Whether Mr, Montagu Norman ought to have informed the Government before releasing the gold is perhaps an open question. His dic-tutorial ways and theatrical pose of mystery have made him thoroughly unpopular, and this incident will not make him less so. The great point, however, is that we should not contribute however indirectly to Germany's plundering of the Czechs, and supply her with more money to spend on armaments, The position of the Bank of International Settlements is well summed up in today's "Dally Telegraph": he Bank (it says) was founded as a "Central Bank for Central Banks," with the express object of facilitating a totally non-political conduct of international financial transactions. This purpose has been defeated by the high-y political and controversial action of the Bank in transferring the Czech gold to unauthorized claimants. If, as appears, the Bank is to become an instrument for aiding and abetting in aggression then the sooner its statutes are radically revised the better.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.