London, Aug 3.
'As everyone' ktiows, there. ive, some time this' autumn, Economic Conference under the spices of the League of Nation this gathering it is proposed discuss the difficulties which now lie in the way of recovery, especial-in Europe, to something like the pre-war standard of. comfort and prosperity.
That such & cosiference could pio-Jduce enormous benefits no-one can doubt, if it were accompanied by fall and frank discussion of the pro-leesses by which Europe is strang-Jing her own trade and, above all, if the practical conclusions arrived lat wet® adopted and carried out by ithe Governments which are now busy on the strangling process; that is to say, by all the Governments lof the world. All of them are hard fat' work by prohibitions, tariffs, Customs regulations, passport, form ties and every device that can invented by an ingenious bure jeracy, backed by Parliaments with interests to placate, to prevent the free movement of goods, men and feapital from one country to lather, and then they feel hurt and surprised because international trade is slack and home trade does not §;|seem to flourish as much as might have been expected at the, expense in the|of the foreign goods and people.
fand money whose movement is restricted. with the task of winning the supe [port of the electorate, whose baff-ting psychology they have to study more closely than the facts of economic life; and in the second, they. fare always obsessed by the notion lof their own national dignity and fare ready to stop their ears to the best possible advice, if they can suspect any danger that it may moke suggestions which would imply any interference with the divine right of Governments to make mess of the governmental joi Already, months before the conference is Tikely to meet, a voice lof protest, has been raised in Australia against, any discussion of the Jdomestic concerns of that flourish jing Dominion, At the end of July, labour leader, Mr, Chariton, subz mitted a motion in the House of Representatives at Melbourne to the effect that the Australian delegates should oppose strenuously any. at tempt to include matters of domestic" concern in the agenda of the Econo: mic Conference. He said that the league was trending on dangerous ground in proposing to investigate immigration, tariffs, or the relation Jot area to population. "Australia would not allow any outside body to interfere in these questions" ("The Times," July 28.) Two days later, was announced by Mr. Bruce, in the game assembly, that Mr, Chan achieved. its Theory Without Practice It is true that the experience of {former economic conferences does, not lead one to expect much practical result from them. We can all remember what unimpeachable doctrine was preached at the Brussels, Conference which was held in 1920, when it was affirmed by the august Power there represented that the way to economic recovery was the restriction of official expenditure, the balancing of Budgets, the cosse.. ion from inflation and the restoration, as soon and as far ae practicable, of normal trade intercourse be-Most of these piccs opinions were neglected for years Ly most of the signatories and some of them are still waiting to be put in practice.
At the same time, itis just pos sible to hope that' even, Governments have learnt something in the course of the dreary years of disappointment and disillusionment that have followed the Brussels Conferjences. Among those concerned in it is certain that the hard lessons of experience have not been thrown away, and that the example lof the United States, with its vast Customs free area, and its abounding prosperity, is proving to the Continental producer and trader that it is not good for Europe to be split up into a number of small wroos each working to make itself economically self-sufficient. If the Governments have only learnt as much as the, busingss men, the Jcoming Eeononiic Conference really may do something useful,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.