Twin city review. [volume] (Champaign, Ill.) 19??-1929, 1921-03-18
TO CANCEL
BIG BRITISH
WAR DEBT
Treasurer MeIIen Plans To
Donate Four Billion
Dollars TO England
BY Laurence Todd

Federated Press STAFF Cores pondent1
Washington washington BnreauD
Pittsbnrg information, relayed To anti
administration republican here indi-
Gates that Secretary of the Treasury
Mellon will active seek the cancella.
ton of the British debt of over S4..
900, 100000 To the United States
Treasury.
Cancellation of this British debt Is
one of the things needed TO justify
to the country general cutting OF
wages and reduction of the standard
of living of the workers.
The facts as set forth from Pitts.
burg are these. Mellon has been one
of the most potent directors of the
Pennsylvania Railroad. power In
the United States Steel Corporation
group, head of the Aluminium Com.
pany of America and of the Gulf Re
filming Company and many other In.
dustria enterprises, In which British
capital has played a large part. and
Is known as a strong pro-British par
tsan. His marriage to an English.
woman Is said to have resulted in his
buying an extensive estate in Hert-
Yorkshire. England where he has
spent much of his time In recent years.
No sooner had Melons appoint.
ment as head of the treasury been
decided upon than Elihu Root. fore.
most friend of the British In the re.
publican party. began to be mentioned
as the agent of the new admnistra-
ton In very important negotiations
with the Allies. II appears that these
negotiations have to do with nothing
less than the Allied debt. and that the
scheme of cancellation now under
consideration Is to be acceptance by
the American government of long
term bonds upon which the payment
of interest will be waived for a period
of years. The reputation of the debt
In short, Is to be broken to the Ameri
can public very gently and gradually
under pretense that these bonds are
good collateral.
Reason for quick action in settling
with the British is seen in the dan
gerous public temper in England. due
to unemployment and the continuance
of wars in the regions of British inn
perial expansion in Asia. More i'm.
portant from the standpoint of the
Pennsylvania railroads. the Steel Cor.
poration and the other investments in
which Mellon and the Morgans are
involved, is the use which can be
made of the debt-cancellation In con
vincing the American workers that
they must submit to "defiation" of
their wages. II Britain Is not to pay
MS, then, of course, we must produce
our commodities more cheaply in Or
der to meet our own budget. Roots
mission to London may be worth mil
lions to the payroll OF the big indus.
trial corporations In Pennsylvania.
Secretary OF the Navy DENLY the
STRONG man. of the new cabinet. is
already on record as favoring cancel
lation of the debt AZ the same time
he declares for the strongest--and
most expensive, of course, navy in
the world Mellon is likely to arrange
the cancellation before talking about
Ii.
Inasmuch as the payment OF their
war debt to the United States would
prevent the British, French and Bel.
CLANS from engaging In further mill
tary adventures al present. the Allied
diplomats in Washington are warmly
sympathetic with the Morgar.Mellon
view. They await the events of the
next two months with happy anticipa
ton.