The Taihape Daily Times. AND WAIMARINO ADVOCATE THURSDAY, AUGUST 7, 1919. THE AMERICAN FINANCE VULTURE.

Taihape Daily Times, 7 August 1919, Page 4

The Taihape Daily Times. AND WAIMARINO ADVOCATE

THURSDAY, AUGUST 7, 1919. THE AMERICAN FINANCE VULTURE.

With which is incorporatec‘ “The Taihape Post and Waimarino : News.”

The American inflation of dollar value, as compared with the depreciated British pound «sterling, is givng rise to much dissatisfaction and resentment in all British eonimercial and industrial circles. Sir Joseph Ward has stated the fall in the exchange rate of the pounds sterling is very serious as; affecting trade. It is notable that American finance methods in this respect are being met with much resentment -from every part of the British Empire, and, with Sir Joseph Ward, all are determinedly urging that something must be done to bring about a more just and re'ac~ionable'nlon'e‘y status. If the depression’of‘the’ pound‘,-sterling only aifected Britain,‘ the "difficulty would be. negligible, but when it is=-understood thjat all‘ Europe pays‘ America for what is purchased oll"ai:pound sterling basis it will be"_L=aee'rl‘ :to what thc‘lates't~ Yankee financial swoop will -approxi-I mately amount to. It will be claimed by Americans that the -rate of exchange is purely a matter of supply and demand; that the demand for commodoties is gl'e.a.ter than Americans can cope with, and,‘ on the other hand, America has no demand for either European money or goods. But, is it

"°not rather a procedure that might be attributed to the most daring of trusts’ and combines? We have found America very ready to lend money to the Allies, fiI‘SIZ for war purposes, and se-rondly, for recuperation of devastated countries, and purchase of food for starving populations. With the lending ’ of the money, there was a great flourish of humanity, honour, justice, and freedom but was all this not the liplvirtue of the Yankee salesman? Of lcouitae those cases in which American lldollars have been loaned to pay for American commodities full value of the dollar is presumably received, but” the pinch is felt when theborrowing people pay back the principal and'inlterest, which are inyariably in the i pound stei-ling,” at V present Sterling value in America, as the Yanks will only give credit for slightly less than eighteen shillings for every pound [paid as interest or principal. -Many months ago some Amerc-ans of the more ferocious, frenzied financtz class made it fairly clear that they intended Ito make New York the centre of the [financial world, the clearing-house of i the world’s operations, and in this con- ‘ neetion it will no E.-0011 how those finance fiends have, by this rate of exchange, raised the indebtedness of all other parts ofthe world to. America. In ordinary trading, say, with New Zealand, it is, as Sir Joseph Ward pointed I out to our dieadvaiitage to trade with . America in any way. If all our trade iwere done through the respective | Governments, at cleal'il7g‘ time imports ‘might be set against e:~:ports—pul'l c-hases against caales~and the difference {of exchange rate made -applicable [to the balance, if any, in Ame:-ica’s l favour. But that is not the case ; if lthe merchant in New Zealand buys from America it is at a price in American currency, and if the American buys from New Zealand it is at New Zealand’s quotation in pounds sterling. New Zealanders must pay sufficient of the depreciated pound. sterling to make up the price in tlolm lava, that will be clearly understood;, but what Sir Joseph VVard means when he says: “As New Zealand is an ex-l porting country of natural products,! it is most important that somethingi should be done,” is that not only does 1 the American seller to us make .us pay ! the dollar value, but the American pur— I char.-er will only pay us in his cm-1-ency, for What We sell to him, which at the Present lime is over two shillings less than ‘The pound sterling. In other “'ol'd'”*: W 0 I"!dol‘Sta.ncl Sir Joseph Ward ’fo 53)’ We shall only receive eighteen shillings for every D01ln(l’S worth of our Wool, meat, or other commodity we may sell to America. So it. will be seen illflt Wllflvtevel‘ the =transacti’on with America may be—purclla{3e or sa]e__WC

