The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1921-02-10
by DAVID LAWRENCE.

BY DAVID LAWRENCE.
Especial Despatch to The Reformcr
Copyright 1871.
WASHINGTON. Feb. 10 - Congress
and the treasury department have man
aged to misunderstood each other on the
question of 'cancelling foreign debts and
making further loans to European gov
crnments The treasury never had the
rcmotest idea of cancelIing the present
war debt. but the necessity of advanc-
ing $4,000. 600 mere is really the puz-
ling factor in the situation. Both the
treasury and congress mean the same
thing and probably have the same idea
oil what constitutes Il commitment. q"
to advance money. but the testimony
thus far taken indicates that all is not
clear on the question of making further
loans.
lhc tanglc can all be set down rs
the result of bookkeeping and unad-
luSt"d contracts growing out of the war
Many people have the idea that the treas
ury department loaned money outright
10 the allies during the war. Such was
not the case. America promised to adj
vance large sums of money but to pay
out cash as il was actually needed The
understanding. moreover. was that the
aihes would purchase most of their
goods in the United States Thus the
allies got many millions of dollars from
the treasury which never went to Eu-
rope but went directly To American
manufacturers and their WOrkmcn. In
transactions with the allies amounting
10 SlH.UO0WM.GoO. something like SO
0Oj,ouC, relatively small sum. hangs
over a. unpaid by the treasury. Il is
not n now indebtedness. Strictly speak
ing if the bHakEceprrS of our war DEPART
mcnt and the bookkecpcr~ of European
governments could have balanced their
books on the day after the arm>ticC the
St3,0OO.00O would have then been paid
and America = promise would have been
kept. But delayed negotiations over
war contracts and a thousand and one
other tangleS which have arisen since
the war about war credits have made it
impossible to tell just how much money
must be paid ont. IT viii not be i'm cx-
cess Of S1J.00O,G GOO.
Now if Senator Reeds bin should go
through. and it may pass unless con
gTeSs and the treasury get closer to-
gethcr. the American government would
be in a position of repudiating an OBJ
legation or, a. Secretary Houston terms
it, "a commitment" A. International
finance goes. S7J.OOO.0O0 is a small sum.
but if America rrpudiatcd it, obliga-
ton. the fear il that Europe might ac-
eept the American action a. a precedent
and consider that it could repudate some
ether debts entered into in more or less
the same way.
Moreover. our officials point out Amer
ica cannot afford to go back on her
promise and that S1J.OOO.OOO il part of
commitment made during the war.
The outhurSt in congress resulted. of
course. from the news cahlcd from Eng
land that Great Britain had Informally
proposed a cancellation of war debts.
There is an anti-BrtiSh element in
the senate which never fails to make an
attack ON any policy that appears to-
have benefit for Great Britain CON
ccalcd in it. Some of the senator's be
lieved the S15.OO0.OOO were still owing
TO Great Britain. but that is not true.
The treasury has not disclosed which
government Is involved, but it is stated