B. I. S. Election

With world finances teetering topsy-turvy, directors of the Bank for International Settlements met in Basle last week, elected a new president, and by their election broke their own charter. In 1930 when the B. I. S. was set up to facilitate German Reparations payments (TIME, March 25, 1929, et seq.) it was decided that its secondary purpose was to uphold and spread the gold standard throughout the world. In its charter it was expressly provided that no central bank of a country not on the gold standard should be admitted to membership.

Starting with six banks, the B. I. S. now represents 26, and of them only France is still on free gold. Last week's meeting was to elect a successor to heavy-set President Gates W. McGarrah of Manhattan, re- tiring. Normally there would have been no question of the election of his alternate and chief adviser, Boston-born Lawyer Leon Fraser, Reparations expert at the birth of the Young Plan in 1929. In February B. I. S. directors so moved and appointed him (TIME. Feb. 27). But what about the sidestep of the U. S. from the gold standard? Last week's meeting silenced the quibblers and ratified Mr. Fraser's election. This was no insult to gold-standard France, simply a compliment to able Banker-Lawyer Fraser.

After voting, the B. I. S. directors listened to a report showing that B. I. S. had made a profit of 14,000,000 Swiss francs ($3,200,000) for the year ending March 31, 1933, only 1,000,000 francs less than the year before.

After adjourning, the B. I. S. directors did not go home. Their real work, the best reason for their meeting was to hold a series of conferences, do the spadework necessary to present some sort of a plan to the World Economic Conference in June for the resumption of a "reformed" gold standard by B. I. S. members for which the B. I. S. annual report called.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.