Milford chronicle., 1920-04-02
UNCLE TED'S
BEDTIME STORIES
Current Events for the Children
and Grown-Ups, Too
THE STORY OF TEN
s. BILLION DOLLARS!

daddy say at dinner the other day
that the United States had loaned al
awful lot of money to other countries
during the war and that We might moi
get some of it back
We'll, Jack" replied Uncle Ted
your father was certainly right when
he said that the United States had
loaned other countries a lot of money
You see kiddies, during the war il
was necessary for the allies who were
fighting Germany to have large sums
of money with which to buy war ma
terials, food and supplies. 1t happen
ed so that the United States had more
money than anyoneelse at the time
and we loaned the various countries
different amounts Of money at differ
ent times until the total amount has
reached the enormous figure Of S1O.-
0,000 000."
'Phew!" said Ruth that's lot of
money"
Il should say it was a lot of money.
And the worst of it is that many Of
the people in Great Britain think we
should cancel the amount we loaned
England"
What do you mean cancel the
amount'?' asked Jack.
By that, Jack, l mean let them keep
the money and never pay it back. You
see, these countries borrowed this
money with the understanding that
they were not only to pay it back but
that they must pay interest, that is,
pay to a certain amount for the right
to use the money Now there seems
to be a movement on foot in Europe,
especially in England to not only get
If fnf hV,N 81,
out Of paying back any of the money
at ALL"
How much did we loan England?"
asked Jack
"We loaned Great Britain, S4,21O.-
100000. Great Britain has loaned
other countries $500 900 900. OF
course, $4,210000,000 of that amount
was furnished Great Britain by the
United States, so that Great Britain
has really only loaned to other coun-
tries $4,490,000000 To give you an
idea of how certain Englishmen think
about this matter, l will tell you
about a man by the name of Maynard
Keynes who is connected with the
British Treasury in somewhat the
same way that our Assistant Secre-
taries are connected with our Treas
ury He says that because Germany
will not be able to pay back much for
the terrible damage she did during the
war, that the United States should do
the paying! OF course, he means by
paying, that we should tell all the al /
lies that they can ke> the money we |
loaned them and for. It it! Besides |
this, he says, in a round about way, |
that if we don't do this these nations |
might call another war in order to
keep from paying this money. That |
sort of thing is not only silly but
dangerous and the sad part of it is |
that many Britishers feel the same /
way.
at wouldn't be quite so bad if Mr..
Keynes stopped at saying this much
but he goes on and suggests that af-
ter the United State has told the al
lies that they can keep this $4,000
000,000 that this country should make
another loan of about 1,00O,O00,0OO to
help the countries on the other side
of the Atlantic to get in position to
do business on as big scale as we
do. In other words he would have
the United States furnish the money
for the countries of Europe to do bus
mess that would take business away
from this country"
"Where did the s1O,0O0,O0O'000 come
from that we loaned to the allies?"
asked Ruth.
Il am glad you asked that question
Ruth" answered her uncle, because
ii lust shows how impossible it would
be for us to cancel these loans. The
$40 100000 900 has not yet been paid !
and when it finally is it will be paid
by YOU and me and all the people of
the United States who bought bonds" \
What would happen if we cancel 4
this debt?" asked Jack.
"The first thing that would happen :
would be the forming of some plan to .
raise $4,000, 100000 in this country. :
II might mean another issue of bonds, :
like l berty and Victory bonds or it !
nighl mean more taxes on things we
and wear and use every day OF :
! lives, or both In other words, d
les. the matter is very simple. We r
ed this money to the allies to help =
Il 1 win the war. They knew that .
D were to pay interest and IN time "
d., it back. The United States would a
,xDect TO do the same. Not counting y
.hese loans, the war cost the United u
states about $4,000, 100000 and if we "
,ancel the $4,000. 100000 loan, then
he war cost us those two amounts =
,ddo1 together which make $35,0O0'- =,
,uO.C }. 1t really would mean more y
han $4,000 100000 for we would n
rave been without that money for :,
pan, many .aOnths, AMI would have =
bst the interest besides. Here is an r
tie. important thing for you t. re- 10
member The Senate has again kill II
d the peace treaty with the world r
lub plan, and it is now up to Presl-
ent Wilson as to wnat will be done.
he greatest danger of our joining the n.
rorld club has passed but there still =,
a chance that the idea, at least, will A.
ave to be fought If, with England NJ
aving six votes to our one in the
rorld club she should decide that
he would not pay back this money,
re would have little to say. That
hows you again what a dangerous
Ian it is" in
Hasn't England lot more land a
ian she had before the war;? asked pi
ack. be
Eyes indeed" answered Uncle Ted. cit
It has been said that Great Britain
as gained nearly 100000 square he
lies of land by the war. The larg-
u part of this is in Africa. Probably FRI
le richest land. that is land with ce
-eat mines, etc, is located in German pr
1uthwest and German East Africa.
his land which was given to Great d.
ritain as part of her share in the
ctory over the Germans, formerly ha
ilonged to Germany. All of these FIR
nd gains mean that Great Britain
IS more land to mine, more land an
,on which to plant things and, of
urse, that means more money in
e end for she will have lots of la
ings to sell to the rest of the world Phi
a che ,,o,,o,, L.d Laeora Kn