described as a great "pump-priming"
At first the money asked for_ was Scheme. Its expenditure would re lease the tigger and start private] industry moving. Little is now heard of the pump-priming" aspects of the measure. The President appears 10} be content f> rely upon private business improvement to bring about recovery. The administration in its unofficial utterances is emphasizing the fact that the purpose and spirit of the programme is solely to provide work-relief. Quite apart from any Question of improper use, the employment of several million men just Defore the elections nex? year with the ald of federal money would inevitably have a beneficial effect upon Roosevelt's political chances.
'A final consideration to which the administration are turning anew the importance of international trade, and closely linked with that the neces-Sity for reaching some kind of provisional currency understanding with Great Britain. The very best reciprocity treaties in the world, the group engaged in negotiating trade agreements under the special powers granted the President last year are insisting, cannot be really effective until there reasonable certainty about exchange rates. Fixed obstacles, such as tariffs, do not have nearly so deterrent an effect as fluctuating obstacles such as exchanges. When America talks of stable exchanges she thinks first of! the sterling rate. 'The British Chancellor of the Exchequer has taken the definite stand that before stability of any kind is achieved' the possibility fof turmer dollar devaluation must be removed and that the ratio between pound and dollar must, be, Tower than the former parity. The first point would present no difficulty, but the second Is a stumbling block. Few Americans will admit that the pound is overvalued compared with the dollar, and will have nothing do with a suggested ratio of $4.50 or Tess to the pound.
Nevertheless it is highly probable that currency talks will be initiated by Washington this Summer or early Autumn when Congress has risen, when the British jubilee celebrations fare over and when, as is considered here highly probable, the gold bloc countries have been forced fo abandon their fight to preserve the present old gold parities of their currencies.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.