are at a two-shillin'g‘s-'in-the-pound disadvantaga If We ‘buy a million’s Worth We niust pay £IOO,OOO more than the million; if We sell a rniillion’s W°l'tll ‘Of 0111‘ produce we must take £IOO,OOO less than the million for it. oth°”"is°; the exportation of our products to America would not be affected by any depreciation of the British pound that the American exchange rate I“‘mlPllL3‘t°l' might, with a stroke of the Pen: decide upon. Truly may our ol‘StWhil:9 German enemies say that America. went into the war purely from 3- “mighty dollar” point of view, Well 11153’ it Cause some twinge of conncience in’ President Wilson to take any part of «the indemnity that Germany has to ‘pay, for’ in awry little while America will doubly and trebly exact from 1101‘ Allies every cent spent for war purposes. It iS__plaill {hat although America Went -to war for the rights of small nations, for honour, justice, freedom, and liberty for all that the Pilgrim Fathers stood for she is taking P3.V“IOII’C in almighty dollars. Honour and liberty are all right as zslogans. to fight for but payment 0 in dollars is more to the Yankee purpose; they are something to fight for, but of no value in paying bills. Above all, it is. plain that America intends -to compel the Allies to pay, and donbly pay, for all the assistance Americans ‘have given in winning the war. They tell us business is business, andthey consider that if_they_can so engineer things as to mak:e ‘their brd.thers-in-arnl~s against a common enemy, pay theirs as well an their own bill of costs, it is quite a legitimate proceeding. What else can be expected from the land in which the most unholy trusts, combines, rings and syndicates were given birth and nurtured, to become -a curse and a parasite upon the indueitlry of all other countries. There is no greater crime on earth ‘than modern commercialism; evidcnce of the truth of this is present in an overwhelming volume of -horror, of robbery, murder, riotousnesn, starvation, and slavery. The American finance trust, is now‘ making itself felt in its decision that it will only give us eighteen shillings for every twenty fshllings’ worth of our produce which will still further tend to cause internicine strife throughout the British ;Empir_e., Something must be done, sat-ys Sir. ,Jo,seph.___l.lV‘ard,_, but what can .r we .do to; render; .ourselves. safe from the :latcst:_American loctopus, but _: entirely sever; business .relationship with Americans ,andA.,cvei_-ytmhing American. For Amcr.ic.a».._tO say ithat we need hcrWcomm‘od,ties, and that America does not necd_ ours is merely a pretence for -the latest act of sheer robbery, and has no baisc upon fact. Those American goods we are purchasing, such as motor ..Cal'S, ‘motor spiri-ts, kcrcisenc, will most liliely reflect the depreciation of the pound sterling by a fifteen to vtwcnuty per cent rise in price. It is the characteristic Yankee trading methods; weare hoodwinked into doing our carting and cultivation by mentor lorries .and_ -trz:i‘ct=ol's, and then up goes, the price‘ of motor spirit’, out of all coniparisop ‘with!’ its _cost value. The peaceful penetration, we drew attention to on a. previous occasion, is as cruel and renrorseless. in its methods and operation; is as -destructive to peoples and human life, as the milltarism of Germany, and it now seems evident that what Germany failed in ft. going to be made a success by American trading and finance trusts. What are the puny efforts of New Zcaland profiteers going to do in saving their country that they should be persisted in while they are confrontorl with 3. national danger? American trustis are encouraging us to become a house divided a.ga’inst itself, and it is the trusts’ intention, while capital and labour, employers, and employees, v:.hop-keepers and their customers, rich and poor, are mixed up ‘in tumultuous strife, even to a life and death struggle, to step in and take possession of our all. Will not this arbitrary fixing Of Our pound istei-ling at over two”sllilliugs short of its value convince us of the nature of the new shark that has seized upon -our production‘ and trade‘? It not, then disaster most surely awaits us. We are not indebted to America. but we are part... of the 81-itfsh Empire that is hugely in debt to America, and we cannot repudiate our connection in’ that respect.