The New York herald., 1921-05-27
FRIDAY, MAY 81. 1921.
Allied Bonds May Go Alleging.


for the funding Of the allied debts
to the United States Treasury is
sound and businesslike. The billions
of dollars borrowed from the United
States should represent something
more than the / o Us Of the debtors.
They should be the customary secu-
rites Of borrowing nations, paying
interest regularly, and as nearly ne
gotiable in the open market as pos
sible. All this our Government can
and should arrange.
But the rest of the programme, as
II is semi-officially outlined, may
prove to be largely a dream, for 1t
pie the United States Treasury hold
ings Of the bonds which are to come
from Great Britain, France, Italy and
Belgium. AS they are sold, II they
are sold, to American investors the
Treasury will use the proceeds to re-
tire Liberty bonds now held by Amer
lean investors.
But here arise two very practical
questions. One Is whether the Amer
fcan people would make this exchange
for that IL what 1t amounts to
of their Liberty bonds for the bonds
of foreign Governments, even under
the guarantee of the United States.
The other is whether, IL the Liberty
bond holders declined to make the
swap, anybody else would or could
take the allied bonds in amy consid-
erable amount.
Great Britain's debt to our Treas
ury bulks beyond four and a quar-
TOR billions of dollars, Frances is
more than three billions. Italy and
Belgium together account for an
other two billions and more. These
four allied Powers together are re.
sponsible to US, overdue interest In
cluded, for perhaps close to nine and
a half billions OF dollars.
Now, the plain truth about these
prodigious money masses Is that If
our Liberty bond holders refuse to
make the exchange, the rest of the
people in this country could not take
the allied bonds If they would. They
have all they can do now to stagger
along. They continue to be taxed
some four billions of dollars year
by Federal Government which goes
on squandering their money as II this
country we're still at war. They con-
tinue to be taxed some six billions OF
dollars a year on the transportation
which Is necessary to their food sup
ply, their business and their general
Accommodation. They continue
TO be taxed billions OF dollars a year
more than the normal on steamship
service, on coal, on rents, on their
whole cost Of living because of pro-
tracted war imitation wages, war in
flation bank interest rates, war in
flation costs OF every sort and de-
scription.
When a public already has all IL
can stand 1t takes no stretch of the
Imagination to see why IL will not
and cannot volunteer to stand noun
tains more. But, at that, II the
Harding Administration could get
those foreign obligations funded and
could collect interest on them every
coupon day II would be a help to the
overloaded American truck horse.
The American people are being
taxed now even to provide the IN.
terest on the debt OF the Allies
to the United States. More than
half a billion dollars a year OF in
terest. not to speak OF instalment
payments on the principal, coming In
from the foreign debtors TO our
Treasury could come off the Amer.
can public's Federal taxes. unless
Congress should find this another
good excuse for cutting loose again
with more squander on the old war
imitation scale.