HOW DONALDSON CAN AFFORD A LONG BREAK

While dockers return to work after their bitter fight against the Tory government, the police and the Jones leadership of their own union, they might spare a thought for Sir John Donaldson.

The president of the National Industrial Relations Court is spending the long legal vacation-it lasts until Octoberdown on his 40-foot ketch.

Like Heath he is a keen yachtsman and he will be idling away the next eight to ten weeks on the South coast.

He can afford such an idyllic holiday on his salary. When he took the job eight months ago his wage was £14,000.

But since then the Tories have increased it to £15,750— an increase of about £35 a week. Building workers all over the country are at present out in massive numbers trying to get just £30 for a week while Donaldson gets a £35 increase at a stroke' of Heath's pen.

But then the Tories always look after their kind.

Donaldson has a long association with the Tory Party. It began when he was at Charterhouse, an exclusive public school, and continued during his university studies at Cambridge.

In 1938 the president of the Federation of University Conservative and Unionists' Association was Edward Heath. In 1940, two years later, it was an ambitious young Tory student, John Donaldson.

After the war he went into local government politics and won a seat on the Croydon Borough Council as a candidate of the Upper Norwood Electors' Association.

Although the association claimed to be 'non-political' no one was surprised when Donaldson took the whip of the majority group which was outand-out Tory. When he left the council and threw himself into his legal career Donaldson became a prominent member of the In an It is ponsible for giving birth to much of the Tories' most re pressiv Asked about Donaldson's personality, fellow member of the legal said: 'John is a feels sense of He like + After six months as head of the Tory court, he has shown de how wants things moulded. And they Top: Sir John Donaldson, NIRC President who is now holldaying on his 40 foot ketch. Above: Heath, who at a stroke of his pen gave Donaldson a £35 a week rise.

A series which appeared workers rress in June, 19/2 Is Proce anan now available as a pamphlet in the Socialist Labour League Pocket Library. 'WHY A LABOUR GOVERNMENT? A Reply to some centrist critics.' Price 5p The decision to devalue the pound last month accelerated the slide towards a total collapse of world trade. No one now has any confidence in any of the world currencies.

For merchants and traders, devaluation poses the possible loss of huge sums of money, because the question arises which of the parties to an international commodity transaction shall bear the loss arising out of devaluation.

This will largely depend upon the currency in which at the date when payment became due, the purchase price was to be measured.

The previous devaluation by the Wilson government in November 1967 threw traders into confusion and finally, cost them millions of pounds.

A specific case was one involving a cocoa company and a Nigerian company over the interpretation of 14 contracts for the sale of Nigerian cocoa. All the contracts were open at the time of the devaluation.

Both companies agreed that at the material time the mode of discharge permitted payment in sterling. Before the 1967 devaluation the Nigerian pound and the pound sterling were exactly equal in value.

After devaluation, the pound sterling was worth between 14 and 15 per cent less than the Nigerian pound.

The buyers paid over the money in sterling to obtain delivery of the cocoa. But they Wilson paid under protest and soon Wilson began an action against the Nigerian company.

They sought the return of a sum of money • equivalent to the difference in sterling between the purchase price measured in Nigerian pounds and the same price measured in the same number of pounds sterling.

It was argued by the buyers that documents showed that an agreement had been made to make payment in pounds sterling measured against itself and not Nigerian pounds. The sellers denied this.

Eventually the case reached the Court of Appeal, where the sellers' case was upheld. The House of Lords agreed with this decision.

Therefore the buyers had to hand over enough pound sterling to make up the stipulated number of Nigerian • pounds. The devaluation bill had landed at the feet of the buyers.