Page 62 - Demo

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Clegg was a proponent of the gold standard to the last. During his farewell address to stockholders on 7 July 1931, Clegg admitted: “The storing-up, and the sterilisation for international purposes, of gold in the United States and France has caused and is causing much harm.”
“So much for the accumulation of gold in America and its part in provoking a world depression. The accumulation of gold in France has been an accessory to this provocation,” Clegg added.
Clegg also made observations about “world conditions and ... the intensity of the depression and the length of time it has lasted”.
In the same address, Clegg struck a somewhat optimistic note, stating: “The recent action of President [Herbert] Hoover may be the beginning of the end of this economic nightmare.”
In the months that followed, however, the situation took a turn for the worse. This prompted Clegg to seek assistance from the Minister of Finance because the Reserve Bank anticipated substantial losses, which would wipe out the value of the institution’s reserves and place a dent on its capital, as a result of Great Britain going off the gold standard.
On 29 October 1931, the Minister of Finance provided assurance to the SARB.