The Guardian And Evening Star, with which is in corporated the West Coast Times. MONDAY, JULY 20th, 1931. WORLD FINANCE'.

Hokitika Guardian, 20 July 1931, Page 4

The Guardian And Evening Star, with which is in corporated the West Coast Times. MONDAY, JULY 20th, 1931. WORLD FINANCE'.

The flood gates of criticism in regard to- finance will be let loose by tile appearance of the- report of the Macmillan Committee a,t Home on finance and ■.industry. T'ne report is the conipilatioh of a. committee of bankers and economists', and so such must command a high deree of respect. Looking to the conclusion^ reached by the experts, however, it is difficult to focus the mind on any part of the report wiliest points to a direct remedy for the difficulties of world flnance to day. The report appears at the moment whore Europe is very completely upset by tne financial situation on the continent, and with the- desperate position there, it should be possible to- turn to the Macmillan report, and say, here is the cure for the- trouble. But the remedy to meet the impasse in German finance is not there, and other nations rejnain involved in the network of international .liability. The report in itself suggests international co-operation, a suggestion often put forward in the scheme for a central clearing bank; but with the international commitments it Is difficult in the extreme to reach a practical basis on which to found such a financial instrument to operate in world cure. Tt would appear really, that till the war debts settlement is on a clearer basis, international] finance will remain involved. Under the present moratorium covering a year’s holiday in -payments there i, s but one stage in regard only to a temporary remedy. At the end of the year, the debts will be there still, a.nd countries will he faced with the night mare of the overburden they are endeavouring to carry to the crippling of their internal finance and the dislocation of their own industries which are the proper channel for employment and production,, from which finance is created. The world depression is so serious that some gesture far more decisive than any yet attempted is called tor. Mr Hoover’s pro ont plan, it has been sard, is the forerunner of a greater proposal, to solve the position, hut the cancellation of the war debts is being regarded as the. truest solution of the

problem. The countries have had something like' twelve year's to put their finances in order -since peace followed war, -• but even that period has. served qhly to show the difficulties 1 of the situation, and there has not been a real effort to unload the debts satisfactorily. Huge burdens of debts with the attendant crushing taxation have to be faced for years Jo c.me. This piospect is most alarming and; certainly depressing, and probably bound up in it is the generic cause of the world slump and depresun. The immediate future offers but little hope for an early recovery, and the strain and drain of the debts and the taxation are really the crippling factors in the world financial troubles to-day. The report above referred to, probably accepts that conclusion where it suggests that there is the iieecl for aii iutn national agreement, and t> i'each that is the difficulty, as we see just flow in the settlement of the Germ ail financial agreement. Live report lias its special value iii the illuminating views On Various economic aspects, oh which opinions are given, and to that extent will form the basis of many intimate discussions on matters of finance, but for a long time to come yet, apparently the nations will have to grapple with their own financial problems as best they can in all the local circumstances.