The midland journal., 1945-03-30
World Monetary Plans II
Seen as Boon 10 Trade
Funds Would Help Restore Production and
Stimulate Exchange Of Goods In
i. Postwar Era, Treasury Says.
WNU Service, Union Trust Building
Washington, ID. G.
BY BAUKHAGE
Netos Analyst and Commentator.

WNU Service, Union Trust Building
Washington, ID. G.
have just come from luncheon
Of creamed chicken and rice, green
salad and trimmings. The food was
not, however, the interesting part OF
the affair. The flood for thought"
that went with It, was. And 80 was
the setting. We were served from
large oval table In the conference
room Of the United States treas
ury. The hosts were Secretary OF
the Treasury Henry Morgenthau and
a squad of his fiscal experts.
The subject of the conversation
was the same one which was dis
cussed at many Of the more than
200 conferences which took place
around that same table and which
led up to the Breton Woods none
tary conference last July. Today
that same subject Is before Con-
gress in the form Of pending legisla-
tion which would authorize Ameri-
can participation in an international
bank of reconstruction and develop
ment and an international monetary
fund.
Upon the passage of this legisla-
ton and the creation of the bank
and fund, the master-minds on
money matters tell me, depends
the success of any world security
organization which may come out Of
the United Nations meeting at San
Francisco.
Ain, to Stop
Economic Warfare
The reason for that statement,
boiled down to its essence is this:
you can't stop international warfare
unless you stop economic war
fare.
Economic warfare in this sense
means international trade practices
not in the common good-spe-
officially some of the practices In
dulged in by nations competing for
foreign trade before and after the
grand smash of '29.
How is this warfare to be re-
strained?
Quid pro quo, Of course. In the
vicious fight for trade after the
war large number Of nations will
have three strikes on them to start.
They are wrecked, some physically
and a great many more financially,
politically, economically. Those
which will emerge less affected by
the war scourge, like the United
States, will be equally affected II
they have nobody with money or
credit enough to buy their goods.
Therefore in exchange for an
agreement to abide by certain fair
practices as we might call them,
and contributions in cash or its
equivalent, under the Breton Woods
agreement a nation would receive
membership in an international
bank which would guarantee pri-
vate loans-make some Director
the purpose Of reconstruction and
development so they can build fac
tories and do other things necessary
to create goods to sell and earn
money to buy. These loans would
be loans In which the risk is too
great for a private institution to
take, and which if they were made
and bonds offered to the public the
public wouldn't touch. But guaran-
teed by the international bank over
long term, private bankers would
lend the money and the public, with
the word of A nations behind the
bonds, would hardly be skittish.
The monetary fund would be
created for the purpose Of stabiliz-
ing exchange, and facilitating the
growth of international trade. The
members would agree to tie their
exchange to the gold standard and
not change it unless the governors
and directors of the fund ap-
prove. This would stop, among other
things, what amounts to impos-
ing hidden tariffs on foreign goods
by changing the rates Of exchange
Of country's currency in terms Of
other nations currency. In their
mad efforts to export goods at any
price and get credits abroad, the
Germans had all sorts of different
kinds Of marks that had one value
here and another there.
AS to the administration Of the
bank and fund, very careful
system has been worked out regu-
lating the amount Of financial
responsibility each country would
have. The figure would be based on
the trade of nation over certain
past period with some other modi-
fications. For instance, the United
States would assume roughly one
third of the financial response
3 L. Al.s..A "a xxn&ns,