British Debt Settlement
Boost Business U p
Babson Says Important Developments Are Near at Hand
In International Debt Situation; Shows How Bus
iness Would: Benefit Prom An Agreement
pV ROGER W. BABSON,
< out right 1933, by Publishers
Financial Bureau.
Babson Park. Fla.. Jan. 28.-Ap
proaching settlement of the British
deb' is indicated by the recent con
ftience at the White House. This may
pr (AV the necessary spark to set in
motion a real revival in security prices
commodities and business. Both Presi
dent Hoover and Presidtnt-elect
Roosevelt realize that settlement of
»he British debt is a necessary pre
liminary to stabilizing t ht pound, ster
ling. and hence to stabilizing the ex
changes of many countries whose cur
rencies are linked to sterling. Since
depreciattd and fluctuating foreign
exchanges are today one of the chief
drawbacks to rising prices in the
United States, including farm prices,
some setUlment of war debts would
be vital, constructive move. One sug
gestion is that Great Britain may be
allowed to pay. at a reduction from
the present debt, a lump sum as a
final stttlement, raising the money
through u large bond issue.
How Business Would. Benefit.
1 have never advocated cancellation
of 'he war debts and I do not now.
However, some rtasonable revision of
the deb's seems inevitable and salu
tary. The United States is faced with
two alternatives first, to rtf use a rea
sonable revision, force Britain to de
fault, get no money, and hold back
world recovery, including our own;
or second, accept a reasonable com
promise with Britain and rtceive a
large payment, sufficient indeed to
balance our budget for the current
fiscal year without additional taxe3.
Although 1‘ seems doubtful that the
prtsent Congress can do much toward
such a settlement, the way is being
paved for early action In the next ad
ministration. Perhaps oosevelt may
make 'bis his master stroke, for which
ihe Democratic admlinistCation will
g>t credit in the future as having
broken the world depression.
The United States should insist,
however that in return for the revision
of the British dept, England should
stabilize the pound sterling, prefer
ably on a .gold basis, even though be
low its old-time parity This would
stabilize other exchanges and makt
possible the resumption of more nor
mal trade relations. The settlement
of ihe British debt would at onct bene
fi' United States business in the fol
lowing ways: (1) By stabilizing ex
changes, it would increase our export
trade of both industrial and farm pro
ducts. (2> It would pave the way for
internal ional monetary agrtements
'hat would prevent dumping of foreign
goods in our markets at ruinous
prices. (3) It would restore financial
confidence in world recovery; stocks
and bonds would rise; banks would
loan more freely to our industries;
ccnirnodities would advance; and the
whole machinery of business would
nceive a strong impulse for increased
activity. (4) It would help restore
good will between two great nations
and pave the way for reduction of
’ariffs, armament restriction, and ul
timate reduction of heavy tax burdens.
Should Preserve Gold Standard-
Even though the United States
might eventually revalue the goltt
ounce to relieve internal distress and
help in trade competition with rer
valorized foreign currencies, gold is
'ill 'he accepted standard to which
world currencies should be tied. If we
insist on drawing gold from England
for war debts, instead of allowing her
to revise and refund her debts thro
ugh bond issues, we effectually pre
vent her from returning to the gold
standard. We also prevent her from
stabilizing 'he currencies of a dozen
o'her na'ions with whom we trade.
Far better for our farmers and work
s's that, we arrange a final settlement
of these war debts, and thus bring
order out of chaos in foreign ex
changes. Owing to the drop in the
value of the British pound and other
currencies, our farmers and manu
facturers are at a great disadvantage.
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T, en °f the twenty-two survivors of the foundered British freighter
Xfcter City, photographed on their.arrival) in New York aboard the
®»cue ship, American Merchant. The captain and three members of
*e crew of the sunken vessel were washed overboard and drowned when
Kigantic wave carried away the bridge of the disabled freighter. The.
u, v, vors were rescued with great difficulty by sailors from the American
Merchant.
Advertise la The Dispatch
They cannot sell, on equal terms
abroad, and they find it very difficult
to compete, with low priced imports
ut home-
Depreciation of foreign exchanges
ranging from 13 per cent to 59 per
cent below the United States dollar is
equivalent t p an added tariff of the
same amount on American exports,
and equivalent to a breaking down of
our tariff on imports. Thus it strikes
our industries and farmers from both
sides.
World Cooperation Needed.
The official view is that Great Bri
tain, having met her debt obligations
faithfully, is entitled to every con
sideration in reaching a settlement.
