Belgium and the Gold Standard The crisis of the belga—fundamentally
due to the continued appreciation of gold in terms of commodities, but undoubtedly made -worse by " bear " speculation— confronted Belgium with three alternatives. One was to go off gold and join the sterling group ; another, to devalue in terms of gold ; the third, to do what Germany does, Viz., to maintain .both the gold standard and the existing parity, but to protect the currency by a maximum control over foreign trade and payments. She appears to have chosen the second. M. Van Iceland, succeeding M. Theunis, has sought political reinforcement by bring- ing in the Socialists, and must now make some concession to their policy, which is one for extensive public works. To combine such a policy with a monetary deflation, which would have involved holding the currency to a standard in steadily appreciating gold, would have presented Belgium with the prObtm which has perplexed Germany ever since the Nazis took office. The difficulties would have been likely to prove not less severe in Belgium.
