The Birmingham age-herald., 1921-02-22
OFFICIALS DEF [ ND VIGOROUSLY LOANS ID FOREIGN POWERS
Senate Committee Confines Its Efforts to French, Czecho- Sloyakia and Liberian
 Loans Yesterday
By Associated Press

Washington, February 2l Foreign
 leans extended by the treasury during
 the war and since the armstice were
 vigorously defended by government off,
 cials today in reply to protestants
 against any further exercise of the gov
 ernmencs loan powers.
 Secretary Houston of the treasury re-
 sumed testimony before the Senate ju-
 dietary committee on the Reed bin di-
 recting the stoppage of further loan ne-
 gotiations with the debtor nations. At the same time, Solicitor General Frierson responded in the court to the suit
 brought by William Randolph Hearst to
 prevent further financial transactions
 with foreign governments.
 MT Houston was excused from further
 appearance before the committee after he had presented a mass of correspon- dence covering the entire subject of ne gotiations and had pointed out the i'm. possibility, of his reading them in full Tn the few days preceding March 4 He, however. left Nicholas Kelley, assistant secretary, in charge of foreign loans, at the disposal of the committee.
 MT. Frierson filed with the District of Columbia supreme court & brief review ing the transactions with { the foreign powers and declared there was no nee essity for the injunction brought by NJ. Hearst as a taxpayer as Secretary Hols- ton had no intentiont of establishing ai- ditional credits in favor of any foreign powers. The solicitor general reviewed at length the conditions under which money was advanced to the KerensKv government of Russia. He also asserted that Secretary Houston did not concede that the plaintiff possessed a status en- titling him to call in the various credits or that the court had any Jurisdiction to determine such a controversy. HEARST COUNSEL REPLY Counsel for MT. Hearst replying to the solicitor general declared that the su- preme court of the United states had never refused to entertain suit by a tax payer to prevent federal official from disposing of the money or property of the United States in an alleged unlawful manner.
 It also was maintained that tax payer has all the interest that is re- quired to restrain an executive official. The Senate committee today confined it's efforts to the French, C,zecho-Slovakia and Liberian loans and announced that it would examine the papers in the case of each transaction until it had estab- lished whether the loans were legally made. Secretary Houston said he d.d not regard the armistice as causing "a situation Wnlcn WOulu prevent advances under the law and that existing sta tutes gave shim authority to continue loans until the president issued a pro- clamation of peace. He added that he did not believe any nation would asl, for new loans.
 M'ADOO STATEMENT INJECTED The recently published statement of William G. McAdoo former secretary of the treasury. in which he opposed the general policy of foreign loans. was in jected into the discus. on by Senate: Shields, democrat Tennessee, who in- Quired If Mir. McAdoo had followed this policy during his administration and whether Secretaries Glass and Houston
 had acted contrary to MT. McAdoo s policy
 Secretary Houston replied that he did not know what Mir. McAdoo meant Ir the published statement and read from the ex-secretaries' report to show that
 credits totalling ss.171, s66 had been
 established up to November 15, 1918.
 MT. McAdoo was further quoted IS say
 ing he would recommend the enact
 ment of legislation extending authority
 tc establish credits in favor of foreig.
 governments for reasonable period and
 within reasonable limits to meet the
 needs growing out of the war.
 Senator Reed, democrat, Missouri, de-
 veloped in examination of Assistant Sec-
 retary Kelley, that loan of $26,0o0, ,0oo
 had been given Liberia after both Secre- .taries Daniels and Baker had said assis- tance to that country in prosecuting th,
 war would be negligible