Parliament Our Parliamentary Correspondent writes : The chief event of
the Parliamentary- week has been the Prime Minister's account of the results of his visit to Washington. Discretion had to be the better part of valour in reporting upon conversations which dealt only with intentions, but at least the intentions of both Governments by the grace of God, Congress, and the House of Commons were made pretty clear. Both want, in the matter of War Debts, a provisional arrangement to tide over June 15th and the proceedings of the World Economic Conference. Both want a final settlement to be negotiated during the Conference. Both want sta- bilization of currencies presumably in relation to gold, though the ratio which sterling should bear to the dollar will probably prove a stiff hurdle. Both also want a tariff truce during the Conference, though this country must reserve the right to complete its trade and fiscal negotiations now in progress.. Indeed, a truce when the Runciman tariff is in operation here and the Hawley- Smoot tariff is in operation in the United States, and when the dollar exchange may soar or be kicked sky-high might well be a case of "heads, I win ; tails, you lose."
Previous page
