286

ESSAYS IN PERSUASION

PART

(iii) After the Suspension of Gold(A letter to The Times , Sept. 28, 1931)

Until recently I was urging on Liberals 1 andothers the importance of accepting a generaltariff as a means of mitigating the effects of theobvious disequilibrium between money-costs athome and abroad. But the events of the lastweek have made a great difference. At thepresent gold-value of sterling British producersare probably in many directions among thecheapest in the world. In these circumstanceswe cannot continue as if nothing had happened.It is impossible to have a rational discussionabout tariffs so long as the currency question isaltogether unsolved. For until we know moreabout the probable future level of sterling inrelation to gold, and, above all, until we knowhow many other countries are going to followour example, it is impossible to say what ourcompetitive position is going to be.

May I urge that the immediate question forattention is not a tariff but the currency ques-tion? It is the latter which is urgent and im-portant. It is at present a non-party issueon which none of the political parties hastaken up a dogmatic attitude. It is suitable,therefore, for non-party handling. It is mostcertainly unsuitable for a General Election. Itoffers immense opportunities for leadership by

1 [Not all my Free Trade friends proved to be so prejudiced asI had thought. For after a Tariff was no longer necessary, manyof them were found voting for it.]