Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1922-02-04
Senate Amendments
Agreed to Sent
to President
Chief Executive Not to Press
Objections to Upper House
Charges-Approval Probable
at Once - To Name Four
Commissioners With Mellon
at Head

Washington. Feb. Shy A. P)-
Congress finally cleared the way to-
day for the opening of negotiations
looking to the refunding of the s11,-
900, 100000 foreign debt.
The house by an overwhelming ma
jority agreed to the senate amend
ments to the refunding bill and the
measure was sent to the President.
Mr.. Harding is expected to approve
it, as he did not press his objections
to the senate changes after he had
discussed them today. first with
Chairman Fordney of the house
ways and means committee, and later
with Secretary Mellon who is to head
the commission of five authorized to
conduct the negotiations with the
debtor nations.
Appointment of the other four COM
mssioners by the executive is looked
for soon. 1t was made known today
az ttlt w llItc IlouSt tIldI WI. I1dI
ding planned to name two members
of the cabinet and a member each
Of the senate and house. There was
no indication at the White House
who would be named but among
those mentioned elsewhere in connec-
ton with the appointments We're Sec
retarics Hoover and Weeks, Senator
Watson of Indiana and Representa-
tive Longworth of Ohio.
While plans for conducting the ne
gotiations with the debtor nations
have not yet been formulated. it was
said today in Informed quarters that
they probably would be conducted
both in this country and abroad
There has been some discussion of a
general conference of representatives
of the United States and the princi-
pal allied powers to discuss the
whole subject of the war debts of
those nations.
As finally enacted the debt refund
ing bill was unsatisfa ctorily both to
the administration and Republican
leaders Of the House, but it was said
that objections to it were not pressed
because of the delay that would be
involved in sending it to conference
for the ironing out of differences be-
tween the two Houses.
Chief objection conferred on the
Senate amendment requiring that the
refunded obligations mature not la tor
than June Is, 1947 and that the
minimum interest rate be IA per
cent. Both the President and Secrc.
tary Mellon We're represented as pre-
ferfing a free hand for the commits
sion as to the life of the bonds and
the interest rate.
The treasury secretary was said to
have held however, that these Iimi-
tations would not be insurmountable
in the refunding of the debts of the
larger nations and that il it should
develop that they prevented the re-
funding of the debts of the smaller
and newer nations the commission
could seek additional authority from
Congress.
In the discussion in the House.
Representative Mondell OF Wyoming.
majority leader, and Mr.. Fordney ar
sued that the United States should
not be in the position Of imposing
too great time limit on the debtor
nations or demanding what Mr.. Mon
dell called "a round fat interest
rate" They said that personally
they favored imposing no restrictions
on the commission
Representative Garner Of Texas,
ranking Democrat, on the ways and
means committee and others on the
minority side, objected to the Senate
amendments as not going far enough
in the matter of limiting authority as
to the time that interest payments
should begin. Mr.. Garner. said it
had developed hat it had been the
plan to defer the maturity of the
bonds in the case of some countries
for as much as so years.
A separate and record vote was
had on the amendment carrying the
restrictions as to maturity date and
minimum interest rate and it was
agreed to-. 299 to 26, on a bipartisan
vote.