The Wheeling intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1903-1961, 1921-02-12
TALK OF CANCELUNG LOANS
TOALL|ES| IS WINDOW DRESSING

~ - ~ ~ A ~ ~
I written plainly for it Is true. that the
payment OF interest on War debt by one
nation 10 another Is Tn" payment OF
| tribute. II Is dcSlurahic that tribute
should b" paid 10y on" ally I" another.
! II g not only dcpiOrahlr. hu, IN the
! given circumstances an economic en-
. bara ssmcnt to all the parties con-
| rcrncd."
! That is a recent statement from i
! British public man. Surh Suggestions.
as say. have been frequent but rs
; have also said. it makes comparatively
| little difference u Great Britain wh"ih-
! cr they cancel these loan" or not. 1hc
/ nation TO whom /, makes the greatest
difference i France. and. n'A' i"
! France, Italy.
! The French Loans
. France borrowed 5000. u"".nH" from
! d> and t:,"VO.O0u.OUU from Great i}rit-
ain. II We should not 'aa""i All the
, loans We made Ia the allies and II
! Great britain should then IN iurn can
, Gel all her loans 10 tn" allies, Franc"
! would stand t. gain $i,IuN.pu", 400. ana
: Italy would stand to gain about S%.3Q"-
! COZ. OUu.
France has aIwal hrrn a!iv" L. this
! situation. As ",,ri! - February, lHl",
when the Peace conference MAS IN scsl
sion at Paris. an ingenious French
scheme WAS put out. which At The time
caused d, good deal OF concern /" III"
American officials then IN lNriS.
This French suggestion took the form
/ Of Il statement made 10y NJ. Eih"t. for
mcr minister Of France. NJ luh"t gay"
! the statement 10 tn" HHrls rUrrcSpon-
| dent uf the Associated. l'rcas, II WAS
given out for publication IN America
! only. After Il was puhlIShrd ia Amer
! iCt. however. the New York ,"rrcSpon-
! dent Of 1t London paper cabl"d Il sum
mary of II back to London. and n thai
way the suggestion came to the att"n-
! ton of the Americans in Paris. tn"
Americans promptly took steps L. MAX"
! the French government understand that
NJ Eibors scheme did not meet with
! favor.
M. Ribot's Plan.
| NJ. RIbOtS scheme went much farther
! than Il mere cancellation Of lnahS. Brief
! ly, the plan contained tho following c.c-
| mentS: In the first place II provided
| that all OF the Allies should :" L" speak.
2ntGd;Ne their entrance into me war
back TO August /. 1918. and should con-
tribute 10 tn" total cost Of tho war a
! If they had been full partners from the
beginning. This part Of the plan would
have caused America TO contribute t.
| the cost OF til" war as largely ~ II she
had been in during tho fun TWO and two
| thirds wears before We declared Nay.
Tn" second part Of NJ. Rihot* plan
WIS that an equation should II" cSiAo-
'shCd between losses in lives and LOSSES
in money. and that u nation which had
lost comparatively little in lives. Ike
the United States. should make good IN
! the form Of money TO a nation which
had lost much in lives, like France.
Tn" third part Of NJ. lNo"ts propose!
was that each Of Tn" Allies should con
tribute to the cost oi tn" war in proper
ton tu It's natural resources compared
with the others. 1t needs only Il glance
to show how enormously cApenS'N" II
would be 10 Us. The suggestion was
taken seriously by Ia" Americans then
in France only in ;hc sons" of being con
ccrucd that any resp"nS.hlr tr"urh
statesman should entertain such an idea.
There Will be a lot Of talk on this sub
! jet from now on. II mas hc'h h'pi III
the background until III" disposition or
the amount Of German rcparatonS. Now
that il is out Of If the way or soon VII.
be, We shall be under good deal OF
pressure from Europe 10 c"nir!hnte
more largely 10 the cost Of tho war IMAM
W" yet have. Viewed purely as MAJ.
ter OF logic, the merit Of this argument
will depend largely upon our definition
of the purpose for which "" entered mo
war
Question OF OSnSauon'
Il T. was Il war IN which aH "INI.IG.i-
Ton WIS on tho Defensive. ami % "nT
uhlIEatiru 10 defend CrN 5!!%tGun MAS IS
great n lue obligation o; any OF Tue
other Allies, then a good cas-" can De
made. out why We should hc iull part
nrr In sharing IN" cost or the war. but
If We take the ground that "" uId n"t
20 to war with Germany until and be-
cause Germany had violated our rights.
then. of course. good case can bc mace
out for limiting ourselves TO IN" money
that We actually laid out IN pursuing our
own part OF the war.
All this OF course, IS aca"'m.' HS 4
pr;t, tiral matter. Any OF" familiar W'th
congress- and familiar Win American
uuhll,. sentiment knows E0w illtI" - IN"
Iik,,lihood Of our rdncCilnE IN" debts
owed to us by our late Allies. Almost
any American public man In a r"Sp"nSi-
bic position would h" dctrrr'd from
making such Il suggestion h! IA" tear
OF being laughed at.
II ,hr money which W" advanced TO
the Allies was meant rs Eitl. thrh II
should HAY" been called a E'it ~ ."c
time. The fact that Il Was n"t 'lII"u Il
rif, but was called loan. permanently
fixed the nature of the transaction. II
We we're not willing Ia make 'hIS hu-
vance. Us a GIT in IN" heat Of the war,
much less likely are We To cal! II SHt
now. .
In a still more practical sense n" fact
is that public opiniun In America = IN
crcnsinCly indiSpoS,N tp let "H" h'tc
allies have money. Any proposal /"
Concri these leans wuuId'6e r"EHrd'" as
facilitating Great britain in her present
maintenance OF troops III Ireland ana rs
facilitating Franc" in what Nm'r!'H
generally regards as u d"riora"I' i~'''S
Of maintaining a large standing army.
The daily dispatches which pIE'ur" '"r
,nc,s of the British Army in Ireland
make impoSihlr any act on Am"r''!
MARI IN the direction Of making IL easier
Tor Great Britain 70 keep Up the "Nl"nS"
NJ rhot army A. | SAID IN tn" n"Sln-
ming the whole Thing makes lilth u'i.
terence finally to Great Britain. hut
American public opinion IN IT, present
state would tax" the form "l u'ShPlho-
val nevertheless.
Great britain l!tii" knows what
strong sentiment advcrS" 10 her - h',uR
hniI IN hv the daily cables that dcS'rlo"
>yhat il going on in Ireland. III t''
same way. American publ" oI'n"n
xould take the form Of u!sappr"Hat ~
rho continued SIZE Of Frances ml.''afH
cst: blishncnt. Especially would AHit'-
lean public opinion tax" III" form "l US
annrOygl of certain HSr"'tS A''t""'"h
Frances maintenance "' Nun r,,r,
from Africa in German Tort .'"'E ,t
nr The nsprCts Of this French occupation
" Ecrn,ony rumors ut which hay" tim
l,iod hack ia America. are deeply Sh"'N
ino ~ our American way Of looking III
htinGS. y-l. LvAniur
Post, lnc)
mimi IAn DuVMEc