Evening star., 1933-01-22
BY ANDRE SIEGFRIED.

Having just returned from a short
visit to London and having breathed the
English atmosphere, I would like to
record at once the impressions have
brought back with me. This experience
is another proof that nothing can re-
place actual presence-even a short
visit is more enlightening than a long
study.
1t was just about year ago that wrote
an article analogous to this one, right
after returning from trip to oxford
and London. At that time the fall of
the pound had occurred only a few
months before, and every one was anx-
ious; they did not say very much about
1t, but an approaching rise in prices was
feared.
A year has gone by and prices have
not mounted. At the present rate of
exchange, the pound sterling shows
loss OF approximately one-third of its
value. But nevertheless-and this 1
was able to confirm-its purchasing
power remains the same, and there are
even some indications that it has been
enhanced; as much can be done with a
pound today as could be done before its
fall, and even little more. This is a
singular thing and reminds us in no
way of what has happened to us in
France. The Englishman who never
leaves home could very easily believe
that nothing had happened and could
even believe that the pound had the
same value that it had before Septem-
ber 81, 1881
This extraordinary situation has its
explanation: While the pound was de-
preciating, world prices, expressed in
gold, fell equally, in such way that the
rise in prices which should have oc-
CURED in England was compensated for
by the fall that occurred elsewhere. A
great number of other currencies de-
preciated at the same time as the Brit
ish currency. on account Of their soli-
darity in the zone where sterling holds
sway-a zone which extends over a
great part Of the world. As b result
England experienced no change in the
relative value of her money.
The English people therefore find
themselves in the exceptional situation
of having benefited by the gains in ex-
portation caused by a depreciating
money and at the same time not under
going the usual rise in prices with
which this advantage usually has to be
paid for. The current opinion in Eng
land is-of this was able to assure my
self-that this situation will last; it is
believed, in what seems to me to be
rather light-hearted way, that the
pound sterling could fall even further
without causing rise of home prices.
Briefly, the English have not suffered
from the depreciation of the pound, and
the result is that no real lesson has
been learned When the English speak
of imitation today they do so with sort
hardly too strong; it is an inf1ationist
atmosphere that reigns supreme. No
one talks Of economizing, of working
more; on the contrary, saving is openly
discouraged, because 1t would reduce
consumption and lessen the volume of
business. The anxiety that pervaded
England year ago has disappeared; at
least it Is so well hidden you are never
conscious Of 1t.
To be more explicit, the English are
duly proud of the magnificent way in
which they have settled their political
and fiscal difficulties. In 193o-'31 the
end Of the Labor regime was lament
able; the country was at low ebb, the
heads Of the government, without exer-
cising any imagination or any courage,
were just contented to endure; q latent
demagogy made any serious betterment
| impossible.
England has shown US today that
when the country is III peril every one
will fly to her rescue; no people in the
| world have civic responsibility so well
developed. Nothing Is too much to ask
In order to save the nation. The people
gather around their leaders and support
them with absolute trust. There Is no
doubt that anywhere else In the world
! the crisis Of the pound could not have