Evening star., 1949-07-07
British React CoId|y
To Cripps' Plea for
|Continued Austerity
By the Associoted Press

BY the A.seeioted Press
LONDON, July Sir Stafford
Grips call for an all-out rally
by the British people to meet the
dollar crisis" fell with a dull
thud TO-DAY.
First reaction by the nations
newspapers showed hardly spark
of response to the Chancellor of
the Exchequer's statement yes
terday in the House of Commons.
Those which support the Tory
opposition to the Labor govern
ment labeled it "the same old
stuff"
Even independent and Liberal
editorial writer's complained that
the chancellor had done little or
nothing to clear the economic air
with his statement.
The newspapers generally said
this simply means another dose of
austerity and belt tightening with
no sign of way out.
Apathy Greets Speech.
The man in the street greeted
the Cripps talk with apathy.
Among working folk who rode
the buses and subways this morn
ing there was little discussion of
it. There was no visible alarm
that the sterling area is down to
it's last 81 1000 900 in gold and
dollars, which have been declining
steadily.
Cripps' statement that Britain
cannot afford "the ridiculous lux
ury of politically inspired strikes"
failed to bulge more than 5000
dockers who are holding more than
100 ships idle at London docks.
The men walked out in SYM
pathy with the crews of Canadian
ships who belong to union con-
demned by its opponents as Com
munist led. Today the govern
ment sent 300 troops to unload
food from the strikebound cargo
vessels.
No End to Uncertainty.
The influential independent
Manchester Guardian expressed
one common complaint of the
editorial writer's: The chancellor's
speech did nothing to end the un-
certainty over the dollar position.
"Britain's earnings Of dollars
will not revive until the British
government shows that it has a
policy for making them revive
or for cutting spending to our
income, said the Guardian.
Some delay in making policy
is, of course, now inevitable, but
it is essential that all the inter-
national talking should be done
as quickly as possible.
1T is almost as important that
the American Congress should
soon let us know how much Mar
shall aid there is to be this year.
Freeing of Pound Demanded.
Lord Beaverbrook' Daily Ex-
press, which heWs to an imperial
ist policy, demanded immediate
freeing" of the pound to find
its own, level" in world exchanges.
Ecripps told Parliament he has no
intention of removing the pres
ent official peg of $404.
Said the Express:
What the situation demands is
the bold measure of letting the
pound go free, so that it can find
it's true level and win confidence
that nothing can shake
The conservative Evening News
headed it's editorial on the speech
Familiar Stuff"
Nothing but words. words,
words" said the News. 1t said
the time for pious exhortations is
past" and asserted the govern
ment must give sign OF moving
on from from talk to resolute and
courageous action"
Problem Seen Up to United States.
The first French newspapers to
comment took the line that Brit
aims move to slash dollar imports
has put the problem forcibly up to
America.
Europe cannot get along with
out American raw materials. oil
cotton, leather, tobacco. etc." said
the Socialist LIE Populaire in Paris
The United States. equally
cannot renounce the European
markets without provoking gen.
eral crisis, in their industry as well
as agriculture.
The independent Paris LIE Figaro
said Britain surely would mot re-
fuse to study the possibility of de-
valuation if America would pro-
vide additional aid as a supple
mentary measure.
The Communist press hailed the
Cripps statement as proof that the
European recovery program has
begged down.
"Fiasco of the Marshall Plan, :"
was the headline on the story in
Soviet-licensed Berlin newspapers.
The controlled Czechoslovakian
press said Britains troubles stem
from "the economic crisis in the