
the sessions of the conference, will
now break out more violently than
ever. The French government has
already begun it by imposing even
higher duties on American goods
than ever before.
The most unnistakable announce
tnent of coming international trade
&c fI7a cfotaY,oofof me Ia
today by Neville Chamberlain, Brit
aims leading delegate to the confer
ence, who replied to Secretary Of
State HuIl's proposal for some plan
OF lowering tariffs by stating:
at will be borne in mind that the
United Kingdom tariff is still in
the stage of construction. The
United Kingdom delegation could
not therefore accept a position
which stereotyped the present diff
ferences between the level of pro-
lection existing between the United
Kingdom and the other countries"
In these words, Chamberlain makes
no bones about Britain's intentions
to keep on raising her tariffs against
the United States.
AS the conference was brought to
its inept and helpless close, the
speeches of the various delegates re-
vealed that the conflicts and contra
dictions among the capitalist coun-
tries, which the conference was to
solve, are more intensely involved
than ever. A typical example was
the speech of DR.. Schacht, Hitler's
representative, who made a thin1y
yelled plea for colonies for Germany.
He suggested that the Bank of In
ternational Settlements, ostensibly es-
tablished as a financial institu-
ton, might be used for the purpose
of exploiting the backward coun-
tries"
The Soviet delegate, Maisky, who
yesterday revealed the bankruptcy of
the capitalist attempts to overcome
the crisis, today stated that the re-
suits Of the conference were precise
" zero" Then he made the dele
gates exceedingly uncomfortable by
reminding them of the statement
which they had all endorsed before
the conference, which admitted that
II the conference failed, then:
"The whole system of interna-
tionaI finance would be shaken to
its foundations, standards of living
would be lowered, and the social
system as we know 1t can hardly
survive"