The Financial Conference summoned by the League of Nations met
in Brussels on Friday week to consider the beat means of extricating Europe from bankruptcy. M. Ador, ex-President of the Swiss Confederation, took the chair and likened tho con- ference to a consultation of specialists over a sick patient who needed specific remedies. On Monday Mr. R. H. Brand, one of the British delegates, opened a debate on public finance. The cause of all the difficulties was, he said, the destruction of capital in the war. Great Britain had lost a sixth, Germany perhaps a half, of its accumulated wealth. Mr. Brand insisted that it was the first duty of Governments to practise thrift. Excessive expenditure meant a further inflation of the currency and unduly high taxation, which hindered production. The only hope for Europe, he thought, lay in accepting " the risks of mutual trust as between nations."
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