SILVER PARITY

Hokitika Guardian, 16 May 1931, Page 4

SILVER PARITY

AD DP ESS BY MR DARLING. (Australian Press Association) (Received 9.5 a.m.) OTTAWA, May 15. J. F. Darling, director of the MidI land Bank, addressing the Banking i and Commercial Committee of tUe House of Commons to-day, suggested that tlie British Empire should take a lead in a definite programme to restore the value of silver. He expressed the opinion that Canada was in a position to take t'e* leadership at the coming Imperial Conference. Ottawa would he an excelelnt place to start the restoration and Premier Bennett would he an excellent man to initiate the programme. Something had to be done to rescue the world from the economic morass into which it was sinking, Mr Darling declared. He emphasised the impossibility of carrying studendous debts resting • on nation s of the British Empire under the existing price levels. The same was the case with United States and other nations. The present scale of wages could not be maintained unless,. something was done to lift the prices of commodities. The great need of the world was higher price levels. Mr Darling outlined a scheme contomplating the formation of an Empire Bank, which would make possible a bimetallic basis of currency, silver fit-tog res to: d to its place alongside,, gold, with a value ratio of one to twenty in favour of gold, instead of the existing ratio in which gold was seventy to eighty times a s valuable as silver. This would restore to India and other countries, using silver currency. a wealth purchasing power which they enjoyed before the deflation of their metal.

The restoration of silver would mean, of course, the immediate enhancement of the wealth of those holding silver, but it would he permanent, enabling these peonle to purchase with their increased wealth. If the Empire took the lead, he thought all portions of the world using silver currency would join in the move. He hoped that United States would join, in view of their immense international debts. Should silver begin to slip in value compared with gold, it could he regulated by the nations accepting debt payments in silver. A big step jn the proposal would be the immediate acceptance of debt payments in silver by United States and Britain regards the proposal for an International Conference.

Mr Darling said that before the conference could meet and work out the remedy he was afraid , the ship would be foundered under l\is scheme. A sup. erbank of Empire to belong to the Gov. eminent of Empire would be established in such a way that no single part of the Empire would have control. The bank would act a s an automatic adjustment machine between two metals. The bank must have something wRh which to purchase gold and silver. He suggested the Bank have a bookkeeping unit which ho had termed the rex, SILVER .PROBLEM. WASHINGTON, May 15. The Under Secretary of State, Air Castle, said that the United States was prepared to participate in an International Conference to discuss the silver problem.