The Raw Material Problem The report on raw materials prepared
at the Assembly's request by the Economic Committee of the League, contains little that is new but emphasises some important conclusions. On the one hand, the question of access to raw materials presents little difficulty. The Committee recommends that exports of raw materials should not be subject to restriction or prohibition ; that export duties, if any, should apply to all nations equally and should be imposed only in so far as their revenues can be used to improve marketing conditions ; and that all nations should have equal facilities for exploiting and developing the source§ of raw materials. It would be useful to know precisely where and how far actual practice deviates from these unexceptionable principles. On the other hand, the Committee regards the question of payment as too complex for separate treatment ; and remarks that " with the best will in the world" it is impossible to apply its recommendations so long as certain nations, in the search for self-sufficiency, pursue economic policies which actually prevent the export of raw materials. Thus, it appears that economically, as well as politically, the problem of raw materials is diffiCult, if not impossible, to solve without some funda- mental change in policy on the part of the " have-nots " as well as the " haves."
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