The bourgeois-liberal and Marxist governments of the post-war period have burdened the German people with foreign debts that are currently about 22 billion marks. These private debts were loaded on to the German people to cover a part (10.3 billion) of the outrageous reparations payments, in part also (6.3 billion) to pay for imports of colonial goods and delicacies, not life necessities for the German people, and also to pay for foodstuffs that could have been produced domestically.
That is the inheritance that the bourgeois-liberal and Marxist governments have left to us: 22 billion in foreign debt.
These debts
It is entirely clear that the measures mentioned are not sufficient to meet the annual payments. We will work out a reduction in interest with our foreign creditors, making it equivalent to the rate of interest they charge borrowers in their own countries.
In the case of short term foreign loans, currently about 7 billion, we will work out a long term agreement with our foreign creditors to free us of the risk of being robbed of the foreign currency we need for raw materials, foodstuffs, and interest payments by sudden events.
We also need a foreign currency policy. If we have a surplus of foreign currency, we do not need a policy. Today, however, we have a shortage of foreign currency that forced the Brüning government to develop a policy against its will, even though all the other System parties previously argued that a foreign currency policy was National Socialist nonsense.
Today we have such a shortage of foreign currency that on 30 April 1932 we hadless than 10% in reserves of gold and foreign currency to back the marks in circulation. (Currency in circulation: 4.128 billion. Less than 400 million in gold and convertible foreign currency in reserve. The Reich Bank shows $140 million, or 600 million marks, but the Reich Statistical Office does not consider these available, since it is in the form of short term loans from abroad, or from the Gold Discount Bank.)
Our present situation: Lacking any usable reserves of foreign currency, and burdened with foreign currency debts of 22 billion marks.
National Socialism will fulfill its duty to the German people, and above all to the younger generation, by using the limited foreign currency that we annually have exclusively for importing the raw materialsthat industry needs, and temporarily for purchasing the additional foodstuffs that we absolutely need, and cannot be produced domestically.
Furthermore, additional withdrawals from the German economy by foreign capital must be restricted as long as the German people’s economy suffers such catastrophic blood-letting.
In the future, foreign currency may be used only in ways that benefit the whole German people. No one may be paid abroad any longer. It is intolerable that people’s comrades who are paid by the state use these means in ways harmful to the German economy.
Under a National Socialist state, the flow of money and capital abroad will only happen if approved by the state German Foreign Bank (Foreign Currency Office). The German Foreign Bank will coordinate all foreign currency and other valuables within the German banking system. National Socialism will insure that the bleeding dry of the German economy will cease. These measures will contribute to ending the existing system of starvation.
Imagine a large dam. Just as the outlets ensure that water flows out at an appropriate level, so also will the head of the Foreign Currency Office insure that foreign currency flows in economically appropriate ways, that they be used only for absolutely necessary purposes, and that they do not flow abroad until the German people has survived its great crisis.
As a result of these measures, hundreds of millions will remain in the country, and additional resources will be available for the German economy. National Socialism will use these resources for job creation.
Objection 1: A foreign currency policy is useless, since one cannot guarantee that some people will not get around the regulations.
Response: A foreign currency policy is absolutely necessary to maintain economic order. He who rejects a foreign currency policy might as well reject criminal law, since criminal laws are often violated. Using the same reasoning, one would eliminate the railroad security service and take down the signals, since these measures do not completely eliminate railway accidents.
Objection 2:We already have this kind of foreign currency policy.
Response: Currently, there is only an obligation to report to the Reich Bank for Foreign Currency. We, however, demand that no foreign currency transactions occur without the permission of the German Foreign Bank (Foreign Currency Office), and thatall transfers to and from other countries go through the Foreign Currency Office. Current policy is insufficient, since it exempts payments up to 200 marks, allowing someone to transfer a large sum in 200 mark increments. It also exempts securities purchased before 15 July 1931.
We, on the other hand, will require that any transfer of foreign currency can be controlled, that a tight law without loopholes be passed to enable the German Foreign Bank to control all foreign currency.
Most important, we will ensure that foreign currency flows into economically important channels, whereas today it is distributed according to a mechanical plan.
Additionally, a foreign currency policy provides the state with the ability to control foreign commerce.