Fiance, however, must first prove her
sincerity by making the payment up
on which she recently and wilfully
defaulted. Some observers believe that
Fiance now repents her hasty action
a.id may soon square up her accounts
as a dramtic gesture for goodwill and
world recovery. At any rate the world
is rapidly learning that recovery can
never come from economic and po
litical warfare. It was individual and
national greed, selfishness, and hatred
that brought about the present trou
bles. When people and nations sub
stitute the Christian spirit of coop
eration for the Un-Christian spirit of
suspicion and hatred, world recovery
will be assured.
Business as registered by the Bab
sonohart now stands at 13 per cent be
low a year ago.
mMg bill
Given Unfavorable Report
by Roads Committee Fol
lowing Hearing
Dally Diaiinti-li Ilnreau,
In the Sir Walter Hotel.
BY .1. C. BASKF.R.VILI..
Raleigh, Jan. 28.—College students
of North Carolina are thanking a
kind-hearted bunch of legislators who
compose the road committee of the
General Assembly today for killing a
measure which would have prevented
many of Miem in the future from bum
ing a ride home over the week-end.
As a result of the roads commit
tee’s action, the students may con
tinue >his practice which has become
in recent years largely associated with
them, but Senator Corey, of Pitt, au
thor of the bill, advances the dire
piediction that if the practice con
tinues, North Carolina’s next genera
tions may be a crowd of bums instead
of gentlemen.
He so told the roads committee in
urging the passage of his bill. He also
informed them that the practice was
becoming ho bad in North Carolina
that people who actually had money
to buy bus and train tickets were re
sorting to “thumbing,” and that North
Carolina is getting the reputation of:
being a hitch-hikers’ paradise.
The bus companies, he said, were
losing fares as soon as the buses
reached the North Carolina-Virginia
line. Virginia has a hitch-hikers’ law
and north-south bound passengers, he
said, often get off at. the State line
and proceed to hitch-hike until they
get to Florida. Not only boys and girls
aie engaged in this practice, he said,
but also ‘respectable looking men and
women.”
Another most expressed opposition
to the Corey bill has come from col
lege students, little or no opposition
was heard in any quarter during the
committee hearing. The committee
men listened to Senator Corey explain
his bill and then voted to report it
unfavorably.
HENDERSON, (N.C;,) DAILY DISPATCH SATURDAY JANUARY 28 1933 -
Are You Hesitating
About Buying
the Things You Need and
I • *
r , Hi i ■
ji ■ ' ■ ■
Can Really Afford?
Does timidity or fear of criticism keep you
from doing a real service to the country
* ’ X
and to the unemployed?
It is true that many people have
been hard hit by the depression
and struggling to make both ends
meet. We all know it is difficult
for them to make many purchases
beyond the bare needs of exist
ence.
There are many thousands of
men and women, however who are
still receiving a fair income and
who could t be of tremendous help
in aiding the business revival. All
you need to .do is to buy the things
you need and can actually afford.
That: doesn’t mean that you
should buy extravagantly, waste
ful ly, or recklessly. It simply
means buying what you need when
you need it in a normal, natural
way. ,
Have you been hesitating about
buying because of timidity or a
fear that you might be criticized?
Exactly the reverse should be true.
• *,
You are doing- a real service to
the country, to the unemployed
and to yourself when you purchase
the things you need and can afford
to buy. Every purchase that you
make now —large ,or small —helps
to create work and wages for those
less fortunate than yourself.
When you buy a new d'reap or a
new pair of shoes or a new radio or
a new refrigerator or a new car
you help so give work and wages
to people in many sections oh the
country. When you have the house
repainted, rooms repapered or the
roof fixed you directly assist other
deserving workmen—perhaps in
your very neighborhood.
Nothing you could possibly do
for those who need; help couldlbe
more helpful ■ or resultful than this.
Sincere, honest, deserving people
everywhere would rather have
work than charity.
That’s the big* broad humanita
rian side of it. The other side
is what it means to you personally
to buy the things you need and can
afford to purchase now. Never
were such bargains available
Never were prices so low.
But price isn’t everything. To
day, as always, quality is the im
portant thing to look for. It pays
to buy standard, trade-marked
merchandise from firms you can
depend on. You’re almost always
disappointed when you experi
ment with some unknown brand
just because it is cheap.
From day to day in this news
paper are advertisements featur
ing many unusual values. Read
them and take advantage of the
opportunities they offer. Business
revival will be speeded up if peo
, pie will'again buy the useful, ne
cessary things they .need and can
afford to purchase.
PAGE SEVEN