Evening star., 1934-12-09
Recovery in England and America
BY FREDERIC ]. HASKIN.

the Americans sailed forth to meet
the enemy.
The British, for one thing, aben.
doned their age-long policy OF free
trade and erected a protective tariff.
This had the effect Of increasing the
activity Of domestic suppliers Of goods
which formerly had been freely i'm
ported. Then there was the Ottawa
Conference, which created a sort of
customs union among the British fam
lily of nations The various parts Of
the empire agreed to favor each other,
rather than the outside world, in
trade relations. There was some aid
to domestic agriculture in the way of
stimulating supply, thus reducing the
import requirements and keeping
money at home. On the whole, q
short list OF measures.
In contrast the American expedi-
ents include so many remedies that
the merest list would require VOL
ume. First, there was the arbitrary
closing of every bank in the country,
q. major operation undertaken in the
belief that 1t was necessary to allow
a breathing SPELL Then there was the
deliberate departure from the gold
standard and the practical declaration
that gold ownership was public mo-
nopoly. There followed the gold bonus
and revaluation and then action add
ing silver to the metal monetary re-
serve.
Some of the American Methods.
The agricultural problem, Of course,
was far different here as compared
with England, although not different
from the Canadian and Australian
problems. Agriculture was put under
a regime Of curtailed production and
market management, including
large-scale subsidization Of producers,
supported by the special processing
tax. Then the National Recovery
Administration was set up to re-
make American industry and trade,
putting almost all business under
codes Of some kind.
The housing industry was stimulate
ed by special legislation, and Govern
ment organizations were set up to lend
financial aid to failing enterprises.
The pathway of imitation was opened
wide and conscious efforts made TO
raise both wages and prices. especially
prices. Direct relief was extended to
millions and public works were under.
| taken on a vast scale with the prl-
mary purposes of creating jobs for
the idle.
In the foreign field, barter ex-
changes were arranged with foreign
countries to insure supplies Of certain
needed products from outside and fur
rish an outlet for surpluses here. The
flexible tariff was used, together with
certain codes, to keep competitive
goods out of the domestic market. A
move was made to enter into rec1pro-
cal tariff agreements with foreign
nations.
In view Of the aggressive attack
being made, necessitattng unprece-
dented pouring out of money, any ell
fort to balance the budget, save on
paper and at long range, was known
to be useless. Taxes were increased
all along the line, new taxes imposed.
and borrowing on the most colossal OF
peace-time scales was resorted to
while, meantime, the printing presses
stood ready to turn at noo from the
President The legislation was pro-
vided authorizing such use.
These are the principal contrasting
measures. No one can say with Ger
tainty which. in the long run, will
prove to have been the better method.
While Great Britain appears to be re-
covering more rapidly, 1t must be re.
membered that she has been de-
pressed longer. The most gratifying
part of the picture is that, whatever
the method pursued, both nations uow
seem well on the road to recaptured
prosperity.