Magyar külpolitika, 1930 (11. évfolyam, 1-7. szám)

1930 / 7. szám - Hungarian reconstruction. Lecture delivered by Iván Hordóssy before the League of Nation's Union at Chelsea on December 10th

December 1930 HUNGÁRIA LLOYD 27 of the three countries aggregáté nearly four and a hálf millions. The years-following the conclusion of the peace were a period oí unprecedented trials. The country was bled white by the devastations of the war; two revolutions, amongst them Béla Kun's Bolshevisl terror, as well as a hostile invasion combined with the wholésale plundering of Hungary. Production was paralysed by the loss of territory, and raw materials; trade and traffic were at a standstill. The capital acoumulated by generations was wiped out through monetary depreciation. Prosperous classes were faced with starvation, and the country was crowded with hundreds of thousands of Hungárián refugees expelled from the territories annexed by the successor states, who were thrown on Hungárián public charity. The State being saddled with a still undefined debt of reparation, it was impossible to restore its credit. The financial crash came when the Budgetary deficit had to be covered with the issuing of new paper money. The acceleration of the note printing press brought in swing the circle of monetary depreciation and increase in prices. This was the time when the Government of Count Bethlen approached the League of Nations for the raising of an international loan. The League of Nations scheme of reconstruction was a striking success, owing to its simplicity. An international loan of about twelve millión pounds amply secured as a first charge on certain state revenues was issued. The national assets being temporarily liberated from reparation obligations. The scope of the loan was to secure the covering of the Budgetary deficit during a certain period without resorting to the issue of paper money. The loan was in fact hardly used for this purpose. The chief fact of the League's intervention was rather political and phsycological. It gave the country a breathing space from possible war worries, and it created an atmosphere of confidence and even enthusiasm. You might have heard that the success of the Hungárián reconstruction was due to the League of Nations. This statement, undoubetedly accurate, remains however a part of the whole truth. Strong inf luences within the League were f ighting to the last ditch against any help being extended to Hungary, ai'guing that the Hungarians had not yet suffered enough. This was the line taken by the successor states and adopted alsó by Francé. It was Great Britain and Italy to whom the credit of combatting this influence was due. It was an English conservative minister who first raised his voice in the interest of the reconstruction scheme. It was an English Lubour Government who steered the proposals to final victory in Geneva. It was an English expert wTho drew up the plan itself. It was the English money markét which absorbed readily the greatest part of the loan. It was the Bank of England which assisted the foundation of the new Hungárián Loan Bank. It was the London Stock Exchange which tance and good will in these hard times. Hungarians may be an undemonstrative race, but if you ever feel disillusioned by the harvest of sponsored the subsequent new Hungárián loans. At the end of the reconstruction period it was again the English Government who fought suceessfully for Hungary's liberation from financial control by the League of Nations, which the successor states wished to continue. When it came to the financial liquidation of the War, it was again England, together with Italy, who opposed the exorbitant reparation claims, made on Hungary by the successor states, and the success of the Hague and Paris conference was chiefly due to these moderating influences. If all Post War settlements had followed the English conception, the pacification and economical consolidation of Europe would stand on a safer foundation. But Europe is apparently not yet ready for appreciation of the wisdom and broad-mindedness of English statesmanship. (To be follow.) Magyar Ruggyantaárugyár r.t. Bud ape s t, Szívesen hozzuk Írásban ls tudomásukra,hogy 1928 február 10.-én szeren 46343 sz. méretű Cordatlc köpenyük a ma) na^.ig IC7J6 km. -t futott ujtóbuszunkon és még ma ls használható állapotban van.Örömmé! látjuk ezen teljesítményben a magyar Ipar diadalát. CORDAT kiváló tisztelettel BWmStyUTOBUH KMíKEOeSl / Harv*JYTAíY'5<»A