Evening star., 1933-08-13
BY FRANK H. SIMONDS.


victory of impressive proper
i tions In the great international
struggle which Is both financial
and economic 1t must, too. be reck-
oned as a second victory following at
certain distance after the Argentine
commercial agreement, which in its
turn counted as the recovery OF lost
province Thus alike in North and
South America. Britain Is, after long
pause, resuming operations against the
United States in regions wrested from
Britain economically during and after
the war
The Canadian loan IS an eloquent
evidence Of the eventual meaning Of
| the London Economic Conference. To
that conference the American dele
CATION went with the unmistakable ex-
pectation that 1t would be able to win
| British support for an American pro-
gram. And into this calculation went
the conviction that British policy
would in no small measure be dictated
bv Dominion pressure. which would be
exerted to bring British action into
line with American
So far as 1t is possible to see any
coherent idea in the American cam
naign at London. 1T was based upon
the assumption that Anglo-American
solidarity was assured and that under
the Joint pressure Of the two Anglo
Saxon policies. the continental nations.
the so-called gold bloc, would be COM
pelled to yield. to Join In the American
program Of initiation. controlled cur
rencies and huge public works pro-
gram. Confirmation Of this interpre-
tation may be found alike In the pri-
vate tips that came from administra-
ton circles before the London meeting
and in much Of the comment that
flowed from It in the earlier stages at
least.
Coalition Plans Fan.
The Anglo-American coalition some
how did not come of. The dominions
manifested marked sympathy with
American ideas. Prime Minister Ben
nett Of Canada was again and again
aligned with the Americans-the Brit
ish themselves voted more than once IN
support of American motions-but under
the surface the pound sterling and the
franc continued to march on liked
basis and at critical moments some such
brusuue definitive statement as Runci-
mans rejection of the American plan
tration hopes.
In point Of fact, as Winston Churchill
blurted out In the House OF Commons
recently, the American departure from
the gold standard constituted for the
British a financial victory OF unex-
pected and unparalleled proportions. 1t
marked the end of the long battle
which began during the war between
the pound sterling and the dollar.
victory which seemed won decisively for
the dollar when the British left gold
under pressure Of necessity two years
ago.
Today the pound sterling has re-
eained its old position as the first OF
world monetary measures. True, It Is
nominally not stabilized, but actually
it has become constant in its relation
to gold and thus to the French, Dutch
and Swiss currencies. Moreover for
more than a year there has been q
rapid march of foreign capital to
London Recent months have seen
flight Of very large proportions from
the dollar on the part Of Americans
Something OF q similar movement has
taken place on the continent. Now the
endless fluctuations. jumps and de-
ciines Of the dollar have for the time
being put 1t out Of the running alto
gether. On the purely financial side,
London has worsted New York in the
struggle for world supremacy which
began almost with the armistice.
L0nQOn Sufp1660 fSTL.
A battle Of somewhat lesser propo-
tions also has been waged between
London and Paris and here Again the
British have succeeded, although not
; to the same decisive extent. Paris
still has vastly more gold than London
and an enormous accumulation OF the
, funds Of the continent. But Paris, far
from thinking Of rivalry with the Brit
ish as it did two years ago at the time
the pound sterling slumped from gold
closest kind Of alliance with the city
Financially, Britain has won over
both the United States and France
The dollar, by reason Of its constant
fluctuation, no longer commands Tor
, eign confidence and the weakness OF
the franc during the London Conference
was notorious Economically OF course
the British are by no means In as satis-
factory a situation. Their export trade
still continues to decline. on balance
! they are still "in the red" in their In
, ternational business, even when interest
on their investments and returns on
: revolutionary shift from free trade to
! tariff has not yet produced any large
change England buys less abroad and
does q larger part Of her own domestic
business, but the gap between imports
, and exports still remains appalling and
; the best that can be claimed for the
abandonment OF traditional free trade
is that it has produced moderate re-
duction in imports.
> Nevertheless, the British ever since
the abandonment Of the gold standard
have been displaying rare ability In
facing the later problems Of the great
depression. On the surface. Ottawa
was a good deal Of delusion but 1t die
bring about a certain re-establishment
: of imperial bonds The Canadian loar
and various Australian arrangements
! all have disclosed the same skill and
shrewdness and the Argentine bargain
was In some ways the most brilliant
of the lot.
Surrendered Holdings.
Quite consciously, American business
and finance undertook to invade the
British economic provinces Of Soutt
, America, of which the Argentine wa
the most valuable. And for certain
|. time, while we were engaged In pour
ing vast loans into Latin America, the
, British played a losing game ant
,, their holdings. But our loans were
made without proper concern for th'
. prospects of payment, our statesmen per.
: suaded the South American countrie.
, to embark upon wastrel expenditure.
and our banks lent them the funds fol
: these.
r In the end, the South American
> found themselves unable to pay thei
, American debts and resentful Of th'
fashion in which American loans hat
: been forced upon them, with the result
that they came eventually to disaster
, In South America, as in Europe, al
went well as long as we continued Il
lend enough to enable our customer
| to nay old debts and accumulate new
But, as In Europe. all went down In {
| heap when he stopped making fresh
5 loans.