Evening star., 1933-11-11
NEW YORK, November ll.-AIe the
BY CLAUDE A. JAEGER.
Associated Press Financial Editor.

lines forming for a new monetary con-
test among the titans of world finance
the United States, Great Britain and
France?
This is the iveliest question in the
worlds great financial centers today.
A year ago American and French
financial opinion was merged IN insist
ing that Egland should stabilize the
pound.
When the dollar left the gold stand
ard last April, Britain began a tenta-
tive stabilization of its currency in re-
lation to the French franc, and French
and Britain financial policies, after
years of bitter antagonism, came to-
gether in a demand for sterilization
of the dollar.
French Disappointed.
Failure of a stabilization agreement
including the dollar at the World Eco
nomic Conference last Summer was a
bitter pill to the French, and they
sought unSucceSSfully to persuade the
British to commit themselves to keep
the pound stable in relation to the
franc.
Then there was still hope in England
and France that the United States
might be willing to stabilize the dollar
by Autumn. November has arrived
with the United States not only de-
clining to stabilize its currency, but tax
Ing aggressive measures to force it
down, although indicating a desire to
cooperate to avoid unnecessary dis
turbance to other currencies.
The British financial authorities, ap-
parently, cannot decide whether to try
to push sterling down along with the
dollar, and run the risk Of raising the
cost Of living in England or whether to
keep 1t pegged to the gold currencieS
and see the dollar go to a level which
would give the American exporter a
pronounced advantage over the British
exporter.
France. which officially returned to
the gold standard only five years ago.
after years of confusion following the
World War, finds herself the last
stronghold of the free gold standard,
and defending her position with her
back to the wall. Already undermined
by large adverse balance of trade and
fiscal crisis, she finds herself
threatened not only by the decline in
the dollar. but by American purchases
from her store of gold.
Prepares for Embargo.
Knowing we'll that she has been
blamed by the British for precipitating
the collapse of the gold standard in
London two years ago, France now
prayS that the British monetary
authorities will not weaken the posi-
tion Of the franc by marking down the
pound in relation to gold along with
the dollar. And she prepares to put an
embargo on gold exports, thus aban-
dOning the free gold standard, should
American purchases of metal In Paris
reach large proportions.
American authorities have made it
clear that their monetary program is
designed wholly to deal with the Amer
ican internal situation, and that they
have no desire to provoke anything in
the nature of currency war" Initial
foreign gold purchases have been
small.
Nevertheless, the decline in the dollar
to we'll under its old parity with the
pound sterling, more than wiping out
the recent advantage of the British
exporter in world markets, has pro-
voked a howl from British industrial
interests
At the same time that it was an
nounced in Washington this week that
the British war debt negotiations had
come to naught-and it was widely be-
lieved that these discussions seriously
concerned themselves with the question
of currency stability-it was announced
in London that England had withdrawn
from President R0OSeVeltS tariff truce