El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1919-08-26

the lire even lower England and
France and italy cannot buy our
I cause those countries have nothing
to sell US, and they want only TO buy
They can not paw with goods for they
are not producing goods. and theil
gold is only fraction Of what they
owe us now"
They want to pay for the goods
they buy by arranging further enor-
nous loans" I suggested.
But what about the security2'
asked the banker. is il good busi-
ness TO say to a man, lend me more
/ money or I cannot pay you the in
I terest on what I already owe your II
we furnish these credits, it simply
means that America viii supply
goods against promises TO pay. backed
1 up by no assets excepting a vague
faith that at some time in the future
the broken down wheels OF industry
viii turn again"
Ought you TO look at it as a purely
] commercial transaction" asked.
{ These people have been ground 10
] pieces in our war: we have suffered
make 1t possible for them TO survive.
It is q cry Of Save US or We perish 81"
Bankers Merely Trustees.
The banker leaned back in his
chair and nodded thoughtfully. That's
the way ] should like to look at II"
he said But as a banker can {.
! Nobody IN Wall street can We are
/ trustees Of the money Of the American
people II the American people want
I TO risk their money for reasons of
pity or duty or because they think
IL to their interest that Europe should
survive, let them say so. But at pres
I ent Wall street cannot pour capital
into risky foreign obligations while
! safe and sound businesses at home
are clamOring for money and offering
/ good interest rates.
u can see only one way out.
Let the government issue bonds
for European credits, and explain
TO the public that duty and graft
/ fude demand subscription. II some
billions OF such bonds are taken.
! initiation here will he worse and
I prices will 10 IN still higher. But
we shall be sharing the burden
with Europe pulling them through
over there and in the long run
our philanthropy Will pay For
We cannot afford to see half the
world peoples who in normal
times are our good customers
sinking into min
; Only please impress or your read
ers that IL is Washington, not Wall
] street, that must act Wall street
[ has no heart: it seeks interest and
l security for its money, and most Of
Europe at present does not provide
/ the latter"
Ny Informant Endorsed Frank Van
derlip's scheme for a joint credit.
Nanderlip has proposed that the ma
tons of the continent mite and in
/ return for an American and British
| loan Of many billions. divided accord
l ing TO the needs Of each, give Us q
I first mortgage on their revenues But
/ not only has nothing been done TO
l bring this about since Vanderlip sug-
] gested Il three months ago and pre-
/ dicted the collapse Of the exchanges
] Since then the money stringency in
] Wall street has made evident that
! the credits could not be obtained in
! the open market. Government action
/ alone, followed by public subscrip-
I tion on a large scale, could make Of
I rective the Nanderlip plan
Even England Threatened.
So much FOR Wall streets attitude.
Some Of the cries Of distress that have
recently reached me from Europe viii
give the other side OF the picture
england stands incomparably better
off than any other great power ex-
I cepung ourselves, and has herself
/ loaned great sums TO her lesser for
tunate allies But recently in the
I house OF commons q heckler asked
I the chancellor Of the exchequer wheth-
er the figures Of expenditures and re-
ceipts Just presented did not indi-
cate that without retrenchment the
| empire was headed toward bank
ruptcy, and chancellor Chamberlain
added quietly. with true British poise.
@That fact would appear 10 be
usffIciently Obvious.s
ETen proud and powerful England
/ wants more great loans from US, 10
drive I'D the exchange rate and make
[ it possible for her merchants TO buy
| raw materials at less ruinous prices,
/ and indeed 10 make 1t possible for
I them to buy from America at all. Brit
Z lsh credit Glands infinitely higher
/ than that Of France or Italy, while
/ the poor little new nations in south
/ eastern Europe. their industry pros
I trate, their manhood decimated. start
I ed national life with nothing but a
: legacy OF imperial Austrian and Rus
! sian debt. They. too. stretch out
their hands to Uncle Sam.
Italy staEeers Under Debt.
italy is worse off than any OF the
! larger powers. because she has no coal
| and iron upon her own soil, and must
I import these necessities. without coal
l there can be no modern industry. But
! Italy has run up her obligations 70
/ nine times those OF the debt under
| which she staggered in 1914. Produc-
/ ing nttles she cannot pay IN goods for
l the coal and other raw material she
needs. The support given her credit
Z by the American and British govern
[ ments, IL is officially announced, will
/ be Withdrawn in the fall
] Unless you in America give US
Z coal. and lend us money TO pay for
] what we need, we are ruined" A let
! ter received yesterday from a promi-
/ nent Italian in Florence contained the
Z dismal prediction quoted. and con-
/ tinued with the narrowing details of
] widespread food shortage and unem-
/ ployment- All alternative measures
I taken by the government, he told me,
I are mere paIiatives, financially un-
/ sound based upon the issue Of more
NHaa Hsaau
! riots for cheaper food, prices are cut
! down-the government prints more
/ Ira and pays the difference between
l the cost and selling price to the pro-
/ Queer. After showing how the Rome
I government is living from hand to
/ mouth, postponiug the day OF reckon
\ ing. in mortal fear of Bolshevik ris-
/ ings. my informant concluded his let
ter;
sCan you not tell the American
/ people that they alone can save
ust We need coal and food. We
] cannot pay for them now. Some
day we can and viii. We fought
Z for yOus without Us the allies
we're beaten. We are left by the
war more stricken than Germany.
VIII You leave US to perishl'
France is more proud; she would
not put things as the Italians put
! them. But France, too. feels that
] America is her only hope With one
| third the population. she circulates
I more paper money than the United
! States her only way TO meet con-
B stantly recurring Obligations OF bill
l lions Of francs is TO print more paper
I Prices rise. and must under such a
J system go on rising. More liberal
/ French opinion recognizes the weak.
I ness Of the government in not intro
/ ducing drastic taxation; but no tax
Z alton can now be more than a drop in
I the bucket What is The remedy2
! Situation Cannot Continue.