The Mena weekly star., 1920-06-24
FRANCE BLAMES
u FOR Il. C.L.
Says Yanks Started II, That They Are
Spendthrifts and Throw Money
Away-France Leads in Get
ting on Sound Basis.
1By international News service,l


Paris, June 22.--Gustave Terry, d.
rector of L'Oeuvre, has been carrying
on for several days an anti-American
campaign, in the course of which he
accuses the United States OF being re-
sponsible for the fall in the value of
the franc and the American Expedi-
fionary Force of having caused the
rise In the cost of living in France. In
his comments on a letter from an
American who signs himself Virgin
ian,' NJ. Terry says:
DO you understand, Monsieur Vir-
gilman, you are one of the principal
causes of the high cost of living in
representing your countrymen and
therefore Ii is to all Americans that
the following remarks are addressed.
OF course, l expect to hear from Mon
sieur Virginian that the Americans
didn't come to France for their health.
and ! shall grant him that because we
see right now the result of their COM
ing. We see 1t In figures which are
always more eloquent than words.
when the American army was in
France the soldiers never looked
twice at a franc. They were spend
Thrills. They threw away their money.
The result was general rise in the
cost of everything and the new prices
have remained Americans In France
have been able to buy up real estate
throughout France at a ridiculous
price for them, since the franc Is one
third its value They may of course,
sell it back when the franc is normal,
thus making profit of anywhere from
800 to 600 per cent.
America seized hundreds OF mill
lions of dollars worth of German
property In the United States when
she entered the war. Do you think
the American Government consented
to pool this property with the rest OF
German property for the benefit OF all
the Allies? OF course not II Amer
lea had done so 1t would have resulted
In notable amelioration of our finan-
cial situation. II would have enabled
us to float loan in the United States
backed by our part of the seized pro-
perry. When the next interest pay
ments on our loans in America fall due
next October, you Will see new drop
IN the value of the franc. Why did we
borrow money in the United States. |
We borrowed to fight Americas battle |
for her. What did we do with the pro |
ceeds OF the loans? We purchased |
munitions to arm ourselves for the |
fight Where did we buy them? In |
America.
"The operation thus was a double |
source of profit to the Americans. |
They made enormous profits on the |
purchases of war material and they |
are now making huge profits on the |
loans. Is this fair?'
The Petit Bleu, in an editorial on
the same subject, goes even further.
The writer sees nothing to be gained
by the expenditure of millions Of dol
lars by American tourists this Sum
mer.
4fOf course, they can spend a lot of
money" he says, because they will
be spending francs. Our franc which
was worth twenty cents little more
than a year ago Is now worth about
seven. An American landing with
$1,000 changes his money and there
lie is with fifteen or sixteen thousand
francs to spend. Thank you. That
well worth the trip. Why shouldn't
our hotel keepers charge the Ameri-
cans triple rates? We ought to make
them pay III France at the same rate
we have TO pay when we buy goods
in America or when we pay the inter
est on the money we borrowed from
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