COWRIE SHELLS INSTEAD OF STERLING?
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By. the "Inspector."
AWEEK or two ago I wrote a short note in these pages suggesting that there was a possible way out of the present financial deadlock—a deadlock which has brought about the position that, while there are numberless prospective customers all over the world, at herne and overseas, these customers are in the position of not being able to buy-what they want in the way of commercial mechanical transport for the simple reason that they cannot see their way to finance such purchases. The tightness and shortage of money is, at the moment; of course, preventing orders being placed which will have to be given out sooner or later, and will have to be financed in some way or other as an. intrinsic forerunner of the ultimate recovery of commercial activity. Transport is one of the first. things that will have to be gat going again as briskly as ever, when trade shows any signs of reviving.
My suggestion, when I previously wrote of this subject, was that if money was not forthcoming it would be Well worth our while to consider the pcsssibilitsr of reverting, for the time being at any rate, to • some system of barter or exchange in kind. Instances of negotiations of this nature have already been made public, although, apparently, they have so far been few in number.
Following this suggestion in The Corn,mercial Motor, it is interesting to find that Sir Charles Sykes, speaking at Huddersfield a few weeks ago, developed this idea to a large public audience, which showed every evidence of sympathetic and interested attention. The idea is an attractive one, of course, but there are very great difficulties in putting it into action in anything like concrete form. It seems simple enough, for instance, if we have machinery of various kinds which we can supply to people who are in urgent need of it,_ whilst those people have that material—perhaps raw or partly finished—which we ourselves badly want. Exchange, then, should. be possible to negotiate.
But when we come to 'examine the facts, so far as they can be ascertained, the difficulties in the way are very great indeed. It would undoubtedly take a considerable while to set up th6 necessary machinery to negotiate adequate bargains of this kind. The necessary arrangements would be far more varied and complicated than when money is the medium of exchange—the actual token or value. Each negotiation would require very. specific technical knowledge of qualities and values on both sides, whereas when an article is paid for by money, one side of the bargain at any rate is of very definite and ascertainable value. A system of trade by barter would be nothing like so simple a task to a complex community such as ours of to-day as it was to the savage who knew exactly how many cattle a. wife ought to cost, or to the earlier civilized peoples who had far fewer commodities with which to trade.
Russia is the country, of course, which most of us have our eyes upon at present. Others have talked
of China in this connection. Europe generally is exhausted, and, with its generally unfavourable rate of exchange, cannot purchase our commodities for hard cash. That is why we turn to nations which have the reputations of being countries of inexhaustible natural resources. The idea, -in its prude state is an attractive one.
Information however, which comes to hand, shows tha0Russia, in effect, has to-day very little indeed that she can offer to export. The timber she has is mostly suitable for pit-props and other rough uses of that kind, and her wheat—at one time such.a,wonderful factor in the world's marketss---iienon:existent, so far as can be ascertained, in any surplus quantities. There are, perhaps, more favourable possibilities in parts of the Near East, but financiers held that our ability to re-open trade of any Moment in 'Southeastern Europe depends very largely'upon our ability and willingness to support. thesbanking institutions of Vienna—the only greatseity inithat'part of the Continent. with any organized banking' facilities. The whole question is a vastly-more complicated one than appears on the surface.
It is interesting to know, however, that ,keen financial and commercial intellects are at work on this alternative to the present deadlock. From information to hand it is apparent that the situation, from this point of view, is being explored with considerable thoroughness. Not lead of those interested are prominent groups in the commercial-vehicle world. Europe needs new transport to an extraordinary extent.