The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1921-07-23
MELLON NEEDS
RIGHT TO ACT ON
FOREIGN DEBTS
Senate Quibble De-
lays Payment by
Allies.
BY DAVID LAWRENCE.
Especial to The Argus.)

Washington, July 23.-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 Ger
man bonds in exchange for her
debt and America wouldn't agree to
1t if the request were made.
Unless congress grants the ex-
ecutive branch of the government
sufficient authority ano broad DOW
ers to negotiate with all the foreign
governments who owe the United
States money, there is a serious
danger that negotiations over re-
funding may be prolonged over
many years and the interest pay
ments delayed indefinitely.
These three principles underlie
the controversy which has arisen
between an element in the senate and
the treasury, over the effort of Sec
retary Mellon to get enough power
to. handle the foreign debts of the
United States.
Mr.. Mellon has spent practically
the entire week answering the ques-
tons OF senators some of whom
seem to give the impression that
they fear Mr.. Mellon will either can
eel the foreign debts or accept Sc
cGr1ties that aren't worth much
They either don't know Mr.. MELONS
ability as d banker and business
man or they do not have confidence
in him. AS a matter of fact, Sec
retary Mellon is the last man in
the world to have a worthless Sc
curity passed across his desk and
is the least likely to forgive or re-
nit obligations of such character
because all his life he has been
trained to negotiate and bargain and
his own private success is testimony
to what his natural inclination is
in any transaction.
Up to Harding.
But. the secretary of the treasury
isn't to be empowered to decide the
matter alone. The request for auth
ority means that the president him
self will have to approve any set
tlement made by the secretary of
the treasury before it is actually
valid. In other words those sena-
tors who don't know Mr. Mellon
need only have faith in their erst-
while colleague, the former senator
from Ohio who now sits in the
White house. If they hear-as they
are bound 10 hear-something of the
nature of the negotiations with
foreign governments and they don
like it, they can always express
IN
ing but the real reason why the
administration wants broad pow
ers TO negotiate the funding of in
terest and principal on the foreign
debt is that it is impractical to have
a legislative body conduct a dis
cussion on such confidential mat
ters as are involved. The treas
try will ask, for instance, that all
cards be laid on the table. Foreign
governments will ask that the in
formation be treated as confiden-
tial and in the discussions which
are to take place the utmost Sc
crecy will be required until an
agreement is rea ached. 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.
Laws Conflict.
The trouble is the treasury has
some authority under one law and
another species of authority under
another. The loans were made at
different stages of the war and the
most practicable way to deal with
them is as a unit Thus all the loans
made to Great Britain would be
treated as a group and those with
France as = group. The treasury
wants plenty of authority to make
agreements because il doesn't want
tn have anyone hereafter cast doubt
upon the validity of the securities
Continued on Last PageJ