MICAWBER POLICY

Chronicle (Levin), 8 July 1949, Page 5

MICAWBER POLICY

lieeeivecl Thursdav, 7 p.m. LONboN, July 7. Wliat Sir Stafford Cripps had to say was 110 surpri.se, says Tlie Times. First aid measures of a restrietive sort offor no reincdy. At best they ean only buy tiine for necessary adjustiuents ia economic policv to stem the tide. The task of tliis country is to jjursue economic Jitness and industrial efiiciency iiy every means. If this is done then a further period of restraint and lestrictiou which is ahead, may lead to a niore hopeful prospect. The Daily Mail says: ' ' Af ter reading a flat, stale, piatitudinous statement from Sir Stafford Cripps/ the eoiintry will ask what is all the fuss about ? Two tliings only will save Britain from disaster — striet economy and hard work. The Chancellor appeals tor neither. Indeed, he disowns both. The poliey of this Govemment begins to reseinble that of Mr. Micawber. They are waiting for something to'tum up. Let them beware lest America is also waiting — for someone to turn

down. ' ' The Daily Express says the . situation demands the bold measure of letting the pound go free and so find its own level. Beyond the standstill announced by Sir Stafford Cripps, there must be a far-reaching transforniation of poliey witli *a free pound as one of "its essential factors. That transforniation will come sw-iftlv if wisdom prevails. PQEEIGN COMMENT Sir Stafford Cripps' refusal to devalue the sterling, disappointed Freneh fmaneiers who had hoped he might have taken this opportunity to move { towards what they ealled "greater economic liberalism, " says Reuter's Paris correspondent. Official sources did not think a restriction on dollar purchases would affPet Anglo-French trade unfavourably. The Conservatire evening newspaper Le Monde, said cutting purchases from the dollar area meant that Britain preferred a further step towards autarehy rather than trying another poliey. ' ' Sir Stafford Cripps' economic doetrine is partly responsible for Britain's present eeonomie crisis, " added Le Monde. M. Charles Barange, rapporteur of the National Assembly's flnance commission, said that for one European country to maintain its curreney over or undervalued in relation to the dollar, was "eompletely contrary to the s'pirit of the Marshall Plan. " Reuter's Rome correspondent says Italiau cjuarters comniented that whatever the British Government 's attitude, sterling was overvalued in relation, to the lira. This was resulting in a flood of sterling into Italy to buy black market dollars. Switzerland saw little encouragement in Sir. Stafford Cripps' statement. Business and official circles pointed out that unless the pound sterling is devalued, Anglo-Swiss trade will follow closely the lines niapped out in the bilateral agreement signed in the spring. Reuter's Brussels correspondent says a high official of the .National Bank of Belgium, commenting on Sir Stafford Cripps' forecast of increased austerity, said: "This is Cripps ' fatal obstinaey which is bound to prol'ong economic eliaos in Europe." We ha^e followed the opposite poliey and the results are there to prove we were right. "