The daily times., 1921-07-23
MELLON is VERY CAUTIOUS
Unless Congress Grants the
Executive Heads Sufficient
Authority to Negotiate With
Foreign Debtors Financial
Negotiations May Lag for
Many Years.
tBy David Lawrence.)
Copyright, 1921, by The Daily
Times \

| Tinnes.)
| Washington, July 22.-America
has no thought of accepting worth
less securities of any kind in pay
ment of the Allied debt of ten bill
lions. Great Britain has not asked that
the United States accept German
bonds in exchange for her debt and
America wouldn't agree to it if the
request were made.
Unless Congress grants the execu-
tive branch of the government suf-
fcient authority and broad powers to
iernments who owe the United States
tmoney, there is serious danger that
negotiations over refunding may be
prolonged over many years and the
interest payments delayed indefinite
lily.
| These three principles underIie the
controversy which has arisen be-
tween an. element in the Senate and
the Treasury over the effort of Sec
retasy Mellon to get enough power
| to handle the foreign debts of the
| United States.
Mr.. Mellon has spent practically
the entire week answering
questions of Senators some of whom
seem to give the impression
| that they fear Mr.. Mellon will either
cancel the foreign debts or accept Sc
cancel the foreign debts or accept Sc
either don't know Mr.. Melons ability
as a banker and business man or
they do not have confidence in him.
AS a matter of fact, Secretary Mel
Ion is the last man in the world to
have a worthless security passed
across his desk and is the least likely
/ to forgive or remit obligations of
/ such character because all his life he
has been trained to negotiate and
bargain and his own private success
clination is in any transaction.
But the Secretary of the Treasury
isn't to be empowered to decide the
matter alone. The request for auth
ority means that President Harding
himself will have to approve any set
tlement made by the Secretary of
the Treasury before it is actually
valid. In other words those Senators
who don't know Mr.. Mellon need
only have faith in their erstwhile col
! league, the former Senator from
Ohio who now sits in the White
House If they hear-as they are
bound to hear-something of the
nature of the negotiations with for
, eign governments and they don't like
it,, they can always express their
views privately to MT. Harding but the
real reason why the Administration
wants broad power to negotiate the
funding of interest and principal on.
the foreign debt is that it is i'm
practical to have a legislative body
conduct a discussion on such conf
Dental matters as are involved. The
Treasury will ask, for instance, that
all cards be laid on the table. For
eign governments win ask that the
/; Information be treated as confiden-
tfa1 and in the discussions which are
to take place the utmost secrecy will
be required until an agreement is
reached. What the United States may
be able to get from one government
it may not be able to obtain from
another if all the negotiations are
public and if all the loans have to be
treated as separate propositions.
The trouble is the Treasury has
some authority under one law and
another species of authority under
another. The loans were made at diff
ferent stages of the war and the most
practicable way to deal with them
is as unit. Thus all the loans made
to Great Britain would be treated as
group and those with France as
group. The Treasury wants plenty OF