The Cordova daily times., 1921-04-16
Negative

tom of this demand that the United States should give 10 billions of
 money to the other nations. Is any one of any standing urging any such thing? No. On the contrary every one who has any influence or whose views are respected rejects the idea as too ridiculous to be entertained President Harding says nothing of | the sort is possible.
 Of course the debtors always like to get out of paying their debts if | they can. They have hinted strong 1 ly to Uncle Sam in this case that it would be a noble thing for him to write paid in full" on these 10 bill lions of obligations. But their hints hays not been received with any en- thusiasm here.
 There is just as much reason for cancelling all private debts as these l internatioal ones. You saved your money and you lent it to your neigh her to spend; he spent it, and now naturally he would be pleased to have you say: Your debt is can celed. You owe me nothing l only wish I had given you more. Next time you must ask for more and I will be overjoyed to give it to you, have plenty; help yourself"
 l If such Socialistic doctrines were to prevail there would soon be nothing to loan to anybody. The re- spect for sacred obligations has been built up by civilization patiently and slowly, Our whole social system is 1 founded on this firm footing If this 1 country once sanctioned the idea that debts are not sacred and that they can be incurred and then wiped out by mere scratch of the pen, it would be the greatest blow that has ever been struck at law, order and prosperity.
 If people once got the notion that l they could live on borrowed money and that it would never have to be paid, it would be their ruin. That is one thing that is now basically wrong with Russia The Bolsheviks believe in Wiping out debts, and that they have done it; and in wiping out debts they have wiped out everything else. They have burned the barn to get rid of the rats. The thrifty people, i realizing that they will not be al lowed to accumulate anything and that all they produce will be divided 1 with the spendthriftS, are now refus- ing to produce any surplus at all
 Russia is a nation of unlimited re- sources and with a population much larger than ours, but her industries are ruined and her farms laid waste. 1 If we want this ruin to extend now to the rest of the world all we have to do is to adopt this Soviet scheme of canceling everything that is owing to us. Repudiation will then become the rule of the whole world. The next thing to be repudiated will be our own Liberty bonds; in fact the 1 "borers from within" have already suggested this very thing. And after that, all bonds, notes and other debts would be repudiated.
 Over 95 per cent of the business of this country is done on credit and less than five per cent for cash. Credit is the most precious thing we have, for credit is founded on honor and honesty. Take away credit and we have nothing left but bankruptcy. The volume of business in the mod ern world, is so great that it could not possibly be done on a cash basis. Anything that tends to injure credit is at once reflected in business de- pression. Credit is the life-blood of all business.
 It was the discovery of this power of credit which gave the modern world such a huge advance over the ancient. In old times people would not give up anything of value except for something else of equal intrinsic value. But gradually credit was built up, and the world at length came to have as much faith in a piece of paper as in gold; in fact the piece of paper is preferred to the gold, as long as credit is good.
 To wipe out the 10 billions which the other nations owe us would be
 to bring on financial chaos. And
 then no nation would be satisfied
 The nations to which we had loaned
 small sums would revile us because we had loaned more to other nations It would be the parable of the work 3 CTS in the vineyard all over again . We are not asking single thing