The Raw Materials Discussions The main effect of the discussions
of the new League of Nations Committee on access to raw materials is to demon- strate the complexity of the subject. Sir Frederick Leith- Ross, for Great Britain, and Sir Henry Strakosch, who is a South African but does not in this matter represent South Africa, both developed at some length a thesis indicated tersely by the chairman of the committee, Mr. Stucki, of Switzerland, when he referred pointedly to " that Arcadia where people prefer guns to butter," leaving it to be inferred that if you choose to spend your money on guns it is no use complaining that you can't afford butter. The Russian member of the committee sounded the same note, and the Portuguese, separating himself decisively from Portugal's usual Fascist allies, insisted for obvious reasons that free access to raw materials did not involve acquisition of colonial territories. The Polish member thought it did, on the grounds that nations must be able to make purchases within their own currency area, but the chairman ruled firmly that all questions of distribution and transfer of such territories lay outside the committee's competence. Only a first contact with the subject has been made so far, and clearly much fuller information needs to be compiled, particularly as to the effect of import and export duties in existing colonies. But a good start has been made.
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