MUST SUCCEED

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 557, 14 June 1933, Page 5

MUST SUCCEED

(British OfBcial Wireless)

PREMIER'S SPEECH

Rec. June 13. Rugby, June 12. Upon his return to the conferenee after escorting- the King, Mr. Ramsay MacDonaid addressed the conferenee and briefly outlined the State of the world that had made the. conferenee necessary."The economic life of the world," he said, "has for years been sufferirig from a decline which closed factories, limited employment, reduced the standards of living, brought some states to the verge of banlcruptcy and inflieted upon others recurring Budgets that cannot be balanced. Sirice 1929 prices have fallen and kept Well below the level at which production can be remunerative. They have fallen irregularly moreover, and have distorted normal economic relationship. The fall in prices has added oppressively to the burden of the world indebtedness. "In 1932, compared with 1929 production of raw material fell 30 per cent. and the exchange hetween town and country had been tragically limited. "The national income has fallen seriously everywhere — in some countries between 40 and 50 per cent. The general crisis, accentuated hy restrictions, by tariffs, by quotas, and exchange control, has reduced international trade betiveen 1929 and 1932 to less than threequarters in volume, exchanging at about half price. "Inevitably, irrespective of policy of for-ms of Government, unemployment has mounted until the world figure has reached 30,000,000. This cannot go on." Behind the snbjects he had mentioned Mr. MacDonaid said there was another of first rate importance namely war debts. The conferenee was not constituted in such a way as to enablddt to consider and settle this matter but he added that the war debts question must'be'dealt' with before every obstacle to a general recovery has been removed, and it must be taken up without delay by the nations concerned. "Lausanne has to be completed, and this vexed question settled once. and for all in the light of present world conditions. This conferenee is the sequel to the work done at Lausanne last year, when hy a conditional agreement on how to deal with war debts and reparations Europe was saved from immediate financial collapse. "The world could not right itself without international agreement. "The last few years had proved that a purely national economic policy impoverished other nations and those who pursued it. "The nearer they could make the world an economic unit the better would it be for each nation." The Prime Minister stressed that rapidity of agreement was essential to success. On the proposal of the President, the bureau of the conferenee was constituted as follows, one' representative from the delegation of* each of the following countries: Argentine, Ghina, Czechoslovakia, Franee Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands,' Spain, Sweden, United States, Union of Soviet Republics, and one British Dominion, Canada. The conferenee will resume tomorrow when Mr. Cordell Hull (United States) will be. among the speakers.