Carolina watchman. [volume] (Salisbury, N.C.) 1871-1937, 1936-10-09

important news since the beginning
of the depresSlon-was the unex
pected announcement that an agree
ment had been reached by the Unit
ed States, England and France, for
the sterilization of the currencies
of the worlds three greatest demo-
c~racies, on a basis of a parity of val
ues.
This was the elimination of a.
forts. which were begun n 1882 and
which took form in the Summer of
1895 in the World Economic Con-
ference held in London. That con-
ference failed to accomplish any,
thing when the United States with
drew its delegates because of
frances stubborn insistence that it
would not cooperate in any move
ment which would reduce the gold
value of the franc.
Since then the political situation
in France has changed and that n.-
tion's steady loss of world trade,
due to the French Governments
maintenance of the franc at a high
er proportion value than the pound
sterling and the dollar, has finally
impressed upon the French people
the importance of equalizing inter-
national exchange. So when France
finally made the proposal to de-
value the franc by about 50 per-
cent, provided England and Ameri-
ca would cooperate in assisting to
maintain its gold value on the new
basis, both of the other nations were
willing to agree.
FORECASTS TRADE REVIVAL
As had been expected, Holland,
Belgium and Switzerland followed
the example of France, so that now,
except for Germany, Italy and Po-
land, all Of the important Euro
pean c~urrencies have been placed on
an equal basis with the c~urrencies
Of Great Britain and America.
Italy is expected to see the light
before long. Germany's financial
position is such that it may be diff
ficult for the Hitler Government
to fall into line. But the results
just arrived at, which followed
weeks of international discussions
over the transatlantic telephone
and through diplomatic channels,
are regarded here as promising to
bring about a restoration of inter-
national trade on a scale which will
be of immeasurable benefit to all
of the nations concerned. Parti-
cularly it is expected to stimulate
our own export market.
RUSSIA'S SALE OF STERLING
The Russian Government is not
a party to the agreement and its
position is as yet uncertain. I'M
mediately after the announcement
had been made that France was
about to devalue the franc and that
an understanding had been arrived
at, the Russian Government offered
a million pounds sterling of British
exchange for sale in New York at
any price it mould bring. This
was Immediately reported to the
Treasury by the Chase National
Bank, and the Treasury notified
the bank that it would take up the
offering at the current market val
ue of $4.e7 to the pound, out of
the exchange sterilization fund of
s2,OOO,Oo0,0oo
This move by the Russian Gov
eminent was interpreted at first as
an effort to depress the pound and
impair the workings of the new
agreement between France, England
and America before it had got fair
ly started. This has been since de-
MED from Moscow, which claims
that it was merely a necessary move
to realize funds with which to
meet obligations maturing in Lon
don.
The whole situation is pointed to
as additional evidence of the close
ness with which the affairs of ev-
cry nation are tied to those of every
other nation, and the consequent
importance of maintaining friendly
relations and putting no unneces-
sary obstacles in the way of the
exchange of commodities with each
other, if any nation, no matter how
peaceful its desire, is to avoid being
entangled in a war.
FORESTALLS EARLY WAR
There is little doubt felt here
that this new international money
agreement has STAYED off the i'm
-,orco ~ ny, :, E,,rono for ~