Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1913-01-09
"Dollars For Bullets" Again.


An English review of high stand
ing declares that one difficulty in
the way of full settlement of the
Balkan troubles may be the atti-
tude of the Great Powers on the
question of Turkish finance. What
portion of the Turkish debt should
be assigned to the lands whose in.
ha bitants have thrown off Turkish
controlp
In order to get the just view OF
this question, let US suppose that
England, at the close of the
Revolutionary War, had been
heavily in debt to a group OF
stronger European nations. What
portion of the English debt would
it have been equitable to assign to
the new. born United States of
America?
The grocer's clerk who starts a
little store of his own, in a new
part of town; the young mechanic
who builds little machine shop;
the carpenter who takes his scant
savings and uses them as working
capital in his first contract; the
widow who opens news stand
next the drug store on the corner
all these investors realize that in.
vestment means hazard. They
consider all the risks; they do not
venture unless they see a fair
chance of a return; if disaster
overtakes them, they bear it with
courage and struggle on. Why
shoul 4 money LENDER who does
business with the Unspeakable
Turk receive consideration which
is not accorded to the private in
vestor doing business with his
neighbour
Turkey is bankrupt, morally,
politically, financially, by land
and by sea. The victorious Bal
kan peoples are the very races she
has enslaved and oppressed. What
sort of chaos would be introduced
into private finance if the debts OF
every swindler who becomes insol-
vent were to be saddled by law
upon the people who had suffered
most from his nefarious career?
And how does a thing infamous
between private individuals be-
come anything else simply be-
cause one of the principals is a
degenerate nation instead of a
ruined man?
The bankers who have lent tc
Turkey knew what Turkey was
and what she was doing before
they placed those loans. Fol
} many years the civilized world
has known exactly how Turkey
was spending her money. Had
the powers ceased lending money
to Turkey the end would have
come long ago. 1t was French
and German and English capita
that gave the expiring Sick Maj
7, strength to continue to tear at th'
! throats of the Christian peoples o
q Macedonia. And now, how mucl
4 of this money should these Christ
Q ians have to return to it's benevo
8 lent lendersP
Q We ask this question becaus
9 it sets in furid light new con
Q ception OF government which |
: gaining ground in many quarters
{ the conception that government !
( merely to help certain men max
money. In the former days gov
ernment was supposed to be tn
It instrument of life, liberty, tn
y pursuit of happiness, existing b,
: the consent of the governed Thi
a is old-fashioned now, thanks t,
g the tariff and the new diplomacy
q A recent message of Presiden
y Taft said:
n The diplomacy OF the presen
Il administrator has sought to re
d spond to modern ideas Of com
= mercial intercourse. This polio
has been charactized as substitut
y ing dollars for bullets. 1t is on
D. which appeals alike to ldealisti
e human sentiments, etc.
z And then the President goes o
q to give particulars OF various inter
: ventions by the United States /
! the affairs Of weak peoples, in th
,s interest of investors afraid Of tn
IS ordinary risks attendant on trade
Now The Republic believes tha